ABOUT

Southern Grants Forum was started to provide educational opportunities for grant-funded entities in the Southeast, Midsouth, and Southwest. The Forum has grown to become the region’s premier grants training conference and a venue for the exchange of ideas about grants management best practices. We regularly welcome participants from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. However, the conference is open to attendees from across the country. The Southern Grants Forum serves grant-funded organizations regardless of program, funding source, location, or type (whether nonprofit, government, institution of higher education, hospital, or tribal entity).

Conference Name

The Southern Grants Forum is named for the conference’s location. Although the venue has changed on a regular basis, the conference has always been held in the South. Attendees, though, are not limited to any specific states or regions. Registration and attendance are open to all grant professionals, regardless of where they live or work. Over time, the Southern Grants Forum has hosted attendees from virtually every part of the United States.

History and Future

Since its inception, Southern Grants Forum has been held in some of the region’s leading cities. The first Southern Grants Forum was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in the spring of 2015. After several successful years in Atlanta, the conference then moved to New Orleans for 2018 and 2019. Southern Grants Forum went virtual with an online conference in 2020. The conference returned to an in-person format in 2022 with a then-record attendance in Charleston, South Carolina.

Since 2022, the conference location has changed each year. In 2023, Southern Grants Forum took place in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2024 edition was held in Fort Worth, Texas. Southern Grants Forum returned to Louisiana in 2025 when we let the grant times roll in New Orleans.

Southern Grants Forum 2026 is scheduled for July 13-16, 2026, in Nashville at the Loews Nashville Hotel at Vanderbilt Plaza.

More Information

The Southern Grants Forum is proudly sponsored by the accounting firm of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, and by the grant-funded and tax-exempt organizations practice of Tipton KPCL. For even more information about Southern Grants Forum and answers to the most frequently asked questions, please visit our FAQ page.

†This is not a CPA firm.
*Assurance, attest, and audit services provided by Carr, Riggs & Ingram, L.L.C.

“Carr, Riggs & Ingram” and “CRI” are the brand names under which Carr, Riggs & Ingram, L.L.C. (“CRI CPA”), CRI Advisors, LLC (“CRI Advisors” or “Advisors”), and Capin Crouse, LLC (“Capin Crouse CPA”), and CRI Capin Crouse Advisors, LLC (“Capin Crouse Advisors”) provide professional services. CRI CPA, Capin Crouse CPA, CRI Advisors, Capin Crouse Advisors, Carr, Riggs & Ingram Capital, LLC and their respective subsidiaries operate as an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable law, regulations and professional standards. CRI CPA and Capin Crouse CPA are licensed independent certified public accounting (“CPA”) firms that separately provide attest services, as well as additional ancillary services, to their clients. CRI CPA and Capin Crouse CPA are independently-owned CPA firms that provide attestation services separate from one another. CRI Advisors and Capin Crouse Advisors provide tax and business consulting services to its clients. CRI Advisors and its subsidiaries, including Capin Crouse Advisors, are not licensed CPA firms and will not provide any attest services. The entities falling under the Carr, Riggs & Ingram or CRI brand are independently owned and are not responsible or liable for the services and/or products provided, or engaged to be provided, by any other entity under the Carr, Riggs & Ingram or CRI brand. Our use of the terms “CRI,” “we,” “our,” “us,” and terms of similar import, denote the alternative practice structure conducted by CRI CPA, Capin Crouse CPA, Capin Crouse Advisors, and CRI Advisors, as appropriate.