Community Foundations Partners in the Community
As a Philanthropic Partner “Giving is Alive and Well” in Atlanta
Jun 26, 2009
Giving is what community foundations are strategically setup to accomplish. Making sure the community is healthy and vibrant, they look for nonprofit organizations that are filling gaps that the government hasn't covered, while working with philanthropists who are interested in giving back.
Communities are about sharing, and there are many ways to do that through community foundations because they truly are partners in philanthropy. Lauren Norton Welsh, Vice-President of Marketing and Communication for The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta sat down in an interview with Suite101.com to discuss the community, the foundation and fundraising during the recession.
2008 Community Foundations Rankings
Q: A recent study came from The Foundation Center showing that out of 717 community foundations across the country, The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta ranked 14th overall. What are your feelings about that ranking?
A: We have to be careful how we rank community foundations. Even though that study was on total assets, this might not be the best way to rank community foundations. Our job is to build an endowment that goes back out into the community. Therefore, how much you have isn’t as important as how much you give back into the community or how much of a difference you are making in that community through your leadership efforts.
Working With Donors Interested in Charitable Giving
Q: The Foundation Center report says “Community foundations are up 6.8% in giving for 2008.” So how did the foundation do from a fundraising standpoint?
A: We don’t do direct fundraising, which means we don’t go out and solicit donations directly from donors, because that would compete with the nonprofits we support. We work with professional financial advisors and planners, who work with individuals of wealth who are interested in charitable giving.
The professional advisor educates them about the tax benefits of setting up a donor advised fund within our organization as well as how The Community Foundation can educate them about issues in our region and the organizations making a difference with those issues. But many times the relationship comes from the financial advisor. Almost 90% of our donors are referred to us by the advisors and planners.
Giving in 2008 was extremely good and yes, we have gifts come in every year, but more important is grants going out. The tricky part is making sure we have balance between gifts that come in and grants that go out. Last year was our best year on record as we had gifts of one hundred and twenty million dollars, but it was also the highest year in grant making with ninety million dollars in grants. We are excited about that because we are in a difficult time, yet people see charitable giving as a means to help others and don’t wait to give. That is really important to the community and us.
How Community Foundations are Working Through the Impact of the Recession
Q: How has the recession impacted the foundation?
A: Like everyone, we have struggled with investment assets, which dropped 24%. This is a huge challenge for us. However, we were content that during a difficult crisis we managed as well as we thought we should, given the circumstances. But it meant we had to have staff layoffs. The remaining staff has to contribute more to health insurance, giving up paid parking and retirement benefits. We have also eliminated all professional development. So there are things we have done as an organization to offset those losses.
We have also tried to find ways to operate differently. In the Community Partnerships department we used to have a large pool of people who reviewed an application, went on the site visit and met together to talk about who would receive a grant. We condensed those teams to three individuals rather than trying to pull ten people together for each grant in each grant cycle. Now, we rotate three different staff members per grant cycle and then have time to do additional work.
Being more efficient with this new process, we are now doing three grant-cycles in the time it used to take to do two. So we do think there are ways to find efficiencies.
Partners in Philanthropy
Q: Is there anything specific you want the community to know about your organization?
A: Giving is alive and well. People are reading difficult stories out there about challenges in our community, but donors and philanthropists are giving back. They are giving deep by choosing to give to nonprofits. And the nonprofit sector in this community is strong. Even when struggling with fundraising, they are helping people who are at the brink.
Our job here at the foundation is to keep these nonprofits strong. Philanthropy is a way to improve our community. There is a strong shift in mood about giving back to our communities and volunteering. People who are laid off are seeing this as a way to keep going. Maybe they are having difficulty getting a job, but are still getting back out there as volunteers. Philanthropy is alive and well and a way to make a difference in the Atlanta Metro community.
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