Want to help ICMA continue its mission of advocating for professional local government management and the council-manager form? Become a local government hero, visit icma.gives, and make a donation to ICMA’s Future of Professional Management Fund.

Why give to ICMA’s Future of Professional Management Fund? Because “We need a systematic, purposeful, and cohesive approach to encouraging the up-and-coming to give serious thought to a professional management role,” says Rebecca Fluery, city manager, Battle Creek, Michigan.

"Each of us has the same opportunity to help ensure that this profession continues, that public service is valued and attractive to young people, and that our communities are responsive, nonpolitical, and ethical,” says Tom Lundy, retired county manager, Catawba County, North Carolina.

For more than two decades, ICMA’s Future of Professional Management Fund has helped ICMA

• Support resident groups and other grassroots, local advocates when the council-manager form of government is challenged or considered for adoption.
• Increase public awareness—through ICMA’s Life, Well Run initiative and other educational materials—of the value of having a professional local government manager at the helm.
• Attract the best and brightest to the local government management profession.

Despite the continued success of the council-manager form and the local government management profession, a number of communities attempt each year to abandon the form or dilute the authorities afforded to their professional manager. Combating these efforts requires considerable resources, and more are needed to successfully continue our efforts.

If you’ve given to the Fund in the past, we thank you for your generosity and hope you will continue to support these efforts. If you haven’t yet given to the Fund, become a local government hero, visit icma.gives, and donate to ICMA’s Future of Professional Management Fund.