2026 Virginia Fund Raising Institute

Despite significant cuts to public funding, nonprofits continue to mobilize and provide critical community services. There are mission-aligned funding strategies for organizations to pursue, even in difficult times; particularly building meaningful partnerships with values-aligned corporations and foundations. Join this special session with VIA Centers for Neurodevelopment and CIMA Consulting to learn how to diversify your funding sources in ways that are right for your mission, capacity, and the moment.

Major employers and corporations look to nonprofit partners to live out their values and engagement goals, and they want to do this with meaning and depth. While featuring national trends and changes in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sponsorship relations, presenting leaders from SHARE Greater Lynchburg and their national platform partner Share Good will illuminate examples across their network of communities where corporate engagement and long-lasting partnerships have been maximized. Whether through assisting with volunteer time off (VTO) benefits or providing recognition and engagement at key events and with aligned programs – nonprofit development leaders can leverage their unique position of community enrichment with like-passioned institutions. Examples will illuminate how a convening partner like a SHARE community organizer can assist with connections to corporate leaders. Attendees will glean great lessons from the experiences such organizers have carried out and witnessed for CSR success.

This session explores how nonprofits can engage varying donor levels and corporations in mission-driven philanthropy through meaningful donor experiences and corporate gifts. Participants will learn to connect their mission to corporate CSR priorities, center the experiences of those they serve, and clearly articulate ROI. By leveraging donor circles, councils, events, volunteerism, and authentic storytelling, attendees will discover strategies to foster deeper, purpose-driven partnerships that go beyond transactions to co-create real change. Walk away with practical tools to strengthen relationships and position your organization as a compelling business and social value proposition for both corporate and individual partners.

The grants landscape looks nothing like it did two years ago. Federal funding has contracted dramatically. State priorities are shifting. And private foundations are fielding a wave of new applicants from organizations that never needed them before. If your grants strategy hasn’t changed. It’s already behind.
This session maps the full grants landscape in Virginia — federal, state, local, private, and corporate — so development officers can see the whole board. We’ll walk through what’s happening at each level: where funding is growing, where it’s shrinking, who the new competitors are, and where the overlooked opportunities sit.
We’ll pay particular attention to the ripple effects. When thousands of formerly federal-dependent organizations pivot to private philanthropy, it changes the competitive dynamics for everyone. Foundations are adjusting. Corporate funders are rethinking. And that means different things for everyone.

This workshop provides practical, step-by-step guidance for building effective, authentic relationships with foundation and corporate grantmakers in today’s constrained and competitive funding environment. Participants will learn how to find the right contact for their grant, initiate outreach that gets responses, and structure conversations that advance trust without overselling. The session will break down real-world tactics for introduction, follow-up, documentation, and stewardship—what to say, when to say it, and when to stop talking. With real-world insight from a Senior Program Officer who has given millions of dollars in grants, this workshop will balance strategy with reality and demystify funder engagement…all while acknowledging that even seasoned fundraisers get intimidated by the people who make decisions about grants (and yes, that’s normal).