Community Foundation Marks 25 Years with $25,000 in Gifts to 25 Local Nonprofits
Foundation passed $10 million in assets in June; "25 for 25" campaign will award $1,000 a day for 25 consecutive days to the agencies that hold permanent endowments with the Foundation |
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Lexington, VA (July 25, 2026) - Twenty-five years ago, a small group gathered in David Cox's living room in Lexington and gave away $1,500 to three local organizations. That was the first grant round of what is now the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath, and Alleghany Counties.
This year, the Foundation will distribute more than $400,000 to nearly 100 organizations.
In June, its assets passed $10 million β a goal set last year for the Foundationβs twenty-fifth.
To mark the anniversary, it is giving away $25,000 more.
Beginning August 1, CFRBA will award $1,000 a day for 25 straight days to 25 nonprofit organizations serving the region β $25,000 in total, distributed through a campaign the Foundation is calling 25 for 25.
Every recipient is an organization that holds a permanent agency endowment fund with the Foundation β all 25 of them, with none left out. Some established their funds years ago; others only recently. What they share is a decision to place a portion of their resources in permanent trust β choosing patience over immediate spending, and betting on their own longevity. Recipients will be announced one per day on the Foundation's social media channels.
The campaign is designed as much to spotlight the region's nonprofit sector as to fund it.
"Twenty-five years ago, Dan Vance and Woody Sadler decided that local dollars ought to stay local and do local good, permanently," said Lori Turner, Executive Director. "Everything we are today grew out of that one idea. So, when we started talking about how to mark 25 years, a banquet never really crossed our minds. The right way to celebrate this Foundation is to do the thing this Foundation exists to do β put money in the hands of people who are already out there feeding neighbors, sheltering families, assisting the elderly, nurturing youth and answering the phone at midnight. For 25 days, that's exactly what we're going to do."
From a shared vision to $10 million
The Foundation traces its beginning to Dan Vance and Woody Sadler, two local leaders who believed this community could invest in itself β that a gift made here should stay here, and should still be working generations from now.
Their vision became the Rockbridge Area Community Foundation, established in 2001 as an affiliate under the umbrella of the Foundation for Roanoke Valley. For its first decade, the organization operated under that partnership, building its first funds and proving that a rural region could sustain serious, permanent philanthropy.
In 2011, the Foundation stood on its own. It became a fully independent community foundation, expanded its service area to include Bath and Alleghany, took the name it carries today, and hired Lori Turner as Executive Director β a role she has held for all fifteen years since.
"We didn't have much of a plan in 2001, and we certainly didn't have any money," said Woody Sadler, co-founder. "What Dan and I had was a conviction that the people here would give if you gave them a good way to do it β and that whatever they gave ought to be protected and put to work forever, not spent in a year and forgotten. Twenty-five years later, I'd say the community answered the question. This was never our foundation. It was theirs from the first day."
"People always assumed a place like this was too small to sustain a real endowment β that permanent philanthropy was something for big cities," said Dan Vance, co-founder. "We never believed that. What we needed was a structure, so that a person who loved this place could leave something behind and trust it would still be doing good long after they were gone. What surprised me was how many people around here were just waiting to be asked."
What Vance and Sadler started with an idea is now one of the region's most significant philanthropic organizations.
Today the Foundation stewards 87 individual donor funds and more than $10 million in charitable assets. Over the past fifteen years, it has granted more than $4.6 million to local causes and supported over 150 nonprofit organizations across the region. It holds another $14 million in planned giving already committed β bequests and legacy society gifts from donors who have chosen to leave a permanent mark on their community.
Those dollars have funded the COVID-19 Pandemic Fund, the Walker Entrepreneurship Program, and the Rockbridge Recovery HOPE House for Men and Women, among many others.
Because those funds are endowed, the giving does not stop. The Foundation distributes 4 percent of a three-year rolling average of its total corpus each year β currently more than $400,000 annually β while the principal remains invested and intact. A fund created in 2001 is still making grants in 2026, and will still be making grants in 2051.
"What makes a community foundation different is patience," said Greg Madsen, Chairman of the Board. "We are not here to make a splash and move on. Every dollar entrusted to this Foundation is invested to serve this region in perpetuity. Twenty-five years in, we're seeing gifts made by people who are no longer with us still paying for scholarships, still keeping the doors open at organizations they loved. That's the promise we make to donors, and I'm proud that this board and this staff have kept it. Lori put $10 million on the board as the mark for our twenty-fifth year, and this community got us there."
What CFRBA does
The Foundation serves three roles in the region:
For donors β CFRBA makes charitable giving simple and permanent. Individuals, families, businesses, and organizations can establish a named fund β designated, donor-advised, field-of-interest, scholarship, or agency endowment β with the Foundation handling investment management, due diligence, grant administration, and compliance. Donors get the impact of a private foundation without the cost or the paperwork.
For nonprofits β CFRBA awards competitive grants each year to organizations in the communities they serve. It also holds and manages endowments on behalf of local nonprofits, giving small organizations access to professional investment management and a stable annual income stream.
For students β The Foundation administers 15 scholarship funds, awarding more than $50,000 each year to graduates from across the region pursuing college, trade, and vocational education.
Beyond grantmaking, CFRBA convenes. The Foundation regularly brings together nonprofit leaders, local government, funders, and residents to identify unmet needs and coordinate response β work that has proven especially valuable in a rural region where organizations are small, staff are stretched, and duplication is expensive.
How 25 for 25 works
There is no application and no competition. The Foundation currently holds agency endowment funds for exactly 25 organizations β a coincidence of arithmetic that made the campaign design itself. Every one of them receives an award.
The $25,000 is underwritten by a gift from the Derrick Family Foundation Fund, a donor-advised fund held at the Community Foundation β an example of the campaignβs own premise, a fund created here doing work here years after it was established.
An agency endowment works like this: a nonprofit places funds with the Foundation permanently. CFRBA invests and manages them, handles the administration and compliance, and returns an annual distribution to the organization β calculated at 4 percent of a three-year rolling average, so the payout stays steady even when markets do not. It gives a small nonprofit access to professional investment management it could never afford alone, and it gives that organization's donors a way to make a gift that outlives all of them.
Each of the 25 awards is unrestricted, on top of the organization's regular annual distribution. Recipients may use the funds wherever the need is greatest.
"Unrestricted is the point," Turner said. "These are organizations we've walked alongside for years. They know their needs better than we ever could. This funding fills the gaps."
One announcement will be made each day for 25 consecutive days on the Foundation's social media channels β follow along on Facebook at facebook.com/cfrba. Community members are encouraged to share the recipients' stories and consider giving directly to the organizations featured.
Looking ahead
With the $10 million goal met, the Foundation has set its next: reaching 100 endowed funds by 2030 β thirteen more than it holds today β and continues to accept new funds from donors at any level.
"Somebody in 2001 made a gift that is still working today," Madsen said. "The best thing any of us can do in our own 25th year is give the next generation something to work with."
To learn more about establishing a fund, applying for grants, or supporting the 25 for 25 campaign, visit cfrba.org or contact Lori Turner at 540-414-2674 or lori.turner@cfrba.org.
About the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath, and Alleghany Counties
Founded in 2001 as the Rockbridge Area Community Foundation on the vision of Dan Vance and Woody Sadler, and independent since 2011, the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath, and Alleghany Counties is a public charity that connects donors who care with causes that matter across Rockbridge County, Bath County, Alleghany County, and the cities of Lexington, Buena Vista, and Covington. The Foundation manages 87 funds totaling more than $10 million, has granted more than $4.6 million to over 150 local nonprofit organizations, and holds $14 million in committed planned giving. Learn more at cfrba.org.
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