Aligning Community Impact and Philanthropy at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta serves as one of the region's leading philanthropic organizations, connecting donors, nonprofits, businesses, and community leaders to address critical challenges and strengthen communities across metro Atlanta. Seeking to move beyond a primarily reactive approach to donor engagement, foundation leaders partnered with Plus Delta to build fundraising capacity, strengthen collaboration between philanthropy and community impact teams, including housing and impact investing, and create a shared culture of philanthropy across the organization.
More than $6.2M
in gifts closed during the engagement
More than $1.6M
in additional gifts pending at the conclusion of the program
18
participants engaged in the Discipline of Frontline Fundraising program, including philanthropy and community impact staff
Through a combination of executive leadership engagement, organization-wide education, and participation in the Discipline of Frontline Fundraising program, the foundation developed a more intentional, donor-centered approach to philanthropy while equipping staff with a common language and framework for engaging donors and advancing community impact. More importantly, the engagement helped create a stronger culture of collaboration across the organization, aligning philanthropy, community impact, and communications around a shared approach to serving donors and the community.
At the same time, the organization faced another challenge common to many community foundations. While philanthropy staff worked directly with donors and advisors, community impact professionals, including housing and impact investing, focused on addressing the region's most pressing challenges and advancing initiatives throughout metro Atlanta. Although both groups were deeply committed to the foundation's mission, they did not always have a shared understanding of each other's work or a common framework for engaging constituents.
This created missed opportunities to tell a more complete story about the foundation's impact and limited the organization's ability to fully leverage the expertise that existed across departments. Leadership wanted to create a stronger culture of philanthropy, improve collaboration between teams, and equip staff with the tools and confidence to engage donors more strategically.
Conversations with peers at the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, an active partner with Plus Delta, helped reinforce the value of investing in a comprehensive fundraising and organizational development effort. Encouraged by Milwaukee's experience and results, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta decided to pursue a similar path.
The Challenge
Like many community foundations, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta had earned a strong reputation as a trusted philanthropic partner throughout the region. Donors regularly sought out the foundation to support charitable causes and community initiatives, creating a successful but largely reactive approach to fundraising.
Rather than actively cultivating donor relationships, much of the organization's work focused on responding to donor requests, facilitating gifts, and providing excellent service to existing fundholders. While effective in many respects, foundation leaders recognized that this approach would not support the level of growth and community impact they envisioned for the future.
The Work
The engagement began with an Executive Leadership workshop designed to align senior leaders around the goals and expectations of the initiative and reinforce the role leadership would play in supporting long-term culture change.
The foundation then conducted an Advancement Overview workshop for employees across the organization, introducing the principles, tools, and language that would guide the work and helping build understanding among both philanthropy and community impact teams.
From there, 18 participants engaged in Plus Delta's Discipline of Frontline Fundraising program. The cohort included philanthropy professionals, community impact leaders, and integrated auditor participants, reflecting the foundation's commitment to creating shared ownership of donor engagement and philanthropic success.
For many participants, the program represented a significant shift from a service-oriented approach to a relationship-centered approach. Staff learned how to engage donors with greater purpose, facilitate more meaningful conversations, and position themselves as trusted partners in helping donors achieve their philanthropic goals.
The program also created a common language that could be used throughout the organization. Whether engaging donors, nonprofit partners, advisors, or community stakeholders, participants developed a shared framework that strengthened communication and reinforced collaboration across departments. That common language extended beyond the initial participant group. Members of the communications team attended the Advancement Overview workshop and observed several DFF sessions, enabling them to become stronger partners in shaping messages and positioning the foundation's priorities. As a result, communications, philanthropy, and community impact teams began approaching stakeholder engagement with greater consistency and alignment.
Impact
The most significant outcome of the engagement was not a fundraising metric. It was the culture the foundation built around philanthropy.
Participants consistently pointed to the stronger relationships between philanthropy and community impact teams as the program's greatest success. The Discipline of Frontline Fundraising program established a shared language, common expectations, and practical tools that enabled departments to work together more effectively in serving donors and advancing the foundation's mission.
Prior to the program, donor interactions were often informal and transactional. Conversations frequently centered on facilitating gifts or responding to donor requests. Following the engagement, participants approached those relationships with greater intentionality, preparation, and purpose.
Staff reported becoming more disciplined in planning meetings, setting objectives, and guiding conversations toward meaningful outcomes. Rather than simply serving as facilitators of charitable transactions, participants increasingly viewed themselves as trusted advisors and partners helping donors achieve their philanthropic goals.
The engagement also increased confidence across the organization. Team members who previously felt uncertain about donor engagement gained practical tools and frameworks that provided clarity and direction. Participants reported feeling better prepared to initiate conversations, ask thoughtful questions, and communicate the foundation's value more effectively.
Equally important, the program strengthened collaboration between philanthropy and community impact teams. Community impact professionals gained a deeper understanding of the donor engagement process, while philanthropy staff developed greater knowledge of the foundation's community initiatives and areas of impact.
This shared understanding enabled employees to communicate more consistently with donors and stakeholders while creating stronger alignment around the foundation's mission and priorities. Staff members across the organization now share a common language and approach to constituent engagement, helping present a more unified and compelling story about the foundation's work and impact throughout the Atlanta region.
By the conclusion of the engagement, participants had reported more than $6.2 million in closed gifts and identified an additional $1.6 million in pending commitments. While the fundraising results were encouraging, the more lasting outcome was the development of a stronger, more collaborative culture of philanthropy capable of supporting long-term growth and community impact.
The organization has continued to invest in the work by enrolling new employees in subsequent Plus Delta training programs and scheduling a DFF Refresh engagement to reinforce and expand the practices introduced through the program. These efforts will help ensure the tools, language, and discipline developed during the engagement remain embedded in the organization's culture and operations.