Building bridges with Liz Liston

Liz Liston recently joined the Community Foundation as director of donor relationships. We sat down with Liz to get to know more about her background and inspiration and that plays a role in her relationship with donors.

What draws you to donor services?

Donor services is unique. We’re helping people identify and facilitate their charitable goals. And people are really doing things because they want to, not because they have to. Donors also inspire me. We live in a world where money and resources are necessary to do everything we need to do in life. For people who have the means to give back – because they want to – is something that has always inspired me. I love being able to help people think bigger.

What interested you in this role at the Community Foundation?

I am a career fundraiser. I’ve been fundraising in this space for about 15 out of my 16 years in Atlanta. I’ve worked with the Community Foundation in the past and when the opportunity came to join the team, I felt it was such a natural fit for me between being able to hone in on my donor relationships and being a bridge builder for nonprofit work. I’ve worked at different organizations and am aware of the different issues in the community. I love being able to touch all facets of the community while I do what I do best, which is creating relationships with people.

Tell us about your background in fundraising and relationship development with nonprofits.

My parents served on nonprofit boards, and I was exposed to giving back, but I never thought about it as a career. I wanted to be a therapist, but after seeing the issues facing kids during an internship with the juvenile detention facility in my hometown, it led me to looking at the nonprofit field. My first job was in fundraising for a small nonprofit called the Truancy Intervention Project that focused on helping kids who came to the Fulton County Juvenile Court. And honestly, fundraising made sense for me. I’m a people person.  

What inspires you?

People. Through this work, I’ve been connected with all kinds of people – donors, nonprofit and partners and people impacted by the work of the nonprofits. I get to see community in action and in philanthropy especially, I get inspired by seeing transformative change and how deploying resources in the community can break barriers for people.

Please share how service and support are an important part of what the donor services team does.

It’s the core. Here at the Foundation, we take pride in helping be that number one touch point with donors. So I believe we owe it to them to take our jobs seriously as the experts in this field and helping them be the most effective with their philanthropy, making sure we’re listening and helping guide and navigate.