Every Little Gift Can Make a Big Difference in Expanding Access to the AFS Annual Meeting

With your help, we can make the AFS annual meeting more accessible than ever. Now that the virtual component makes it possible to take part without travel expenditures, a relatively small contribution may fully fund the participation of a student, international, early career or under-waged colleague.

The need is clear: the category of memberships that experienced declining renewals this past year was the student memberships. Moreover, nearly half of our recent annual meeting survey respondents indicated that financial barriers are an obstacle to their participation in our 2021 meeting. Yet, as we explain in our Annual Meeting FAQ, the cost of implementing our 2021 meeting is likely to be higher than ever. 

In 2020, generous support from our members fully subsidized “Pay-What-You-Can” and waived registration fees for those who could not participate without assistance. 

Can you help AFS and your colleagues this year?

If so, you can make a contribution that is targeted to member and meeting registration support when you renew your AFS membership. Alternatively, you can make your contribution in the online store.  Due to technical limitations, these contributions must be made in increments of $25 (you can change the quantity to increase your gift).

Alternatively, please consider making a gift of any amount to the AFS Sustainers’ Fund. Every year, Sustainers’ Fund donations support and enhance current programs and services, including support for students, travel stipends, audiovisual equipment at the annual meeting, and the like. Gifts to the Sustainers’ Fund may also allow AFS to realize our goals to improve and expand our web-based resources, provide additional professional development opportunities, and multiply our advocacy efforts for individuals, programs, and institutions.