Cobb Community Foundation(CCF), in conjunction with United Way of Greater Atlanta is pleased to announce that 5 Network for Good Jumpstart capacity-building grants of $5,000 each have been awarded to Loving Arms Cancer Outreach, Revved Up Kids, The STEAM Generation, VISIONful Communities and BUY–Cobb. These grants will provide a 12-month training program to immediately build their fundraising capacity, diversity revenue and sustain and grow their programs.
These agencies were selected as a result of a carefully planned approach to meet human service needs in Cobb County identified by an in-depth study conducted in 2019 through CCF. The data collected was used to create a heat map showing where assistance should be targeted and the nonprofits currently operating in the area. Hyper local nonprofits were then invited to learn more about the Jumpstart program, and the interested teams underwent assessments for readiness in the rigorous program.
“This grant program is exciting because we are using a very intentional approach to meeting the needs identified through the recent community assessment. What we learned is that it is extremely important that help is offered through nonprofits whose programming takes place inside these neighborhoods. It has been shown that even great programs operating outside of these neighborhoods are not as effective because transportation is a barrier to participation. Strengthening these nonprofits to serve their clients better inside the neighborhood is going to make a difference in their success.” – Catherine Gankofskie, CCF.
Alongside CCF’s investment of $25,000 made possible by Corporate Community Champion Liberty Furniture, United Way is contributing $30,000 for additional capacity-building efforts. “While this first investment focused on financial sustainability, the next will be broader in scope. Those plans will be announced as we have the program finalized,” Nicole Lawson, United Way. The Jumpstart program has been proven successful in other communities served by the United Way. For this reason, CCF and United Way have now partnered together to bring the program to Cobb.
We look forward to seeing these organizations grow from their experience with the Network for Good’s Jumpstart program.
For information about the grants, recipients and more, download the media release here.
Pictured in photo above L to R: Gary Ludgood, Maureen Myrie, Nicole Lawson, Alli Neal, Latrisha Anderson, Janet Grahm, Shay Traylor, Shari Martin
