DETAILS

The nation is in 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.