The Virginia Veterans Services Foundation (the Foundation) is established as an independent body politic and corporate agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia supporting the interests of veterans and their families and donors through the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the programs and services of the Department of Veterans Services (DVS). For Fiscal Year 2023 the Foundation raised more than $803,000 to support Virginia’s veterans. This is short of the $1.6 million annual requirement identified by the Department of Veterans Services. To address this shortfall the Foundation hired an outside consultant to recommend changes necessary to improve efficiency and ability to respond to changing veterans needs. Additionally, the Foundation is developing a strategic plan to implement many of the recommendation coming from the assessment. For the Board to be most effective it is critical that all Board positions are filled. During most of 2023 the Board functioned with five (5) vacant positions which has limited the impact the Board had on fundraising activities.