Canadian members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals have called for a boycott of its conference in Seattle this month in response to White House statements threatening the country’s independence.

Last week, Canadian AFP members began posting on LinkedIn that they were declining to attend the AFP ICON conference scheduled for April 27-29, citing White House statements regarding the annexation of Canada and voicing concerns for attendees’ safety. (President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to pursue making Canada the 51st state.) “Until late last week, I was still planning to honour my commitment to speak, even amidst the US government’s aggression towards Canada,” wrote one attendee, Harvey McKinnon, in a LinkedIn post. “However, with the increased risk to my personal safety and at the urging of my family, I have reluctantly made this decision [not to attend].”

Guy Mallebone, a longtime Canadian AFP member who has served in multiple volunteer roles with the association, said discussions of a boycott have accelerated in recent weeks, especially in response to stories like that of Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian citizen who was recently detained by American immigration authorities for 11 days after attempting to renew her work visa. 

We were discussing whether we in the Canadian profession should be attending a U.S.-based conference.

Guy Mallebone

“We were discussing whether we in the Canadian profession should be attending a U.S.-based conference, in light of the threats being made by the president of the United States to Canadian sovereignty,” Mallebone said in an interview with Associations Now. 

According to AFP, Canadians represent approximately 12 percent of the association’s total membership. While it’s unclear how many are participating in the boycott, the conversations have been spirited enough to prompt a response from the leadership of AFP, which is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

“We believe this moment calls for more connection, not less,” read a LinkedIn post from AFP’s account last week. “AFP ICON is not an American conference that happens to allow international participation—it’s a global gathering of our professional community that happens to be hosted in the U.S. ICON 2025 is a pivotal moment for AFP as an organization. Rather than withdrawing, we see this as an opportunity to reinforce the values of philanthropy—compassion, inclusion, and partnership.” The post was signed by AFP’s chair, the co-chairs of AFP Canada, and AFP’s president and CEO H. Art Taylor, who began his role with the association on April 1.

“All of us are in empathy with the people who are feeling unsafe, angry, or even in some ways that they need to protest what’s happening by not attending the conference—we’re in complete empathy with that,” Taylor said in an interview with Associations Now. But he reiterated the post’s argument that the conference is an opportunity to unify the profession and that attendee safety would be a priority.

Mallebone and others have called on AFP to provide a virtual conference option for those uncomfortable crossing borders to attend the ICON conference. Taylor said the association is exploring that. “We’re looking into how we might create virtual options for those who decide, for whatever reason, they don’t want to come,” he said. “We may have to make some adjustments. It’s late in the game, and so we don’t have the luxury of time to try to plan this, but we’re going to see what we can do to get a virtual option going for those who aren’t able to come.”

Mallebone said that regardless of how AFP handles the conference, the current moment has renewed long-running discussions about a separate Canadian association for fundraising professionals.

“There’s been some light conversation in the past, but there’s now a dramatically enhanced interest in Canadian chapters setting up their own independent organization, so we can have our leadership reflect our views, not American views,” he said.

[istock/Deagreez]