Dear readers, friends and supporters, 

Last week we sent out our usual weekly email. Unfortunately, there was a word in this email that we now know has an offensive meaning. This was brought to our attention online, and the writer of the email immediately apologised for referring to themselves with this term, explaining genuinely and honestly how this had happened. We removed the email, everywhere we could. We replied and apologised to the three people who had emailed us directly, within hours. 

But most importantly, we felt terrible that this had caused upset to some of our respected readers. 

We want to reassure you that every member of our team cares about the fundraisers who use our site and the work we do to share inspirational fundraising with you. We have never, and would never, intend to hurt or offend any readers with our words. We always aim to share high quality content that helps you in your roles, and we're so sorry that last week we let people in our community down with the language we used. 

Unsurprisingly, we’ve been tough on ourselves the past few days, but we know we have to use this experience as a way to look at how SOFII can be part of the solution when it comes to inclusivity. We will keep on working to highlight the brave fundraisers who deliver campaigns that shine a light on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion. We will continue to use our site as a platform for all fundraising success stories, and we will keep on amplifying the diverse voices of fundraisers from around the globe who champion a range of good causes. 

Finally, we are very grateful to the kind readers who have already reached out to accept our apology. We appreciate you being respectful to our team and our varied experiences, especially when we’ve caused upset. We hope that if you have questions or would like to talk to us further about this, that you will reach out to us personally so we can listen to your thoughts and do everything possible to address any concerns you may have. 

We care about you and we are sorry. 

With best wishes,

The SOFII Team

PS This week, in addition to our usual Thursday update, we will also be sending an update on Tuesday which will include a link to this message. Thank you.