History

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta was created in 1951 by Atlanta’s four largest banks – Citizens & Southern National, First National, Fulton National and Trust Company of Georgia. In that year The Community Foundation offered its first grants of $450,000 to nonprofits in the metropolitan Atlanta region.
 
Today The Community Foundation has grown to be one of the largest philanthropic service organizations in the southeast giving away an estimated $60 to $75 million annually. Read through the timeline below to learn more about some of our successes along the way. 

2008 – 2004

• 2008 Awarded a record high $90 million in grants to nonprofits locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
• 2008 Launched Grants to Green in collaboration with Southface and Enterprise Community Partners to provide environmental knowledge and funding to strengthen nonprofits. 
• 2007 Established the Champions for Children with Exceptional Needs Initiative, a collaborative effort of The Community Foundation and the Georgia Department of Human Resources to address the needs of medically fragile children and their families. 
• 2006 Successfully collaborated with Mayor Shirley Franklin, Atlanta leaders and a diverse group of donors to secure a collection of more than 15,000 writings of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
• 2005 FY 04-05 4,600 grants made totaling nearly $50 million
• 2005 $350,000 in scholarships awarded
• 2005 Local funds restructured to increase regional outreach 
• 2005 Completed Giving a Shared Inheritance, a significant study on African American giving and volunteering in metro Atlanta 
• 2005 Partnered with the Ad Council, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Regional Leadership Forum and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta in Metro Voices Metro Choices: Building a Greater Atlanta, a civic engagement project to revitalize public life throughout the region 
• 2005 Partnered with the Healthcare Georgia Foundation to release Homelessness & Health: Wicked Problems, Small Wins, a study on how these two critical issues intersect 
• 2005 $650,000 in grants made supporting Katrina relief effort 
• 2005 The Neighborhood Fund forms a partnership with the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation to distribute small grants to metro area neighborhoods to promote physical activity 
• 2005 Partnered with Kaiser Permanente Georgia to develop Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Program, in which $1 million in grants will be distributed 
• 2005 Granted more than $600,000 through the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund 
    

2004 – 2000

• 2003 Added Morgan County as the Foundation’s seventh Local Fund. 
• 2003 Arts Fund receives $1 million Kendeda Challenge 
• 2003 Launched the Arts Loan Fund 
• 2002 Established foster care initiative Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Opportunities Initiative (MAYOI) 
• 2000-2003 Made grants totaling more than $137 million. 
• 2000 Added Newton County as the Foundation’s sixth Local Fund. 
• 2000 Added “An Extra Wish” component to the Foundation’s Unrestricted Grants application. 
• 2000 Established the Center for Family Philanthropy. 
    
   

1999 – 1988   

• 1999 Completed pro bono market research with Boston Consulting Group. 
• 1999 Implemented Foundation Information Management System (FIMS), a comprehensive data management system. 
• 1998-99 Increased emphasis on planned giving. 
  * Stronger, more planned outreach to professional advisors. 
  * Assets increased to $334 million. 
  * Increased and enhanced corporate communications. 
  * Staffed donor services. 
• 1998 Significantly increased the amount of money available for Emergency Assistance grants. 
• 1998 Implemented first statewide “Leave a Legacy” program. 
• 1997 Changed the corporate name to The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and redesigned corporate logo; offices in the Hurt Building. 
• 1997 Leveraged existing financial alliances with Merrill Lynch, American Funds, SunTrust and Ballentine. 
• 1997 Began Intergroup Relations Program to bring newcomers, refugees and long-time residents together in partnership. 
• 1995 Initiated Early Start, a five-year, strategic grantmaking initiative, which focuses on early childhood education and support services for families. 
• 1992 -1996 Organized Local Funds in Cobb, Clayton, North Fulton, Henry and Fayette counties. 
• 1991 Developed more field-of-interest funds, including the Atlanta Women’s Fund and the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund.
• 1991 Developed the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund. 
• 1990 Created and nurtured the Neighborhood Fund and its technical assistance component. 
• 1989 Founded and developed the Nonprofit Resource Center and saw it successfully become a separate nonprofit – the Georgia Center for Nonprofits – after ten years. 
   

1977 – 1988  

• 1988 Established annual Managing for Excellence Award to recognize   governance and managerial achievements of nonprofit organizations. 
• 1986 Field-of-interest funds, including the Gausemel-Payne Cancer Fund, were established. 
• 1984 A bequest from Pearl Cox Strickland created the George and Pearl Strickland Scholarship Fund. 
• 1982 Coordinated funding and construction of the Academy Theater. 
• 1977- Alicia Philipp is named the Foundation’s Executive Director. 
• 1977 -The Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation was created as a corporate entity.  Increased the volume of new funds and additional gifts to donor-advised funds that brought the Foundation’s assets to $77 million. 
• 1977 Federal tax regulations clarified donor-advised funds making their popularity soar. 
   

1977 – 1970   

• 1975 Convened Atlanta 2000, a process for Atlanta to think and plan for the future. 
• 1974 -1978 Dan E. Sweat, Jr. served as Board President from 1974 – 1988. 
• 1971 The Foundation provided early grants and staff for Leadership Atlanta and made a great number of unrestricted grants to lesser known institutions. 
• 1970-74 Frank Robinson served as the Foundation’s Executive Director; offices in the Healey Building. 
• 1970 - Made more than $1.2 million in grants to local nonprofits 

1970 – 1959  

• 1963 The Foundation provided funding and staff support for Atlanta’s Community Research and Planning Council. 
• 1 962 The Metropolitan Foundation of Atlanta, Inc. was created to hold title to real property for local nonprofit organizations. 
• 1959-1969 made grants totaling more than $3.4 million 
    
  

1959 – 1951

• 1959 A. B. Padgett was named as the Foundation’s first Executive Director; offices were established in the Candler Building. 
• 1951 The Metropolitan Foundation of Atlanta was created by Atlanta’s four largest banks:  Citizens & Southern National (C&S), First National, Fulton National and Trust Company of Georgia.  The Foundation was administered by a trustees committee and a distribution committee. 
• 1951 Made 119 grants totaling over $450,000 to nonprofit groups in Atlanta.