Every year around this time, we kick off the Business Planning and Operating Standards (BPOS) process—a process that helps society leaders, society staff, and CFA Institute staff alike identify priorities, strengthen our governance, and plan initiatives for the upcoming year.
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Business planning provides an opportunity to consider the big picture, discuss your society’s future with your boards, and tell the story of who you are as a society. Your business plans help us aggregate your individual stories into a larger narrative that illustrates the collective impact of the CFA Society network, and the specific ways societies are working towards our shared goals and mission.
Now that we are a full year into implementing the Society Operating Model, we’ve identified a few areas where we can further refine the BPOS process to better align with your timelines and give you the resources you need to set you up for success.
A Change in Timing to Align with Your Planning
What is changing for FY25 is the deadline for societies to submit their FY25 business plans.
In years past, the business plan for the following year was due by 31 July of the current year. While this aligned with the fiscal years and regular business planning cycles for some societies, it was not the right timing for many others whose fiscal years run on an earlier or later cycle.
Beginning with the FY25 BPOS cycle, societies’ FY25 business plans will be due on the last day of the month that begins the society’s fiscal year. For example, if a society’s fiscal year starts on 1 September, the FY25 business plan would be due on 30 September.
It’s considered best practice for organizations to conduct business planning with their existing boards (before boards turn over with the next fiscal year) so that the incoming leadership can hit the ground running once they take office. The previous 31 July deadline forced many societies, who were at other points in their fiscal year cycle, to have to consider their strategy, initiatives, and budget either well before or after their boards transitioned. We hope this change in timing will better coincide with your planning processes so you can have the right conversations at the right times.
You can expect a reminder from your relationship manager or the Society Support Center to submit your business plan. Upcoming deadlines will also be included in the Weekly Connexion.
There will be no change in timing for societies’ year-end reports—these will continue to be due within four months of your society’s fiscal year end. The FY24 year-end template will be available by 31 May.
The change to business plan submission timing will not impact when societies receive operational funding.
Enhanced Society Leader Orientation and Tailored Learning Opportunities
Based on feedback from the Society Partnership Effectiveness Survey, we are building out new training resources for boards and staff and anticipate having our robust new offering ready to launch by 1 September. The new training model will include more adaptive and customized recommendations based on board and staff responsibilities and will be built on a new platform with more engaging, interactive learning tools. The content will address questions we frequently receive through the Society Support Center and aims to orient you to resources that will make it easier to run your society.
After the 1 September launch, we will expand the requirements (beyond the Society Leader Orientation training that is currently available) to include essential training modules that active society leaders and staff must complete in order to receive operational funding. Please look for more information in July and August.
In the meantime, we encourage new board or staff members to explore the existing training modules available on Society Center.
Consolidated MSLA/MSSSA
During our review of BPOS requirements, we realized we could streamline the Member Society Licensing Agreement (MSLA) and Member Society Software Sharing Agreement (MSSSA) to create a single, concise, evergreen agreement that addresses licensing, data privacy, and software usage terms all at once. We plan to have the consolidated agreement to you in early July so you have adequate time to review. Those in your society with signing authority can then revert the agreement before the existing documents expire on 31 August 2024.
FY25 Business Plans: Differentiation within the Society Service Standards
Because the Society Partnership Effectiveness Survey results showed the majority of the network believes the standards align with the initiatives and activities you want to pursue and with the impact you want to make in your markets, we feel confident that the path we’re on is the right one. So, the service standards themselves will remain unchanged. We will continue to align with the CFA Institute strategy around the following pillars:
- Shaping the future of the industry and profession
- Offering and promoting a diverse portfolio of learning products
- Building community and providing member value
- Ensuring excellence in society governance and operations
The templates will continue to reflect the differences in standards across segments and have been streamlined not only to help you focus on the activities and initiatives where you can make the most impact in your market but also to reduce administrative headaches. The table available here outlines what this differentiation looks like across the network through the number of Society Service Standards each segment is expected to achieve.
Along with an outline of the Society Service Standards, the business plan template includes the following to support your planning.
Business Plan Executive Summary:
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This section of the template gives you an opportunity to share a short description of your society’s strategy and progress towards completing the service standards. Here, you can tell your story and allow us to better understand the scope and context for your local objectives and initiatives, and where your Board is focusing its attention this year.
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The Executive Summary is best completed by someone in a role with the most comprehensive view of your society’s plan for the year ahead—likely a president or CEO/executive director.
Budget and Glossary
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To support consistent reporting income and expenses across the entire network, we include a glossary that defines terms included in the Budget worksheet.
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The Budget worksheet should look familiar, as it remains largely unchanged from prior years. Open text field and comment sections in the worksheet allow you to include additional context or other items not captured in the list of income and expenses.
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You can refer to the email sent to you in December 2023 from societyrelations@cfainstitute.org for your society’s FY25-26 operational funding amounts.
Examples of Activities Aligned to Society Service Standards
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To give you concrete examples of the various ways you can contribute to advancing our mission through the service standards, the template includes a list of sample activities your society can pursue. Many of these use readily-available, existing resources that your society can customize for your market. We invite you to explore the resources listed below, too, for inspiration from around the network.
Access your FY25 Business Plan template on Society Center.
See the table below for more information on BPOS requirements and availability.
Additional Resources to Support Your Planning
Although the standards themselves are not changing, our review of FY24 business plans and what we have heard from your feedback revealed we could provide more guidance and examples for the process.
We have revised the Society Service Standards Reference Guide (available on Society Center) to provide more clarification on what kinds of activities would fulfill each of the Service Standards. The guide points to updated content and resources your society can customize to meet the needs of your market and fulfill the Service Standards.
You need not look further than the society network to be inspired by what’s possible. I urge you to draw inspiration from the content and events listed as Community Content here Connexions to see the way they are making an impact on their local investment communities.
You also have a network of experts available at your fingertips. The Connexions Community on Higher Logic is a place where you can ask your questions, share your initiatives, and offer your expertise with other society leaders and staff in a secure environment. Please log in today to join the conversation.
Finally, as noted above, look for more staff training, opportunities for collaboration, and other resources to help you deliver on the service standards in the coming months.
In addition to being required for operational funding, the BPOS requirements provide an opportunity to consider the big picture, discuss your society’s future with your boards, and tell the story of who you are in your market. Your business plans help us aggregate your individual stories into a larger narrative that illustrates the collective impact of the CFA Society network, and how you are delivering value to your members and working towards our shared goals. Your plans also help us identify where things are working well and where additional resources, support, or information is needed to be successful. Thank you in advance for helping make this year’s BPOS process a success!
Lastly, I would like to thank the amazing Society Relations professionals, led by Julie Emerson, who oversee these processes. They are extremely thoughtful in design and communication of all aspects of society planning, reporting, and training—always with the best interests of our organizations, volunteers, staff, and members in mind.
Membership
Member Renewal Resources
Renewal for membership year 2025 (MY25) opens later this week (early May). Visit Society Center to access these resources to support your society’s renewal efforts:
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Society Staff Training session recordings for APAC and AMER/EMEA
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MY25 Society Renewal Toolkit and additional materials
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Member Communications Calendar
Remember that the toolkit and accompanying materials will be updated as the campaign progresses. Please navigate to the folder to access the most up-to-date version, rather than referring to previously downloaded files.
Governance
Presidents Council Elections
Balloting closed on 3 May for 2024 Presidents Council elections, and we reached quorum for all subregions holding elections and for the global Presidents Council Chair elections. The Nominating Committee will verify results between 7 and 9 May. We will communicate the results with the candidates by 11 May and notify the global network of election results on 14 May.
Future of the Industry and Profession
Unstructured Data and AI in Investments
Register now for the 16 May webinar to gain insights on AI’s growing impact on finance, from investment roles to data science techniques. Explore case studies and learn to uncover hidden value with large language models and ESG indices. Interested in promoting the PL credit eligible-webinar to your audiences? Access the toolkit.
CFA Program
Specialized Pathways Webinar
Learn more about our upcoming CFA Program webinar, "Your Next Job Is Waiting: Step Up Your Career with the CFA Program" on 8 May at 8 am ET. The webinar will explore the Level III specialized pathways that will take effect with the February 2025 exams.