Making Sense of a Changing Landscape

Our goal is to help you feel grounded, confident, and purposeful in your approach to supporting nonprofits and communities—even in times of change.

We recently hosted a webinar, Making Sense of a Changing Landscape: Guidance for Vermont Donors, to explore how donors can navigate shifting needs and opportunities. Below you’ll find some of the key takeaways from that conversation, along with practical tools you can use to guide your giving in Vermont.

Key Takeaways & Tips

• Shift to flexible support: Consider moving one or more of your grants from program-specific funding to general operating support. This allows organizations to respond to urgent needs and adapt to changes in their operating environment.
• Make multi-year commitments: Extending or making multi-year commitments to trusted organizations gives them predictability and stability, enabling long-term planning and sustainable impact.
• Engage deeply and build connections: Focus your time, talent, and treasure on 1–2 organizations you care about most. Cultivate relationships with nonprofit leaders and staff. These connections can increase your comfort with risk, build trust, offer inspiration, and amplify your impact.
• Support systems change: Beyond individual organizations, consider collaboratives and pooled funds, advocacy, grassroots organizing, and initiatives that strengthen democratic systems and social justice. This expands the reach of your giving and addresses root causes.
• Start small and iterate: Meaningful action doesn’t need to be perfect. Even one “learning” grant or small step can help you gain confidence and explore new ways of giving.
• Leverage community and peer support: Collaborate with other donors, advisors, and VCF staff to share ideas, overcome barriers, and amplify impact. Follow-up conversations with your Philanthropic Advisor are available for tailored guidance.
• Balance short- and long-term priorities: Use the framework listed in the tools below to balance responding effectively now while building toward lasting change. Organize your giving across three buckets:
  • Protect People (urgent needs for vulnerable communities)
  • Adapt & Redesign (capacity building, collaboration, and adaptation)
  • Seed the Future (innovation, emerging leaders, and visionary solutions).

Actionable Tools

• Revisit Your Philanthropic Compass
  It may be helpful to revisit the mission, vision, and values that guide your philanthropy. Use these worksheets to ground yourself in purpose.

• Map Your Priorities
  Use this worksheet to visualize how your support can address both immediate needs and long-term impact.

• Explore our Giving Guide
  With activities to explore your giving and fresh insights, this guide is designed to help you clarify your goals and make strategic, values-driven decisions about your philanthropy.

Together, we can strengthen Vermont’s communities today while building a more resilient and vibrant future for the generations to come.