CEO Update: Q3, 2023

Operational highlights for Q3 

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

Annual Appeal 2023 

Have you joined our Annual Appeal, which was recently launched and runs until 31 December?  

We value and count on your support via an annual gift to the Annual Appeal and your help to increase our reach and make this year’s appeal, with a target of USD 1 million, a success! Regular giving, by all our donors, gives the Foundation a reliable source of funding, making our long-term planning far more effective, and every single gift makes a difference. If you would like to champion our appeal, let us know so we can support your outreach. Donate to World Scouting today!
Thank you for your continued support. 
 

UN General Assembly, New York, September 2023

World Scouting participated actively at the UN General Assembly and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Summit. Alongside colleagues from the Foundation and WOSM, including HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, World Scout Foundation Chair*, Secretary General Ahmad Alhendawi, World Scouting Youth Representatives, I participated in several high-level engagements with current partners, potential new institutional partners and stakeholders, including a reception and dinner hosted by one of our Board Members. The main focus during meetings and engagements was on partnerships for the Goals, joint financing for the SDGs, skills for employability, and highlighting how Scouting is making the world’s largest youth-led contribution to the SDGs. Full web news here. 

*HRH Prince Guillaume completed his term as Chair on 7 October 2023 and is now the Immediate Past Chair of the Foundation. 
 

Institutional Donors & Partners

During this period, key meetings were held and discussions took place with our longstanding institutional partner for Messengers of Peace, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in preparation for the second phase of this flagship initiative, which is so important to World Scouting and its over 57 million members across the globe. Everything indicates that a final and affirmative decision is expected in Q4 of 2023.   

Colleagues and I also participated in meetings with Alwaleed Philanthropies in July and September to advance and review the 2023 Scouts for SDGs work, as well as to plan for our continued partnership. An independent evaluation of Scouts for SDGs, measuring the initiative’s impact since 2018 and covering projects funded by Alwaleed Philanthropies (USD 3.9M) and non-funded SDGs activities inspired by and enabled through the initiative, was published and shared at the UN General Assembly and via WSF e-news. Evaluation Report | Executive Summary 

On 20 September, we also finalised and signed an MOU with Ferrero International S.A. to provide targeted support to the Boranka initiative. Follow-up and engagement work also took place with additional institutions. 

Gatherings of BP Fellows 

Swedish Chapter Workshop: Over 50 participants took part in a workshop hosted by His Majesty and the Chapter Board at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 28 September, including 15 potential BP Fellows who were participating to learn more about the Foundation and the impact of Scouting.  

BP Fellows Reception, 25th World Scout Jamboree, August 2023: Over 50 BP Fellows, including nine Board Members, who were visiting or volunteering at the Jamboree joined our reception on 3 August. Colleagues provided an update on Foundation activities and Board Members HH Princess Sama Bint Faisal Al Saud and Yorimasa Matsudaira presented nine new BP Fellows with their pins. See  reception  photos  here. 

BP Fellows Reception at the BSA Jamboree: The US Pilot Chapter, with the support of Board Member Jenn Hancock, hosted a reception for BP Fellows at the National Annual Jamboree in West Virginia on 24 July 2023.  

Progress against goals  

The Foundation aims to raise USD 10 million in 2023. As of 30 September, we had raised USD 3.1M million and welcomed 53 new BP Fellows and 26 new Members of the Honours Programme into our network. Whilst this reporting concentrates on Quarter 3, I am pleased to note that the 75th BP Fellowship Event in Kandersteg in early October saw the numbers of new BP Fellows and Honours Programme Members significantly rise.  

We count on your support via our Annual Appeal to continue to drive fundraising through the last quarter of 2023. Your annual gift to World Scouting, or fulfilment of an ongoing pledge, and/or referral of a new BP Fellow, is vital to ensure we can continue to strengthen the impact of Scouting worldwide, enabling WOSM to offer Scouting to even more young people, including the most vulnerable. Find out how you can make a difference here. 

Meetings of WSF Committees 

The High Value Donors/Regal Circle Fundraising Committee met on 28 September to review ongoing activities, including the list of prospective HVD in the pipeline, outstanding Regal Circle Pledges, planned event(s) and possible touchpoints for additional cultivation. 

The BP Fellows Fundraising Committee met on 20 September to discuss strategies for creating a sense of belonging among New Network donors (gifting below USD 10,000) and for reviewing the Young BP Fellow model; to consider support to Chapter operations and the recruitment goals set by each Chapter, as well as target engagement opportunities.  

The Executive Committee met on 13 September 2023 to discuss the status of institutional grant applications, the draft agenda for the upcoming Board Meeting and the proposed operational budget 2024.  

The Nominations Committee met on 6 September to consider nominations to the WSF Board, which were tabled at the 76th Meeting of the WSF Board on 7 October in Kandersteg. The Board approved new Board Member Nathan Rosenberg, approved the new Chair, Rob Woolford and the new Chair Elect, Beat Wenger.  

The Honours Programme Fundraising Committee met on 6 September to review new pledges to the Honours Programme, which have more than doubled compared to last year, discuss the new Honours Programme Brochure and start developing a 2024 annual plan.

The Institutional Fundraising Committee met on 30 June (not reported in the previous update) to discuss actions in follow-up to the Luxembourg Partner Roundtable, upcoming engagements at the UN General Assembly and a review of priority funding areas for institutional funding. 

World Scout Committee Meeting 

The World Scout Committee met in Kuala Lumpur, 29 September–1 October 2023. I presented the Foundation’s update on behalf of Geoff Morgan, ex-officio Member of the World Scout Committee and Foundation Board Member. The Committee discussed matters including the review of the 25th World Scout Jamboree, approval of the operational budget 2023/2024, procedural matters related to the World Scout Conference 2024, WOSM Services, the official phase-out of the Eurasia Region, and an update on the development of next Strategy for Scouting, and the WOSM brand refresh, made possible thanks to targeted contributions by BP Fellows. Full update. 

Digital Engagement 

In addition to the development of our Annual Appeal landing pages, during this period we have updated our donation pages and upgraded the e-news user preference centre. Ahead of Swiss Data protection law coming into effect on 31 August, we reviewed our digital data landscape to ensure compliance with regulation changes, including enabling the GDPR double-opt-in linked to our website and Scout Donation Platform sign-ups. Thanks to support from a WSF volunteer, we have also worked to improve digital tracking and analytics across digital platforms. 

E-news emails, web news and social media during this period highlighted incredible Scout support in Ukraine, Morocco and Libya together with related appeals to sustain Scouts’ work via the Scout Donation Platform; along with updates from our events, news of Fredrik Gottlieb (WSF Treasurer) being awarded the Bronze Wolf Award; a focus on International Legacy Giving Day and making a planned gift via the Founder’s Heritage; highlights of the Scouts for SDGs evaluation; sad news of the passing of Lord Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron of Gilwell and Mr Suk Won Kim, Board Member and former Chair of the World Scout Foundation. Foundation web news. 

 
75th BP Fellowship Event 

Q3 consisted of a great deal of planning for major events which ran in the first week of October, namely our annual gathering of BP Fellows, the 75th BP Fellowship Event (5–8 October), in addition to a special event in Zurich on 4 October for potential new High-Value Donors, and the Regal Circle Dinner on the evening of 5 October in Schloss Oberhofen. At the time of publishing this Q3 update, these events had just taken place successfully, as reported in detail in our most recent e-news, web news with related photo galleries. I take this opportunity to again thank everyone who attended as well as local Board Members Beat Wenger and Thijs Stoffer, and my staff team for their excellent planning and implementation.   

Photos top to bottom; UNGA, New York, attendees included WSF CEO Mark Knippenberg and Chair* HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, WOSM Secretary General Ahmad Alhendawi, WSF Director of Philanthropy Mischa Rychener and Youth Representatives; Annual Appeal launch; BP Fellows Reception, 25th World Scout Jamboree; WSF Board Member HH Princess Sama Al Saud presents Ban Ki Moon with a token of appreciation; BP Fellows at the WSF Reception, 25th World Scout Jamboree & Highlights from the Scout Donation Platform space in the Ban Ki Moon Village; BP Fellows Reception at the BSA Jamboree supported by WSF Board Member Jennifer Hancock; WSf Swedish Chapter meeting; World Scout Committee meeting, KL; Remembering Suk Won Kim former WSF Chair; celebrating Fredrik Gottlieb, Bronze Wolf recipient.
Photo credits: World Scout Foundation, World Organization of the Scout Movement.