My Nonprofit Reviews

I have been volunteering with AFSP for over 7 years. Are there things the organization needs to work on? Absolutely. I've read other people reviews and was disheartening to hear about their experiences. I think think it is important to know that there 73 chapters nationwide... all with their own chapter leadership, structure, and engagement. Unfortunately, your experience is going to depend on what chapter or state you live in. I strongly recommend doing your research on your local chapter before judging the whole organization by a select group of chapters. There are some amazing chapters out there that do incredible work and our lead by caring and responsive individuals... and some that suck.

I would encourage you to not blindly jump into volunteering without researching the activities and methodology of an organization. I see a lot of complaints that AFSP doesn't do support groups. AFSP never has done support groups, and if you failed to do your research in advance, that is on you. AFSP's focus is on advocacy, research, program development, education, and long term structural change. It is macrolevel work, not microlevel. So what does this actually mean and how are the funds used?

First it is important to know that 50% of funds raised state in the local community, while 50% goes to AFSP Nationals. Nationals use the money in the following ways:

* Research - AFSP's funding and grant programs are responsible for most of our current knowledge about suicide. A significant amount of money goes into funding this research, typically through grants for researchers. Research doesn't sound like a big deal because in-and-of-itself, research doesn't prevent suicide. But the research provides the strategies that work in understanding suicidology, risk, and prevention and enables the CORRECT action. It destroys the negative myths about suicide. For example, in the past few years there has been in emphasis on direct questioning regarding suicidal thoughts and plans. Why? Research has shown that asking someone directly if they plan to harm or kill themselves does not increase the likelihood of an attempt... in fact it significantly lowers the chance. This research was funded by AFSP. If you have been trained in QPR, you have directly benefitted from AFSP's research. Every single certified suicide prevention training such as QPR, Kognito, Talk Saves Lives, CIT, and more are based on the research AFSP funds. Pretty much everything we know about suicide prevention and intervention comes from AFSP's resources.

* Advocacy - AFSP's involvement in local, state, and federal government is key to long term structural change. Heard of 988? AFSP's work brought that to fruition. Other pieces of legislation and policy change AFSP has been fighting for: funding for 988 implementation, funding for crisis call centers to hire more crisis counselors, crisis mobile units in the community, stabilization units, more affordable healthcare, banning practices that research has shown leads to an increased risk of suicide, means reduction laws, and more. Why does advocacy need funding? First, you need to have professionals who have experience in these areas to do the work. They have to eat and live somewhere, so you need to pay them a living wage. AFSP also subsidizes travel when it comes to doing work with state and the federal government. To push legislative change, people need to be meeting with their senators and representatives. While there are now more options for doing this virtually, most legislators require you to meet in-person. If you live in California and are traveling to Washington to meet with a senator, AFSP helps with those costs. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the volunteers to do this work because they couldn't afford it. Advocacy and fighting for change costs money.

* Program development - AFSP has over 40 different types of suicide prevention training. They range from the basics to advanced clinician training. There are trainings specific to high risk populations such as veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and more. Different programs are more appropriate for different ages and some are based in cultural competencies for specific populations. For example, Gizmo is for 5-11 year olds. It addresses identifying negative emotions, coping skills, and reaching out for help in an age appropriate way. It doesn't mention suicide, but it is focused on helping kids develop skills that have been shown through research to lower the risk of suicidal ideation and attempt. Again, it takes funds to develop these program, provide the materials at no cost, and train people to provide the programs.

* Community based large scale education. Did you know that after receiving such negative feedback regarding how it portrayed suicide in the first season of 13 reasons why, Netflix has not contracted with AFSP? Trained professionals review every script and provide feedback on the messaging and content. Same for several large media companies. The TV show Little Small Things is an another example of this as every script is reviewed and edited to portray suicide and its effects in an appropriate way. AFSP also focuses on education for media. Why? Because research shows that things like reporting the method of death can increase the likelihood of a suicidal individual utilizing that method.

So what about the 50% that stays locally? How is that used? In the chapter I volunteer with it is used for:

* Materials for educational programming. For example, the book that goes along with the Gizmo training is provided free to participants.

* Gun locks and safety tools which are provided at no cost and given to shooting ranges and gun stores to give out for free. Why is this important? Gun locks allow for the owner of the gun to control access to the weapon. If you live with someone who is suicidal, having a gun readily available isn't a good idea. Having a gun lock can restrict access.

* Survivor packets for funeral homes, police, and hospitals. Our chapter provides over 1000 of these in our main city. The local police keep them on hand to give to families and loved ones when responding to a suicide. Funeral homes and hospitals give them to loved ones as well. The packets contain resources for coping with grief and tragedy, as well as local resources that provide direct intervention and treatment such as therapists and grief counselors.

* Bereavement training for clinicians and other similar training for professionals which typically requires a specially trained.

* ASIST training - This is a two day suicide intervention skills training. With travel and lodging for trainers, food costs, materials, and more It costs $6,000 to train 30 people.

* Suicide prevention hotline marketing

* International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

* Supplies and materials for local area loss support groups. AFSP doesn't host them or lead them, but we provide materials, funding for space, refreshments, etc.

* Tabling costs at events for outreach - We have a table at the state fair every year. This allows us to reach over 100,000 across our state to provide resources.

* and more.

AFSP's mission is not direct support and intervention. It never has been. If you volunteer thinking it is, it means you didn't do your research. If you want to do that type of work, there are many incredible organizations and we would be glad to connect you to them. AFSP's work is large scale, long term, structural change.

Lastly, a bit about my volunteer experience. First of all, volunteering is never glamorous. It is hard work and can be exhausting. I have put in many thankless (and sometimes seemingly pointless) hours into my volunteer work. You don't often get to see the direct impact on saving one's life. AFSP has been pushing chapters to do more for volunteer recognition (but hey... that costs money) and I have noticed a change in the last few years in this area. AFSP has also grown exponentially in the last decade. The reality is there are not enough staff members or volunteers to do all the work that is needed. AFSP is working to double is staff across the country to provide more local support, but again.. this costs money. All this said, it is the most fulfilling work I have done in my life. It has also led me to meeting some of the most amazing people who have made an incredible impact on my life. It also allows me to honor my two family members I lost to suicide. It can be very difficult (physically, mentally, and emotionally)... but my god it is worth it.

A few tips if you are considering volunteering for AFSP:
1. Do your research on your local chapter. Find out where their money goes and how they function. Talk with the leaders (both staff and board members). Find out what the chapter does (or doesn't do).

2. Do not expect AFSP to function as a support group. Do you get support from fellow volunteers and staff? Absolutely! but it's function is to create change, not serve as a support group. Board and committee meetings are run like business meetings.

3. It can be mentally and emotionally draining. Take care of yourself. Set boundaries with your time and work. Get trained in mental health first aid, ASIST, and healing conversations so that you have the skills to handle situations that arise.

4. Honor and remember your love one you loss. Honor and share your personal story... but know that AFSP is not about one individual. So many people are affected by suicide and mental health and everyone affected has a story.

5. Learn about appropriate messaging. We have had to ask volunteers to step down or not participate in certain things because they couldn't do it appropriately. We take messaging very seriously. Do not share means. Do not say things like suicide was inevitable. Don't simplify suicide. Don't portray it as an option. Etc. We will provide training and god knows we are human and all make mistakes. But if it is a continued issue, it will be addressed.