Grantmaking update

In October 2019, the Foundation’s Board of Directors approved a strategy to lead and inspire philanthropy to increase equity of opportunity for all the region’s residents. The Foundation’s Board and staff developed this strategy in concert with volunteers and a plethora of community leaders from the civic, corporate, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. In the design of this strategy, three key pillars were identified:

• Prosperous people, focused on educational and career pathways for individuals, including early childhood education, post-secondary completion and career preparation and access;
• Strong families, focused on supporting families of all shapes and sizes to live healthy, fulfilled lives;
• Thriving communities, which includes a commitment to strengthening civic voice while increasing affordable housing, transportation access and environmental justice.

Initially our plans were to release the strategy and funding priorities for increasing equity of opportunity in early spring of 2020. COVID-19 dramatically changed our immediate focus and continues to have significant impact on the lives of residents across our region. The civil unrest our community and the country is experiencing in this moment calls us to acknowledge the racial justice movement and work toward racial equity. While there is much uncertainty as to what lies ahead, today we want to share with you where we are with our plans and priorities for upcoming grantmaking. Here are the priorities the Foundation will be focusing on in the coming months.

Prosperous People: the focus will be on providing equitable K-16 access for students, particularly post-COVID and post-recession to ensure that students in lower income communities continue to matriculate towards equitable opportunities and economic mobility and are not left behind due to systemic disparities. What is certain today is that the learning loss since mid-March is not only due to the fact that an average of 36.5% of students in our region were without devices or connectivity to engage in online learning, or that 61.8% of our schools were Title 1 schools prior to the pandemic, but also due to students and their families experiencing varying levels of trauma due to the pandemic. To minimize the interconnected effects of both another recession and learning loss, the Prosperous People pillar will work with school districts and educational organizations to identify the disparities, challenges and setbacks in the educational system for lower income communities, to identify and support organizations that are actively addressing these disparities and to empower the school districts and these organizations to work jointly as an ecosystem to deliver a collective impact model that addresses the loss and setbacks during this time.

Strong Families: the focus will be on quality youth development and mental health. Due to COVID-19, more than 60% of youth development organizations in the metro Atlanta region transitioned to virtual programming and many are providing wrap-around support services for the youth and their families. The Foundation will provide grants for quality youth development organizations that are led by people of color, primarily serve youth of color and/or have boards that are primarily comprised of people of color. With the onset of the current crisis and the disproportionate impact it is having in communities of color on health, social and economic impacts, the Strong Families pillar will also support organizations that provide mental health services. In addition to grants for mental health services, the Foundation is exploring ways to provide training and capacity building for nonprofits on secondary trauma and community resilience. More details will be shared later this summer.

Thriving Communities: the focus will be on community and civic engagement and affordable housing. Building resident agency, power and leadership to prioritize the most critical issues in their communities and mobilize a democratic and inclusive structure for engagement and action is always critical, and with the disparities being realized as a result of COVID-19 it becomes even more pressing to ensure that people have opportunities to lead in their own communities. Affordable housing is now even more critical than prior to COVID-19, as metro Atlanta’s official unemployment rate has jumped up to a record 12.7% according to the Department of Labor. The Thriving Communities team will focus on targeted grantmaking and the nurturing of partnerships related to civic and community engagement and affordable housing. More details will be shared later this summer.

Nonprofit Effectiveness has been one of the Foundation’s key priorities for 25+ years, with programs designed to strengthen the region’s nonprofits to deliver high-quality and high-impact programs and services to the communities they serve. At this time, Nonprofit Toolbox and Strategic Restructuring will be paused to focus on efforts across the pillars. The Foundation is continuing its partnership with Catchafire, and 350 organizations will be granted access to the platform that allows nonprofits to connect with skills-based volunteers. The Foundation is exploring opportunities to engage nonprofits in training or technical assistance on topics identified as critical for the long-term resiliency of the region’s nonprofit sector. Staff will partner across pillars and support organizations in a way that ensures their long-term sustainability.

The Foundation has supported policy efforts in various ways, from signing onto support legislation to supporting organizations engaged in policy work. We will continue to prioritize policy efforts, especially as we and others advocate for policy changes to address equity issues and challenges that have deteriorated since the onset of COVID-19. Nonprofits focusing on policy and advocacy have suffered tremendously since March, as many have lost revenue and not had access to philanthropic support given the focus on individuals and families’ immediate needs.

Grant applications for funding opportunities will be available beginning in mid-August as we are working to revise our processes to align with equitable grantmaking practices.