AFSA NEWS 56 JUNE 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA Treasurer’s 2024 Report In 2024 the Scholarship Fund awarded $242,550 in needs-based financial aid and $152,000 in merit scholarships. Although the fund’s asset value increased significantly in 2020, the annual withdrawal amount did not. This practice is designed to ensure that any given year’s applicants are not disadvantaged should there be a dramatic market decline. Fund for American Diplomacy. The FAD’s mission is to help educate the American public about the role of the U.S. Foreign Service and diplomacy as a tool of America’s influence on the global stage. At the end of 2024, the FAD principal balance stood at $384,624. FAD is envisaged to provide sustained, dedicated support for continuing AFSA’s public outreach, and AFSA and its leadership continue the effort to build up its principal value. The approved 2025 AFSA operating budget dedicates approximately $583,926 to FAD activities, the costs of which will largely be underwritten by transfers from the operating reserve. AFSA strongly encourages donations to the Fund for American Diplomacy, which is organized as a 501(3)(c). Donations will assist AFSA’s continued work to improve public knowledge about the vital contributions made by U.S. diplomats to preserving U.S. security and prosperity. Sinclaire Fund. AFSA also maintains the Matilda W. Sinclaire Fund, which is intended to support excellence in language achievement. AFSA draws on that fund annually to pay for language achievement awards. The Sinclaire Fund ended 2021 with $529,450. —John O’Keefe, AFSA Treasurer n We finished 2024 on sound financial footing. The new year started well, with membership and the accompanying dues rising during the first three months of 2025. We are now faced with a more fraught set of circumstances. We are moving from a union and a professional organization to one that is almost entirely a professional entity. Restructuring our finances will follow. But making this challenge more difficult is the executive branch decision not to deduct member dues from the payroll. This applies to both active-duty and retiree members. The executive director and his team are rolling out mechanisms to make direct payment of dues easy. Nevertheless, we expect a drop in revenue. While predicting the exact effect is an imprecise effort, we may see a drop of up to $1,000,000. We have reserves to cover this shortfall, allowing us to implement contingency plans already drawn up, and we will work on additional cost-cutting measures. It is critical that our members arrange for regular payments so we can continue to protect your interests. We must have the staff and resources to work with Congress to blunt legislation that may affect health insurance, retirement, and other benefits the Foreign Service has sacrificed so much to attain. Currently, the Operating Reserve represents approximately 49 percent of AFSA’s 2025 operating budget. Budget Operations • AFSA’s $7.3 million planned operating budget for calendar year 2025 is funded primarily from membership dues. • AFSA’s membership base stood at approximately 16,750 as of year-end 2024. • That number represents more than 80 percent of active-duty employees across the foreign affairs agencies, plus approximately 25 percent of Foreign Service retirees. • The Board approved a 2.4 percent dues increase in line with the change in consumer price index levels in 2025. Scholarship Fund. This 501(c)(3) entity was founded in 1924 to help the children of Foreign Service members pay for college. The fund has grown substantially over the decades and, at the end of 2024, stood at $12.8 million. AFSA’s financial reserves at the end of 2024: Operating Reserve $3,229,725 Scholarship Fund $12,800,207 Legal Defense Fund $413,596 FAD Operating Reserve $384,624 Sinclaire Fund $529,450 TOTAL INVESTMENT $17,357,602
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