At this year’s Interim Meeting, we took some time to step back and look more closely at how the FAWCO Foundation is understood and experienced across our community. Over the past year, many of you shared your perspectives through our member survey, and that feedback shaped both our internal discussions as a board and the workshop we held during the conference.
Rather than recap that session, this is a reflection on what we heard—and what we’re doing with it.
What we heard
When we started digging into the survey results, one thing became clear pretty quickly. The Foundation doesn’t have a passion problem.
Across FAWCO, members care about the mission. They value the work being done and want the Foundation to succeed. That part is strong.
Where things start to break down is in how that support translates into understanding and engagement. A lot of members support the Foundation in principle, but don’t necessarily feel confident explaining how it works, how to get involved, or how to help others engage. And once we saw that, it really shifted how we looked at everything else.
One of the most consistent themes—both in the data and in written responses—was that the Foundation can feel a bit abstract. People know it matters, but they aren’t always sure how the different pieces fit together. Questions about where funds go, how programs connect to FAWCO more broadly, or even where to begin are more common than we might expect.
That’s not a lack of interest. If anything, it’s the opposite. When something matters, people want to understand it. When that understanding isn’t easy to access, it creates a bit of distance—even for people who are already supportive.
We also saw that understanding tends to come from exposure, not position. Members who have participated in programs or attended Foundation events generally feel more confident in their understanding. Those who haven’t had that exposure often feel less sure, regardless of their role.
And for many members, that exposure doesn’t come from the Foundation directly—it comes through their clubs. That puts a lot of weight on club leaders and engaged members to translate and share information. When things are clear and easy to explain, that works well. When they’re not, even strong supporters can feel a bit stuck.
The same pattern showed up with programs. People who have engaged with Development Grants or Education Awards tend to understand them well, but many members simply haven’t had that interaction. The takeaway there is pretty straightforward: the programs themselves aren’t the issue. Awareness and access are.
We saw something similar with fundraising. Members understand that giving is important and are generally supportive, but the connection between giving and impact isn’t always as clear as it could be. A few people also raised thoughtful points about how different fundraising approaches are experienced across our international community, which was helpful context as we think about how we communicate going forward.
What we're doing about it
So what do we actually do with all of that?
At a high level, our focus is pretty simple. We’re not trying to change what the Foundation does—we’re trying to make it easier to understand, easier to access, and easier to talk about.
That starts with clearer communication. Not just more information, but better information—things that are easier to explain, easier to share within clubs, and easier to come back to over time.
It also means making programs more visible throughout the year. Not just at application deadlines, but in a way that helps more members see where they might fit and how they could get involved.
And just as importantly, it means doing a better job of showing the impact of the work. The more tangible that feels, the easier it is for members to connect with it—and to share that connection with others.
None of this is a one-time fix. It’s an ongoing shift in how we communicate and how we support clubs and members in engaging with the Foundation.
Where this goes next
One of the biggest takeaways from both the survey and the workshop is that this connection doesn’t happen at the board level alone. It happens in clubs. It happens in conversations. It happens in the small, everyday ways members share information and experiences with each other.
Our role is to support that—to make the Foundation easier to understand and easier to talk about so that those connections can happen more naturally.
Because at the end of the day, the Foundation isn’t something separate from FAWCO. It’s built from the projects, priorities, and passions of its members.
And that’s what we’re continuing to strengthen.
If you’d like to explore the full survey results, you can view the complete report here:
