CEO Update: Q2, 2024

Operational highlights for Q2

Your quarterly inside track on the work of the World Scout Foundation from CEO, Mark Knippenberg.

76th BPF Event Registration live

We have confirmed a fantastic programme and launched the registration for the 76th BP Fellowship Event to take place in Rio de Janeiro, 25–28 October 2024. BP Fellows should have received registration emails on Thursday 27 June, sent specifically to primary contacts for households where there is more than one BP Fellow, in addition to Young BP Fellows over 18. The communication contained an important Registration Pack with the programme details, information on how to book via the Foundation’s accommodation block and more! Please check your spam folder if have not seen an email and contact Nicole Diebold, Manager for Operations & Events for additional support. Please register as soon as possible and bring or encourage your families and friends to join us! 

Institutional Fundraising: we need your help! 

As we build momentum toward our strategy goals, we are increasing our collaboration with WOSM to build more strategic partnerships with corporations, foundations, governments and inter-governmental agencies to fund World Scouting initiatives. In the second quarter of 2024, we were delighted to see some initial results of our fundraising efforts, securing contributions for key areas of work like climate action and skills forlife, building on the Scouts for SDGs programme funded by our long-standing partner Alwaleed Philanthropies. We also gained support for key projects like Ticket to Life, Food for Life and the JOTA/JOTI, establishing new partnerships that we will foster for long-term support in the future.  

We continue to seek strategic partnerships with institutions and governments that share the values of Scouting and believe that young people deserve the chance to learn the skills, values and knowledge to develop as active citizens. Do you know such an institution? Please get in touch with us today and share your insights, we would love to hear from you! 

Honours Programme Field Trip  

An exciting programme has been confirmed for 20 Members of the Honours Programme to join our next field trip to Kenya, 21–25 November 2024. This is a unique opportunity to discover the Ticket to Life Scout programme in Kenya, in addition to a visit to BP’s grave in Nyeri. A call for interest will be shared imminently to ensure we can move ahead. Please let us know if you are interested in participating! This is a great time to move up to the Honours Programme too, to take advantage of this opportunity. Please also contact us if you’d like to discuss your ongoing Fellowship and an additional gift to World Scouting. 

World Scout Conference  

Preparations are underway for the Foundation’s participation at the 43rd World Scout Conference in August in Cairo, Egypt, including the plenary session, information point, BP Fellows’ reception, coordination with our key partners present and numerous side-meetings with delegations, BP Fellows, prospective donors and partners.  

All BP Fellows present at the Conference are invited to join our reception on Tuesday 20 August at 17:00. We look forward to connecting with you!

WSF Committees & volunteers 

I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of the volunteers engaged in WSF Committees and working groups to support our fundraising, engagement, governance and the implementation of our strategy. Committees and working groups have met regularly (and often!) during this quarter, supported by our staff team, to advance our common agenda. We have also been looking at how to better incentivise and recognise our volunteers and work in view of a proposal to the Board to consider at its October meeting. 

2023 Digital Annual Report  

Our second digital Annual Report was published and circulated widely, including to all of our BP Fellows, new network donors and subscribers. We hope you’ve already enjoyed reading through it! Discover overviews of our collective work, videos, stories, donor recognition, financials, governance and more here. 

Bronze Wolf Award for Hector Robledo Cervantes 

In June we celebrated the awarding of the Bronze Wolf to WSF Board Member and BP Fellow Hector Robledo Cervantes. The Bronze Wolf is the only award presented by the World Scout Committee, in recognition of outstanding service to the World Scout Movement. Congratulations again, Hector! Full story here. 

National Annual Meeting (NAM) of the Scouting America  

It was a pleasure to participate at the NAM in Orlando, Florida, and especially the BP Fellowship Reception during the NAM, kindly hosted by eight of our US BP Fellows. We celebrated the official launch of the US Chapter at the BP Fellowship Reception, recognised five new BP Fellows and presented additional BP Fellows with their iconic pin! 

Fundraising Reception New York 

In May, two of our Regal Circle Members in New York generously welcomed existing and potential BP Fellows to their home for a private reception, which has already generated a number of donations. 

Canada Chapter Event in Toronto 

A Toronto event was also held in May to engage existing and prospective Canadian BP Fellows, made possible thanks to the generosity and organisation of several long-standing BP Fellows, and with the participation of Scouts Canada CEO, Liam Burns. 

77th Meeting of WSF Board & Committees, Stockholm   

Our Foundation Board and Committees met in Stockholm, Sweden, 16–18 April, for three days of governance, fundraising and strategy meetings involving over thirty volunteers, accompanying guests, our Foundation staff team and World Scout Bureau colleagues.  

The meetings ended on a high with the announcement of an extremely generous donation from two longstanding BP Fellows, alongside presentations of two new BP Fellows by our Honorary Chairman, HM The King of Sweden, together with our Board Chair, Rob Woolford. Photo gallery here.  

Key highlights included: 

• Approval of the revised Strategy KPIs. 
• An update on planned events, including the preparations for the 76th BP Fellowship Event in Rio de Janeiro, which our Honorary Chairman confirmed He would join. 
• Approval of the proposal of the Investment Committee to explore the creation of a WSF Investment Fund. 
• Approval of the 2023 audited financial statements. 
• A progress update on Messengers of Peace 2.0. 
• Endorsement of the new Financial Planning and Reporting System. 
• Approval of the WOSM Annual Operational Grant for 2024/2025 of USD 2.8 million. 
• A detailed report by WOSM on the use of the 2023/2024 annual operational grant. Sincere appreciation was expressed for Andy Chapman and Jo Deman’s contributions as ex-officio Board Members over the last seven and three years, respectively. 
• Approval of David Huestis’ request to be moved to the “Life Member of the Board” category. The Board warmly thanked David Huestis for his long-standing and active service on the Foundation Board. 
• Re co-option of seven Board Members for another term of 3 years and discussion of the desire, in line with good governance practises, to introduce a maximum tenure for Board Members. 
• Appointment of Jennifer Hancock as the WSF representative on the World Scout Committee for the next triennium, a role which will commence on 24 August 2024, following the closing of the 43rd World Scout Conference in Cairo, Egypt. Geoff Morgan was warmly recognised for his contribution to date on the World Scout Committee. 
• Appointment of Wolfgang Kniese as the Foundation’s representative (Member) on the WOSM Finance Committee for the next triennium, also commencing from the closing of the World Scout Conference in Cairo. Soo Keng Yeoh’s contribution to date on this Committee was also warmly recognised. 
• Approval of the Chapter Charter for the UK Chapter which came with the endorsement and support of the UK Scouts, and recognition of Craig Turpie’s support in this process. 
• A progress report of the Oversight Committee, underlining the strong collaboration between the Foundation and World Scout Bureau on grant-making and outlining how the process of documenting projects via the grant management system has been optimised.