Evolving Grantmaking Strategies for Greater Impact: An ACCP Virtual Summit
November 4-5, 2026
1pm – 5pm ET
Interactive Online Program via Zoom
Sponsored by
As corporate philanthropy continues to evolve, this summit provides a comprehensive look at how companies can maximize their impact through effective grantmaking and community partnerships. Attendees will gain insights into shifting funding models, innovative giving structures, and new benchmarks such as the 1% floor that are reshaping expectations for corporate philanthropy. Sessions will highlight trust-based philanthropy, nonprofit capacity-building, and long-term investment strategies that support collective impact and stronger communities of practice.
Attendees will:
- Discover emerging grantmaking strategies and learn how to determine which funding approaches best align with organizational goals and priorities.
- Leave with actionable ideas to evolve grantmaking strategies in your organization.
- Identify ways that applying trust-based practices can strengthen relationships with nonprofit partners.
- Explore collaborative funding models and cross-sector partnerships.
AGENDA
November 4: Strategy, Trends & Evolving Funding Models
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 1:00 – 1:10 PM | Welcome, Housekeeping, Sponsor Acknowledgement & Framing |
| 1:10 – 1:30 PM | State of Corporate Grantmaking: 2026 Trends & Insights
Get a data-driven snapshot of corporate philanthropy today, drawing on ACCP research and industry benchmarking. Presenters will highlight key trends, evolving practices, and common challenges shaping corporate grantmaking. |
| 1:30 – 2:00 PM | What the Trends Mean for Corporate Funders
Go beyond the data to explore what’s driving today’s grantmaking trends, how corporate funders are responding, and where practitioners are encountering challenges. This conversation will examine what these shifts could mean for the future of corporate philanthropy. |
| 2:00 – 2:10 PM | 10-Minute Break |
| 2:10 – 2:45 PM |
Choosing the Right Corporate Giving Vehicle Option Explore the spectrum of corporate giving vehicles, from direct giving and foundations to donor-advised funds, fiscal sponsorships, product donations, scholarships, and employee giving programs. Learn how business and community goals, control, compliance, flexibility, and legal considerations can help determine the right approach. |
| 2:45 – 3:30 PM | Rethinking Funding Models: Choosing the Right Approach for Greater Impact
Explore evolving approaches including trust-based philanthropy, multi-year funding, general operating support, and capacity-building investments. Through practitioner examples, learn when different models may be most effective and how to navigate implementation and build internal support. |
| 3:30 – 3:45 PM | 15-Minute Break |
| 3:45 – 4:45 PM | What’s Changing in Practice: Peer Discussions on Giving Approaches
Compare notes with peers on how corporate grantmaking is changing in practice. Discuss emerging approaches, pressures influencing decisions, common challenges, and ideas you can bring back to your organization. |
| 4:45 – 5:00 PM | Closing and Day 2 Preview |
November 5: Practice, Partnerships, Trust & Measurement
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 1:00 – 1:10 PM | Welcome & Housekeeping |
| 1:10 – 1:40 PM |
A Deep-Dive on Trust-Based Philanthropy Today What does trust-based philanthropy look like in practice? Explore core principles, the evidence behind the approach, and how corporate funders are adapting these practices, including key opportunities and implementation challenges. |
| 1:40 – 2:15 PM | What Communities Need from Corporate Funders Today
Hear directly from nonprofit and corporate leaders about what helps funder-community partnerships thrive. Explore what nonprofits value beyond funding, practices that build trust and reduce burden, and ways companies can strengthen relationships while advancing shared goals. |
| 2:15 – 2:45 PM | Rethinking the Funder–Nonprofit Dynamic: Peer Discussions on Trust, Power, and Practice
Take a closer look at how trust and power show up in grantmaking, from applications and due diligence to reporting, restrictions, and communication. Compare practices with peers and consider where greater flexibility, transparency, and shared decision-making could strengthen nonprofit relationships. |
| 2:45 – 3:00 PM | 15-Minute Break |
| 3:00 – 4:00 PM | Making the Case for Long-Term Community Investment
How do you build internal support for sustained community investment? Work through a practical framework for aligning investment with business priorities, gaining leadership buy-in, defining success, and communicating long-term value, while beginning a roadmap you can use within your organization. |
| 4:00 – 4:50 PM | The Collective Advantage: When Collective Investment Creates Greater Impact
When is collaboration the right strategy? Hear from leaders with experience in collaborative funding about when shared investment can create greater value, what makes these efforts work, and how to balance individual corporate priorities with shared community outcomes. |
| 4:50 – 5:00 PM | Closing, Announcements and Survey |
Agenda subject to change.
Speakers
Sebastian Africano
Executive Director
Trees, Water & People
Sebastian Africano is Executive Director and principal fundraiser for Trees, Water & People (founded 1998), as well as a speaker with the Trust Based Philanthropy Project. During the course of his career he has helped raise tens of millions of dollars from philanthropic partners including private and family foundations, corporate partners and high net worth individuals. He approaches fundraising as an opportunity to achieve meaningful change by creating win-win-win scenarios for implementers, intermediaries, and donors alike. Sebastian is based in Fort Collins, CO with his family of four, and travels extensively for work through Central America, Mexico and Indigenous territories of the southwestern United States.
Kelly Bukowski
Community Relations Manager
Land O’Lakes
Kelly Bukowski is a Community Relations Manager at Land O’Lakes, where she helps shape the company’s approach to community engagement, employee philanthropy & volunteerism, and strategic partnerships. She works across the organization and alongside community partners to mobilize people and resources around shared priorities, strengthening communities and creating meaningful, collective impact. Today, Kelly will be sharing about Land O’Lakes Community Impact Council, the employee-led grantmaking group that brings employees brings to the table for a transparent, hands-on experience where they explore critical issues and collaborate to drive positive change.
Corinne Graper
CEO
The Uplift Agency
Corinne Graper leads Uplift and provides strategic counsel to clients across environmental, social, governance and communications issues. With deep corporate strategy, change management and social impact experience, she helps business leaders drive sustainable and responsible business transformation. Uplift provides its clients with both technical expertise in environmental, human rights, and social impact issues and sustainability communicators and creatives to help companies look better and do better. Corinne’s passion for helping businesses drive positive change grew from her experience at Fortune 100 corporations, the United Nations, global nonprofits and grassroots organizations. She led various social responsibility and communications initiatives at Northwestern Mutual, Allstate Insurance Company and Kellogg Company. In addition to being the CEO of Uplift, Corinne has been an advisor to the United Nations – Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund. She is also on the board of advisors of NeedsList, a technology company that brings efficiency to the global humanitarian aid system. Corinne has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in communications from Western Michigan University. She and her husband have three children and two dogs, which makes her a master at juggling things and tuning out loud noises.
Leslie Hagele
Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility
CoBank
Leslie Hagele serves as the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at CoBank, one of the largest private providers of credit to the U.S. rural economy. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the bank delivers loans, leases and other financial services to agribusiness, rural infrastructure and Farm Credit customers in all 50 states. Leslie leads the investment of CoBank’s charitable giving portfolio to advance the bank’s mission to support rural communities. Before CoBank, Leslie spent 11 years at Capital One where she spearheaded numerous community impact initiatives, including the management of a multi-million-dollar grant portfolio, workforce development and education program design, disaster relief, employee volunteerism, and foundation operations, as well as serving in a chief of staff role to a senior executive. Her professional background also includes time at Feeding America, one of the largest hunger relief organizations in the United States, as well as on the community relations team of the Tampa Bay Rays, a Major League Baseball franchise. Leslie earned her bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University and her MBA from University of South Florida. Originally from South Dakota, Leslie is passionate about amplifying local voices and community-led solutions to ensure a thriving, prosperous rural America. When Leslie is not working, she is chasing her energetic husband and two young kids and pretending it counts as cardio.
Brian Kastner
Director, Engagement
Council on Foundations
As Director of Engagement and Global Philanthropy, Brian works across the Council’s membership to facilitate member interactions, deepen relationships, and promote peer learning among Council members. Brian and his team lead the Council’s responses to disasters and crises, administer the Philanthropy Exchange, maintain the yearly Council Awards program, and convene members around timely and important issues. He previously served as Lead Strategist, Global Philanthropy at the Council on Foundations and continues to support Council members in their global grantmakingPrior to joining the Council on Foundations, Brian worked at CAF America, a global grantmaking intermediary organization, supporting their thought leadership platform and communications efforts. Brian received his MA in international conflict and security from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies and received his BA from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
Ashly Ligouri
Senior Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility
CoBank
Ashly Ligouri serves as the Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility at CoBank. She is a dedicated leader with knowledge, experience, and education in grant making, partnership building, corporate social responsibility, and employee engagement.Before joining CoBank, Ashly was the Manager of Corporate Giving at Xcel Energy, where she implemented the Foundation’s mission across the company’s 8-state territory by aligning philanthropy with company strategy and leading grantmaking and employee engagement programs. Ashly is a champion of underserved communities, passionate about making a difference, and an advocate for economic opportunity. During her prior nonprofit career, she raised more than $9 million to support higher education, youth mentoring, and disaster services. Ashly holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in nonprofit management and a Corporate Social Responsibility Certificate from the University of Colorado Boulder.Ashly’s passion for rural stems from her Iowa roots, and her enthusiasm for making a difference extends through her personal volunteer efforts. She currently serves on the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation B:CIVIC Advisory Board and Denver Zoo Leadership Council. In her spare time, Ashly enjoys traveling with her husband, Scott, and son, Lorenzo, and hiking with their dog, Olive.
Who Should Attend
- Corporate philanthropy and CSR practitioners responsible for grantmaking, community investment, or nonprofit partnerships
- Practitioners looking to evolve their funding models through approaches such as trust-based philanthropy, multi-year funding, capacity-building, or flexible support
- Leaders evaluating giving structures and vehicles to determine what best supports their company’s philanthropic goals
- Practitioners seeking to strengthen how they measure, communicate, and demonstrate the impact of their philanthropic investments
Tuition
- Members: $450
- Non-Members: $650
Group Discount of 20% offered for 3 or more attendees.