On March, 11, 1949, business and alumni leaders met with the intention of establishing a formalized way to financially contribute to intercollegiate athletics for Virginia Tech. The result of this meeting was the creation of the Virginia Tech Student Aid Association, Inc. With the hiring of a part-time Director in 1951 and the classification as a non-profit, tax exempt and deductible organization in 1955, the Hokie Club, as it was most commonly referred to as, was well on its way towards blazing a trail as one of the first fundraising organizations in intercollegiate athletics.

As the organization grew, the Hokie Club soon expanded, first with the hiring of a full time Director in 1960 and then an Assistant Director in 1970. With this growth, the Hokie Club began to establish giving levels for its contributors, establishing the Golden Hokie giving level in 1971, and began working on endowed gifts soon after. In 1978, the Hokie Club expanded further as local establishments within the community, called Hokie Clubs (ex. Roanoke Valley Hokie Club), were created throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In 1989, The Virginia Tech Student Aid Association, Inc. expanded its mission to include raising funds for all athletic purposes: scholarships, capital improvements, and programmatic needs. At this time, the official name of the organization was changed to the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund, Inc., in an effort to more appropriately reflect the mission of the organization. The Hokie Representative System was also implemented in 1989, in an effort to make sure that the Hokie Club could keep in personal touch with all of its contributors in an around the communities of the Commonwealth.