Cobb Community Foundation (CCF) has recently restated its vision, refined its mission, revised its logo and tagline and given a fresh new look to its communications channels and website to make sure that Cobb’s residents, businesses, charitable organizations and other key stakeholders know what CCF is all about: inspiring charitable giving, building resources for the future and connecting donors who care with causes that matter.
“The new look, the new website, the new tools – everything that we have done – positions us well for growth in all types of charitable funds, certainly individual and corporate Giving Funds (also known as donor-advised funds), but also scholarship funds, funds for specific fields of interest or designated non-profits and even unrestricted funds that can be used to address different community needs as they arise,” explains CCF Executive Director Shari Martin. “All of this will allow us to give more support to the non-profits serving Cobb County as well as those outside of Cobb that are important to our donors,” she continues.
In addition to revealing its new look, CCF is celebrating 25 years of inspired charitable giving with a cornerstone event, the Together We Can Celebration on October 21, 2018, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Cobb Galleria Centre.
The celebration will be the first of its kind in Cobb County: an elegantly simple, upscale Sunday brunch, which will honor the people on whose shoulders the organization was built – founders, past board chairs and board members.
The celebration is also a fundraiser for the Cobb Community Impact Fund, a charitable fund that will ensure that the impact grants previously funded by the county can continue. “Over a three-year period, the $820,000 provided by the county was matched by $936,000 in private donations, and nearly 325,000 people were impacted. Cobb County cannot afford for these grants to go away. By raising the dollars needed, we can make sure that they won’t,” Martin says. The founder of the Cobb Community Impact Grant program, Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood, will also be honored at the event. “Tommy showed us what a huge impact a relatively small amount of dollars can make in the right hands.”
Impact grants historically were in the amounts of $5,000 to $10,000 and helped to fund new programs or expand existing ones. To avoid having to raise funds for these grants every year, CCF is rolling out a program where individuals, families, businesses and organizations can fund a grant for five years or even endow a grant into perpetuity. The fundholders will have the opportunity to name their grant and, depending on the commitment level, select which of the grant recipients should be awarded their specific grant. Fundholders can even present their grants at a future event. Martin reports that there are already several grant funding commitments in place. “Both individuals and companies really like the idea of being able to give dollars in their name for a program and to an organization that has already been vetted by an organization like CCF,” she says.
“The new Community Impact Fund will provide a mechanism for businesses, families and individuals to come together to ensure that resources will be available for the non-profit community, both now and into the future,” stated CCF Board Chair Bruce Clayton. “Providing an avenue to connect donors with causes that matter will help CCF realize its vision of a community fully engaged in meeting needs now and into the future.”
Also taking place at the Together We Can Celebration will be the formal presentation by CCF of the James L. Rhoden, Jr. Visionary Philanthropist Award to the recently named 2018 Philanthropists of the Year, David and Brittney Bottoms. “I have never seen anyone deal with such a tragedy with the grace and strength that they have shown,” Event Chair Kim Gresh shared. “To lose a child then almost immediately begin working on a program to support others going through something similar is just incredible. David and Brittney truly exemplify what philanthropy is all about.” Read their story.
For more information about the 25th Anniversary event or to fund or endow a Cobb Community Impact Grant in the future, contact us.
