Virginia Catholic Conference

What Virginia Catholic Conference does

The Virginia Catholic Conference (VCC) is the official public policy agency representing Virginia's Catholic bishops and their two dioceses — the Diocese of Arlington under Bishop Michael F. Burbidge and the Diocese of Richmond under Bishop Barry C. Knestout. Founded in 2013 and headquartered at 919 East Main St., Suite 1140 in Richmond, VA, the organization conducts legislative advocacy, voter education, and grassroots mobilization on issues consistent with Catholic social teaching, including life, family, religious freedom, and social justice matters before the Virginia General Assembly.

The VCC's service portfolio centers on an Action Center integrated with VoterVoice that enables constituents to contact legislators directly, weekly legislative session updates, customized legislator voting records distributed at the parish level, voter education resources, and downloadable educational flyers in English and Spanish. The organization also convenes two flagship annual events — Virginia Pro-Life Day in Richmond and the Virginia March for Life at the state capitol — and publishes the 'From the Tiber to the James' blog for ongoing commentary on Catholic social teaching. All services are provided free of charge; there is no commercial pricing structure, no technology products developed, and no revenue-generating activity.

The organization is led by Executive Director Jeff Caruso with two Associate Directors (Kevin Mauer and Bil Re) and Management Committee member August Wallmeyer. Its strategic reach is amplified by the broader Catholic institutional footprint in Virginia — 77 Catholic schools serving 26,561 students ($315.7M in annual savings to the Commonwealth), Catholic Social Services serving 81,853 clients on a $26.9M combined budget, and 8 Catholic hospitals with 11,100 employees providing $159M in community benefit — positioning the VCC as the political voice of a substantial religious and social services ecosystem rather than a standalone advocacy entity.

Name

Virginia Catholic Conference

Legal name

Virginia Catholic Conference

Website

https://vacatholic.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Virginia Catholic Conference is a non-profit public policy agency founded in 2013 that represents Virginia's Catholic bishops, providing legislative advocacy, voter education, and civic engagement resources to over 700,000 Virginia Catholics across the Diocese of Arlington and the Diocese of Richmond.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Advocacy Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (81311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations (BPAGAJAK)

Keywords

• Religious advocacy services
• Public policy advocacy
• Legislative monitoring services
• Voter education resources
• Faith-based community outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Virginia Catholic Conference serves as the official public policy agency representing Virginia's Catholic bishops and their two dioceses (Diocese of Arlington and Diocese of Richmond). The organization delivers advocacy alerts, voter education resources, legislative tracking, and grassroots mobilization services on Catholic social teaching issues including life, family, religious freedom, and social justice. All services are provided free of charge to Virginia Catholics, parishes, and the public.

Product overview

The Virginia Catholic Conference offers a unified advocacy and education platform focused on Catholic social teaching in public policy. The core offering consists of an Action Center for constituent-legislator communication, voter education resources, and legislative tracking services. Supporting services include Virginia Pro-Life Day and Virginia March for Life annual events, the 'From the Tiber to the James' blog providing commentary on Catholic social teaching topics, and downloadable educational flyers. All services are free to Virginia Catholics and operate as a public policy voice for the state's Catholic bishops rather than a commercial product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• From the Tiber to the James: Blog series discussing Catholic social teaching, faithful citizenship, and Church issues in Virginia

Products and services

• Action Center Online advocacy platform enabling Virginia Catholics to contact legislators on key policy issues including life, marriage, family, religious freedom, and social justice matters. Serves as the primary digital engagement tool for grassroots mobilization.
• Voter Education Resources Provides voter registration guides, bishops' pre-election letters, candidate comparison resources, and conscience formation materials for Catholic voters in Virginia elections.
• Legislative Updates and Voting Records Weekly Virginia General Assembly session updates and customized legislator vote reports for parishes tracking votes on life, marriage, and religious liberty issues.
• From the Tiber to the James Blog Blog featuring articles on Catholic social teaching, faithful citizenship, and public policy positions on issues including immigration, health care, criminal justice, and environmental stewardship.
• Educational Flyers and Resources Downloadable PDF resources including flyers on constitutional amendments, voting guides, and Catholic social teaching materials available in English and Spanish.

Quantifiable outcome

• Network of 700,000 Virginia Catholics receiving advocacy alerts
• +4 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Americans United for Life: National pro-life public policy and legal organization. Directly comparable to VCC's life-issues advocacy work, particularly relevant to VCC's 'Stop the Abortion Amendment' campaign in Virginia, though operating federally rather than in a single state.
• Family Research Council: National faith-based public policy organization focused on family, marriage, and religious freedom. Comparable to VCC in issue priorities and advocacy tactics, though operating at federal scale rather than state-level, and from an evangelical rather than Catholic framing.
• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB): National public policy arm of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Directly comparable as the federal-level equivalent of VCC's role at the state level, with overlapping issue priorities (life, marriage, religious liberty, social justice) and shared Catholic social teaching framework.

Direct peers

• Virginia Family Foundation: Virginia-based socially conservative policy advocacy organization. Directly competes with VCC on overlapping life, family, and religious liberty issues at the Virginia General Assembly, often advocating on the same bills from a non-Catholic evangelical perspective.
• Catholic Conference of Ohio: State-level public policy agency for Ohio's Catholic bishops. The closest direct functional peer to VCC, performing identical legislative advocacy, voter education, and grassroots mobilization duties in a different state, with the same structure of representing multiple dioceses.
• Catholic Conference of Pennsylvania: Public policy voice of Pennsylvania's Catholic bishops. Operates the same model of state legislative advocacy, voter education, and parish-level mobilization that VCC uses in Virginia, serving a comparable Catholic population across multiple dioceses.
• Catholic Conference of Kentucky: Kentucky bishops' public policy agency. Functionally equivalent to VCC with the same advocacy, legislative tracking, and Catholic social teaching mission, though operating in a different state with different political dynamics.
• Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy: Virginia-based interfaith advocacy organization. Operates in the same Virginia legislative arena as VCC on social justice, poverty, and family issues, but from a multi-faith progressive perspective, providing a direct ideological counterpoint for VCC's advocacy positions.

Regional players

• Diocese of Richmond: The second Catholic diocese VCC represents. Co-governs VCC alongside the Diocese of Arlington, provides the parish and institutional network in central and southern Virginia, and shapes the organization's policy direction.
• Diocese of Arlington: One of the two Catholic dioceses VCC represents. Provides the institutional Catholic infrastructure (parishes, schools, social services) that VCC leverages for grassroots mobilization, and is a governing stakeholder that sets VCC's policy priorities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VaCatholicConf
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCx_To5z3IZyKnZlVOdsAhhA/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/vacatholic
• Instagraminstagram.com/vacatholic
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/virginia-catholic-conference

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Virginia Catholic Conference