Sewa Forum 2026: Online Discussion Session
Date/Time
8/22/2026
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern
Event Description
America has no shortage of generosity or service, with charitable giving reaching $592.5 billion in 2024 and formal volunteers contributing 4.99 billion hours of service. Yet nonprofits continue to face growing challenges around donor fatigue, volunteer retention, youth opportunity gaps, healthcare access, and the responsible use of AI. This is the core question that Sewa Forum 2026 hopes to examine.
Event Theme: From Volunteers to Impact: Strengthening Fundraising Resilience and Nonprofit SustainabilityDate: Saturday, August 22, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST
Format: Virtual session, Zoom
About Sewa International USA:
With over 23 years of impact across 30+ countries, Sewa International USA works to empower communities through initiatives in education, youth leadership, healthcare, and disaster response and recovery. Sewa International USA is a Hindu faith-based humanitarian non-profit founded in 2003. Sewa operates in more than twenty countries and serves communities irrespective of race, religion, gender, or nationality.
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Location
Setting: Live Virtual
https://sewausa.zoom.us/my/sewausa
https://sewausa.zoom.us/my/sewausa
Details
Sewa Forum 2026: From Volunteers to Impact: Strengthening Fundraising Resilience and Nonprofit Sustainability
Convened by: Sewa International USA
Format: Virtual Policy Cafe (Zoom)
Date:22 August 2026
Time:11–01 PM ET
Executive Summary:
The United States has one of the most vibrant nonprofit and philanthropic ecosystems in the world. Millions of Americans give their time, money, skills, and networks to support causes ranging from disaster relief and education to food security, health, community development, and social services. In 2024, charitable giving in the United States reached an estimated $592.5 billion, reflecting the continued strength of American generosity. Volunteering also remains a major civic asset. AmeriCorps reports that Americans contributed billions of hours of service, with volunteer time generating significant economic and social value for communities. Yet many nonprofit organizations continue to face capacity pressures. Rising operating costs, donor fatigue, competition for attention, volunteer retention challenges, limited fundraising infrastructure, and staff burnout hinder organisations' ability to sustain long-term impact. Smaller and community-based nonprofits often face additional barriers: limited grant-writing capacity, weak donor pipelines, dependence on a small set of supporters, and difficulty converting episodic volunteers into long-term contributors.
These challenges are not simply financial. They are also relational and institutional. Nonprofits depend on trust, credibility, community ownership, volunteer leadership, and sustained donor engagement. In a changing civic landscape, organizations must think beyond one-time giving or one-time volunteering toward deeper models of participation, accountability, and shared responsibility. This Summit will convene nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, fundraising professionals, volunteer managers, researchers, and community practitioners to examine how nonprofit organizations in the United States can strengthen volunteer mobilisation and fundraising resilience without losing their community-rooted mission.
About Sewa International USA: Sewa International USA is a Hindu faith-based humanitarian nonprofit founded in 2003. Sewa serves communities irrespective of race, religion, gender, or nationality, working across disaster response, education, health, family services, and community development. Sewa’s work is strongly rooted in volunteer mobilisation, community ownership, and service-based participation. Its experience offers a useful lens to examine how nonprofits can build deeper volunteer pipelines, strengthen donor trust, and connect fundraising with long-term community impact.
Core Theme 1: Volunteer Mobilisation, Retention, and Civic Participation Understanding how nonprofits can move from episodic volunteering to sustained, skilled, and mission-aligned volunteer engagement.
Guiding Questions:
1. How can nonprofit organizations convert short-term volunteers into long-term contributors and community leaders?
2. What systems, training, recognition, and leadership pathways are needed to sustain volunteer motivation and accountability over time?
Core Theme 2: Fundraising Resilience, Donor Trust, and Nonprofit Sustainability Examining how nonprofits can strengthen fundraising models while preserving mission integrity, transparency, and community trust.
Guiding Questions:
1. How can nonprofits diversify fundraising beyond one-time donations, grants, or a small group of major donors?
2. What communication, reporting, and relationship-building practices help strengthen donor confidence and long-term giving?
Anticipated Outcomes:
Your Role in Shaping the Future: Nonprofit Leaders:
Convened by: Sewa International USA
Format: Virtual Policy Cafe (Zoom)
Date:22 August 2026
Time:11–01 PM ET
Executive Summary:
The United States has one of the most vibrant nonprofit and philanthropic ecosystems in the world. Millions of Americans give their time, money, skills, and networks to support causes ranging from disaster relief and education to food security, health, community development, and social services. In 2024, charitable giving in the United States reached an estimated $592.5 billion, reflecting the continued strength of American generosity. Volunteering also remains a major civic asset. AmeriCorps reports that Americans contributed billions of hours of service, with volunteer time generating significant economic and social value for communities. Yet many nonprofit organizations continue to face capacity pressures. Rising operating costs, donor fatigue, competition for attention, volunteer retention challenges, limited fundraising infrastructure, and staff burnout hinder organisations' ability to sustain long-term impact. Smaller and community-based nonprofits often face additional barriers: limited grant-writing capacity, weak donor pipelines, dependence on a small set of supporters, and difficulty converting episodic volunteers into long-term contributors.
These challenges are not simply financial. They are also relational and institutional. Nonprofits depend on trust, credibility, community ownership, volunteer leadership, and sustained donor engagement. In a changing civic landscape, organizations must think beyond one-time giving or one-time volunteering toward deeper models of participation, accountability, and shared responsibility. This Summit will convene nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, fundraising professionals, volunteer managers, researchers, and community practitioners to examine how nonprofit organizations in the United States can strengthen volunteer mobilisation and fundraising resilience without losing their community-rooted mission.
About Sewa International USA: Sewa International USA is a Hindu faith-based humanitarian nonprofit founded in 2003. Sewa serves communities irrespective of race, religion, gender, or nationality, working across disaster response, education, health, family services, and community development. Sewa’s work is strongly rooted in volunteer mobilisation, community ownership, and service-based participation. Its experience offers a useful lens to examine how nonprofits can build deeper volunteer pipelines, strengthen donor trust, and connect fundraising with long-term community impact.
Core Theme 1: Volunteer Mobilisation, Retention, and Civic Participation Understanding how nonprofits can move from episodic volunteering to sustained, skilled, and mission-aligned volunteer engagement.
Guiding Questions:
1. How can nonprofit organizations convert short-term volunteers into long-term contributors and community leaders?
2. What systems, training, recognition, and leadership pathways are needed to sustain volunteer motivation and accountability over time?
Core Theme 2: Fundraising Resilience, Donor Trust, and Nonprofit Sustainability Examining how nonprofits can strengthen fundraising models while preserving mission integrity, transparency, and community trust.
Guiding Questions:
1. How can nonprofits diversify fundraising beyond one-time donations, grants, or a small group of major donors?
2. What communication, reporting, and relationship-building practices help strengthen donor confidence and long-term giving?
Anticipated Outcomes:
- A clearer understanding of key barriers affecting volunteer mobilisation and fundraising sustainability among U.S. nonprofits.
- A prioritized set of policy and practice questions to guide future research, training, and nonprofit capacity-building.
- A stronger framing of how volunteer engagement and fundraising should be treated as connected systems rather than separate organizational functions.
- Identification of practical collaboration opportunities among nonprofits, donors, community groups, researchers, and volunteer networks.
Your Role in Shaping the Future: Nonprofit Leaders:
- Explore how organizations can build stronger systems for volunteer recruitment, training, retention, donor engagement, and long-term sustainability.
- Volunteer Managers: Discuss practical approaches to volunteer onboarding, motivation, accountability, leadership development, and recognition.
- Fundraising Professionals: Examine how donor trust, transparency, storytelling, and impact reporting can support more resilient fundraising models.
- Philanthropists & Donors: Reflect on how funding practices can support long-term capacity, not only short-term programs.
- Community Organizations: Identify ways to strengthen local ownership, civic participation, and service-based networks.
- Researchers: Bring evidence on giving trends, volunteer behavior, nonprofit finance, civic engagement, and organizational sustainability.
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