Synopsis: The nation is entering one of the largest intergenerational transfers of wealth in its history. However, many communities continue to experience philanthropic underinvestment, capital extraction, and limited infrastructure for engaging local donors. This is felt all the more keenly in communities of historical marginalization, including those of Central Appalachia.
This Learning Journey explores what it would take to build on and develop a stronger Appalachian culture of giving by helping institutions attract, steward, and retain local philanthropic capital while strengthening community ownership, trust, and participation. If regional funders, intermediaries, and civic institutions do not intentionally prepare for this moment, much of the wealth generated by Appalachia during the Industrial Revolution will generationally continue flowing away from it.
Participants will explore donor engagement, collective giving, trust-based philanthropy, participatory grantmaking, wealth building, civic infrastructure, and institutional change through an Appalachian lens.
Session Dates & Times: All sessions are virtual, occuring on Tuesdays once a month at 2 PM and lasting 90 minutes. Dates follow:
November 10
December 8
January 12
February 9
March 9
May 4
By the end of this Learning Journey, participants will be able to:
- Understand the opportunities and challenges shaping Appalachia's current philanthropic landscape.
- Explore practical approaches to donor engagement, messaging, digital giving, collective philanthropy, and community wealth building.
- Strengthen their organization's ability to attract, steward, and deploy philanthropic capital.
- Contribute insights that inform AFN's broader field-building work, including the Community Foundations Guidebook, regional transfer of wealth strategy, and landscape analysis of Appalachia's giving ecosystem.
Audience: Program officers, community foundation staff, philanthropic leaders, donor advisors, impact investors, and intermediaries funding or interested in funding in Appalachia.