How a Small Funder in Virginia Tackles Critical Issues and Shifts Power to Local Nonprofits
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Fall colors near blacksburg, virginia. Rui Serra Maia/shutterstock
We periodically publish quick overviews of grantmakers on our radar, looking at recent developments and key details about how they operate. Today, we’re taking a look at the Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) in Blacksburg, Virginia, a tiny but mighty placed-based funder that manages a variety of funds, channels general operating support to local nonprofits, and brings together issue-specific networks to grapple with topics like aging and child care.
The foundation came to my attention last month when I was chatting with Felecia Lucky, the president of the Selma, Alabama-based Black Belt Community Foundation. Lucky explained that in 1998, one of Black Belt’s founders was inspired to launch the foundation after learning about the CFNRV’s work at a conference in New River Valley, Virginia. Lucky said she continues to keep tabs on the foundation and its efforts to shift power to the community.
“At the CFNRV, our mission is to encourage charitable giving, nurture collaboration, and invest in lasting solutions that enhance the quality of life for all in the New River Valley,” said CEO Jessica Wirgau via email. “We help individuals, families and businesses create and sustain a vibrant, supportive community, now and for generations to come.” This work includes bringing together nonprofit, government, business and community leaders to tackle pressing challenges, mirroring community foundations’ increasingly important post-pandemic role as conveners of regional stakeholders.
Foundations typically start off with large endowment gifts, but the origin story of the CFNRV is a bit different. It launched in 1994 with $8 — to confirm, there are no missing zeroes in that figure — which its founders used to buy stamps for a mailing. Twenty-nine years later, the foundation, which serves five counties and the city of Radford, has $15 million in assets and administers more than 200 endowed funds. It has disbursed $7.9 million in grants and scholarships since its inception.
The foundation has four main types of funds, each of which is funded by donors — donor-advised funds, scholarship funds, designated/agency funds that support specific agencies identified by the donor, and endowed field-of-interest funds that support particular interest areas, specific program initiatives, causes or geographic areas. The funds become endowed at the $10,000 or $15,000 level — depending on the type of fund — and donors can continue to grow them to as large as they would like.
The foundation also currently manages 52 scholarship funds. “This year, we’ll give out at least $100,000 in scholarships to high school seniors who plan to pursue higher education, those already attending a college/university or a trade/technical school and older adults returning to school,” said assistant director Lindsey Gleason in an email. Since awarding its first scholarship in 2002, the foundation has awarded more than $1.3 million to over 1,100 students.
The CFNRV also oversees a Responsive Grant program that provides nonprofits with up to $4,000 in critical general operating support. The foundation sources the fund from a pool comprising DAFs and field-of-interest funds. Last year, the foundation awarded over $208,000 to 71 nonprofits through the program. It will announce 2023’s recipients by early November.
Convening issue-specific networks
One of the more important post-pandemic developments in the philanthrosphere is how community foundations are leveraging their unique positions not just to help donors select which nonprofits to support, but bring together local partners to tackle key challenges. It reminds me of something Denver Foundation President Javier Alberto Soto once told me — that it’s community foundations’ “connective tissue with the community” that makes them unique players in the philanthropic ecosystem.
To this point, the CFNRV provides funding and technical support for networks that convene nonprofit partners, community members, and business leaders to address pressing issues in the community: hunger and food security, childcare and early childhood education, and aging.
The first network, Thrive, convenes representatives from universities, medical centers, churches and nonprofits to increase access to affordable, nutritious food in the region through shared learning, advocacy and strategic action. In May, the foundation released 2023’s food assistance directory, connecting community members to 53 food assistance programs in the New River Valley. At the time, Gleason told a local news station than an estimated that 11.1% of people in the New River Valley community struggle with some sort of food insecurity.
Another CFNRV network, First Steps, is a $1.15 million project to stabilize and grow the child care workforce. The initiative was among the 11 community projects funded by the Town of Blacksburg with its allocation of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The CFNRV is using the funds to “pilot a program over the next four years focused on retaining early educators and building the workforce pipeline,” Wirgau said. Components of the program include stipends to educators based on their length of service and credentials, scholarships and job placement services for high school and college students pursuing careers in early education, and outreach to area employers to create public-private partnerships that keep childcare accessible and affordable.
For the third year in a row, the CFNRV asked the community to nominate educators and advocates as First Steps “Early Childhood Champions.” The foundation recently celebrated 2023’s 14 nominees, five of whom received cash prizes. “This is one way we are able to recognize and uplift the incredibly important work that these individuals do each day,” said Gleason.
The third network, Aging in Community, addresses the fact that the number of area residents 65 and over is expected to double by 2030 and 50% of the region’s housing stock is at least 40 years old and ill-suited for those with declining mobility. Comprising developers, policymakers, citizens and service providers, the Aging in Community leadership team produced the Home Matters report and the Aging in Community Action Plan, which lists six specific strategies to ensure all adults can successfully age in place.
A fourth network is focused on nonprofit leadership, through which the CFNRV has provided monthly workshops and administered an annual giving day called GiveLocalNRV. The event raised $921,648 for more than 100 nonprofits this year — “a record-breaking year from us that nearly doubled our $500,000 goal,” Gleason said, with nonprofits receiving support from donors based in Ukraine, New Zealand and Australia.
