CEO Update: Q3, 2024

Operational highlights for Q3

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

BP Fellowship 

I’m delighted to extend a warm welcome to 19 new BP Fellows, 14 of which are Young BP Fellows, who joined in this period, along with 5 new Honours Programme Members, including one new Regal Circle Member thanks to a significant confirmed Founder’s Heritage pledge (of which fifty percent is recognised immediately).  

Colleagues and I were grateful for the opportunity to engage with BP Fellows during our reception at the World Scout Conference in Cairo and a private New York reception hosted in September. The team has also planned for engagements in Zurich and Geneva in October, with the strong support of several Board and Committee Members. 

Meetings of the BP Fellows and Honours Programme Fundraising Committees took place in this quarter, along with a coordination meeting for Chapter leads to review the progress against goals, and to share and discuss key Chapter activities in 2024 and 2025. Thank you to everyone volunteering their time and expertise to boost support for World Scouting. 

43rd World Scout Conference, Cairo  

It was a pleasure to engage with World Scouting’s leadership, BP Fellows, and long-standing institutional partners Alwaleed Philanthropies, at the World Scout Conference in Cairo.  

Together, our delegation of Board and Committee Members, staff and volunteers: 

• Delivered the WSF plenary update 
• Organised a reception for BP Fellows, guests and delegation representatives. Our Chair, Rob Woolford, and I presented new BP Fellows onboarded in Cairo, as well as several persons who had not had the opportunity to be recognised at a previous event.  
• Supported our exhibition in the WOSM Marketplace, featuring videos of projects supported and the Scout Donation Platform, plus an interactive online quiz to introduce the Foundation and encourage e-news sign-ups.  
• Supported the engagement of our longstanding partner, Alwaleed Philanthropies at the Conference. Secretary General, HRH Princess Lamia, attended the Opening Ceremony, and three of her team joined WSF and WOSM staff and volunteers on Day 2 to tour the Marketplace and meet with project beneficiaries. 
• Increased e-news sign-ups and social media interactions significantly in August, thanks to coverage of WSF engagement at the Conference. 

We were pleased to be engaged in the Conference proceedings, as observers. Of note:  

• The Strategy for Scouting was approved unanimously.  
• A new World Scout Committee was elected.  
• Conference news summary here.  

Institutional fundraising 

This quarter, working hand-in-hand with the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), we announced new partnerships with the Temasek Foundation, Accenture and UNICEF to fund World Scouting initiatives. The Foundation team also submitted funding applications to two smaller Foundations following a robust screening and matching process, and met with potential new institutional partners, including with the support of members of the Institutional Fundraising Committee.  

Key engagements with WOSM around the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Summit of the Future in September, in New York, which also involved our Board Member and Immediate Past Chair, HRH Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, included: 

• A WSF reception and dinner hosted by a Board and Honours Programme Member for BP Fellows and prospective donors.  
• The third edition of World Scouting and SAP’s Learning and Skills for Sustainable Youth Development Dialogue Series, featuring senior-level speakers from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Accenture, Aga Khan Foundation, AIESEC, Learning Economy Foundation, SAP, Girls4Tech and many more. The event was generously hosted by the Foundation’s investment partner, FTCI.   
• Announcement by WOSM of a new global partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the Health and Wellbeing initiative.  
• Bilateral meetings with partners and potential new partners, including Accenture, Ferrero, UNFPA and UNICEF. 

We’re also delighted to have identified a suitable candidate for the jointly funded WSF-WSB role of Manager, EU Fundraising and Public Affairs in Brussels, expected to start in January 2025.  

Founder’s Heritage 

Members of the Honours Programme Fundraising Committee have advanced work on the recognition of and updating of records for Members of the Founder’s Heritage. In September, we reached out widely to BP Fellows on International Legacy Giving Day. We have welcomed new pledges, including a significant bequest of USD 2.1M.  

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about making a planned gift via the Founder’s Heritage in your will, to leave a legacy for Scouts worldwide when you “go home”. 

Governance 

The Executive Committee met online on 4 September to prepare the upcoming Board Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, and to discuss and prepare governance and budget proposals. A further online meeting will take place in early October.  

The Investment Committee met on 13 September to continue discussions related to the continued development of a possible WSF Investment Fund to manage our investments as well as those of WOSM entities and the Hong Kong Scout Foundation. The Committee is now preparing the full proposal for the Board Meeting to be tabled for endorsement at the October meeting of the Executive Committee.  

Strategy Review  

The Strategy Review Advisory Group continued its collaboration in this period, identifying and tracking key areas where it can support work to achieve the newly adopted KPIs and associated enablers. The group provided comprehensive input on a proposal drafted by the team for changes to the current recognition model, including benefits associated with each level of giving and newly proposed incentives for “friend-raising” and Foundation volunteers. The next step will be to obtain feedback and input from BP Fellows and a final proposal will be tabled for decision at the Board Meeting in April 2025. The group has also provided feedback on a Draft WSF Diversion, Equity and Inclusion Statement of Principles amongst several other items.  

Digital engagement 

Web news and social media coverage in this period shared news of new institutional partnerships; coverage of our engagement at the World Scout Conference and UNGA; highlights of the Saudi Arabia University Rover Scout project implemented by Saudi Scouts with the strong support of Alwaleed Philanthropies, to establish Scouting in eight universities and authorities and champion women’s leadership; the latest Boranka action by Croatian Scouts, as supported by institutional partner Ferrero; and coverage of Scout-led projects seeking support via the Scout Donation Platform. 

During September, we collaborated with World Scouting global and regional communication teams to promote emergency flood appeals from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sudan and Central Europe on the Scout Donation Platform, boosted by generous funding to match donations, as donated by a BP Fellow and Honours Programme Member.

In this last quarter, we also focused on planning and content creation for upcoming engagements including the 2024 Annual Appeal. Thank you to all our BP Fellows who have already donated. As always, all donations count towards your ongoing Fellowship total. 

Upcoming Events 

76th BP Fellowship Event, Rio de Janeiro 

We are just weeks away from our exciting Rio de Janeiro event, 25-28 October and I can’t wait to see many of you soon in Brazil for our first-ever BP Fellowship Event in South America! Information updates will be going out shortly to participants and should you have any last queries, please contact us. 

Let me take this opportunity to thank and recognise the fantastic Brazilian Scout team supporting us since March to bring our event to life, along with several World Scouting colleagues, local volunteers and inspirational Scout speakers and guests.  

I would also like to recognise the Brazilian fundraising task force which has worked hard to support the recruitment of new BP Fellows in Brazil and local fundraising, including via online information webinars, an in-person reception in São Paulo, personal invitations to High-Net-worth individuals and extensive outreach to targeted institutions in Brazil. 

HP Field Trip  

Plans for the field trip to Kenya, 22-24 November, continue to advance for the registered Honours Programme Members. A rich programme has been established, which will see HP Members engage with Scouts and leadership from the Kenya Scouts Association, including from the vibrant Ticket to Life programme. We will visit Scouts in Nairobi and Kisumu and take a day trip to Nyeri, to visit the resting place of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. Accommodation is booked and logistics are underway with the support of the WSB Africa Office and Kenya Scouts Association.

There is still room to accommodate any additional people wishing to join this adventure of a lifetime! If you would like to join or have questions, please contact us. 

2024 Annual Appeal 
Make your annual gift today! Click here to Donate