A global foundation supported by 30,000 security professionals underwrites research and awards grants to help individuals and organizations elevate their capabilities within the security sector.
Its most visible fundraiser invites participants to gather sponsors for an annual fitness event that covers as many miles as they can on foot, by bicycle or even through dance.
“The the idea is we all get sponsors which vary in amounts, and then we go out and we we try and walk, run or bike or dance, if we wish to, as much as we can as far as we can, in order to raise as much money as we can, ,” says ASIS Foundation chairman Martin Gill.
Prizes go to individuals who log the most activity and to teams that bring in the greatest number of recruits, raise the highest sums and travel the longest distances.
“There’s a bit of a fun and a competitive element to it, but you’re raising money and you’re creating involvement in a security initiative,” says Gill. “People are getting fit at the same time. It’s got all the right elements to it and it’s certainly something we hope to build on in the years ahead.”
“We were fortunate in that some companies sponsored it, so that helped us raise extra money. We’ve built a foundation now and we’ve just got to make a foundation in terms of a base of interest around the world and we have to build on that as we move forward,” he adds.
Several companies have stepped in with sponsorships, boosting the total raised and helping to set a foundation of global participation.
At the Global Security Exchange (GSX), set for Sept. 29–Oct. 1 in New Orleans, the foundation offers commemorative pins and other items to support its programs.
“These are also opportunities to bring people together from across the world and that’s the great thing about a foundation,” says Gill. “It’s more than just raising funds and raising awareness and creating opportunities. It’s bringing people together.”
Gill says the foundation aims to generate new insights and support training and awareness to help advance the security field.
“There are a lot of professional people on the front line at all levels seeking to become more competent in seeking to become and more influential in the roles they fill and the roles they fill are fundamental,” he says. “Let’s make no mistake about this: the security sector is fundamental to the protection of people and it’s fundamental to the protection of the businesses and organizations that we work in.”
“If security professionals don’t do their job, the consequences can be extremely serious, catastrophic,” says Gill.
He describes the fitness challenge and related fundraisers as part of a charitable effort that helps professionals access evidence-based resources to improve performance and make more informed choices.
“I’m extremely proud of the work that that we do. It’s global and it represents all parts of the world,” says Gill. “It’s a really great honor for me personally to be the chairman this year, but also to be part of something, as I have been for many years now, that is really geared to developing good practice and contributing to the progress of the security sector generally.”
“Gill calls the ASIS Foundation ‘a great thing to be a part of, although we, as trustees, really just facilitate opportunities for those who really do milk the opportunity and go on to do some fantastic bits of work.’”
“One of the issues that I’ve learned is it is possible to have a very big impact through an initiative, but they have to be thought through to be really meaningful and really impactful,” he says. “It sounds easy, right? ‘We will do good. We will raise money.’”
“But to do that well and to be optimal in its impact, it does need thought and it does need application and it does need management and it does need an ongoing process of keeping people engaged and keeping people interested,” says Gill.
“Just because people do it for free, that doesn’t mean they don’t need something back in return. They need interest and they need support and they need engagement. That can be expensive or at least time-consuming and difficult to get right, so there is a process of doing it well,” he adds.
