The Coweta Community Foundation has announced it will be partnering with the Foundation Center-Atlanta to become a resource center for nonprofits beginning in early 2016.
Staff from the Foundation Center-Atlanta came to Newnan this fall to meet with local nonprofit leaders, and they gave a preview of some of the services that will soon be available to these nonprofits.
Established in 1956, Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. Foundation Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit Foundation Center’s website each day and are served in its five library/learning centers, including the one in Atlanta, and at more than 450 Funding Information Network locations nationwide and around the world.
Stephen Sherman, Senior Librarian, and Louise Milone, Director of Foundation Center South, were both in Newnan this fall for the meeting with local nonprofits, which was held at the Newnan campus of the University of West Georgia. Sherman said the partnership will make the Coweta Community Foundation “sort of a hub” for the Foundation Center, and it will be serving those along the I-85 South corridor.
“That’s definitely filling a gap,” he said. Sherman said the list of those they serve varies, but the key audience is individuals and smaller organizations seeking information on starting a nonprofit.
Coweta Community Foundation Board Chair Ginger Jackson Queener said the nonprofit leaders were enthusiastic about their visit with Foundation Center officials. “The nonprofits thought it was wonderful, and they want us to continue to bring this type of program to the community,” she said. In follow-up surveys she sent after the event, she heard repeatedly that the one-on-one meetings with the Foundation Center staffers were of great help to Coweta’s nonprofits.
The Coweta Community Foundation is a publicly supported 501(c)3 organization that helps focus local philanthropy on the community’s changing needs. The Foundation manages individual gifts and bequests as an endowed pool of assets, distributing grants to a wide variety of organizations that enhance and support the quality of life in Coweta County, while maintaining the charitable intent of the donors. For more information, call the Foundation at 770-253-1833 or visit cowetafoundation.org. For more information on the Foundation Center, visit foundationcenter.org.