COMMUNITY
Q & A with... Ginger Jackson Queener Coweta Community Foundation, Chairman of the Board
1. Can you tell me a little about your organization? The Coweta Community Foundation, Inc. was established in 1997 under the guidance of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce. In 1998, the first major project of the foundation, Kids’ Castle Park, was completed. In 2013, The Coweta Community Foundation and Coweta Together merged under the name of The Coweta Community Foundation. Both organizations share a common passion to serve the citizens of Coweta County. This merger allows both organizations to maximize their impact on the community with the goal of connecting local organizations to ensure that Coweta citizens receive the help they need and deserve. The foundation prides itself on the fact that what is raised In Coweta, stays In Coweta. This is accomplished through our grant programs whereby we support organizations that serve our community and its citizens. Why The Coweta Community Foundation? We are a publicly supported 501(c)3 that exists both to maintain the charitable intent of donors and to act as a catalyst to help focus local philanthropy on our community’s changing needs. The Foundation manages individual's gifts and bequests as an endowed 100 Coweta Living 2016-17
pool of assets, distributing grants to a wide variety of organizations that enhance and support the quality of life in Coweta County. The foundation receives charitable contributions, large and small, from people within our community. We invest the money and manage the funds until needs arise. We provide cost-effective administrative services to an assortment of donors and grow the collective endowments while also fulfilling the wishes of the donor. Along with a donor’s trusted team of advisors, we can tailor giving for the individual, family or corporation to either support organizations for which they are most passionate or place dollars where needed the most. It is their choice. Our offering of philanthropic vehicles is extensive. We host donor-advised funds, restricted donor-advised funds, scholarship funds, pass-thru funds, fieldof-interest funds, unrestricted endowments and designated funds. We are also unique in our field. We can act as a fiscal agent for a nonprofit that wishes to focus on what they do best and leave the administrative oversight to someone else. We are also the only community foundation that offers a payroll-deduction platform for employers who have up to 5,000 employees.
2. For a nonprofit organization, what are some of Coweta’s greatest strengths? The generosity of our community. Not only do our citizens support our nonprofit agencies, but when one of our fellow citizens needs assistance, one of our finest strengths is that we come together to take care of our own. It is not just our individuals, but our corporate citizens as well. In addition, we are a very progressive community. If there is something that we do not have that would enhance the quality of life of our citizens, together, we find a way to provide whatever is needed. Giving back is a way of life in Coweta. It crosses all generations, and it’s both in the monetary and hands-on sense. We are so fortunate to call Coweta home.
3. How can someone new to the area get involved? Contact the foundation at www. cowetafoundation.org or on Facebook. We have a growing list of nonprofit agencies in our community that need volunteers both full time and on occasion as well as board members. We can assist anyone coming into our community by pairing them with nonprofits in the area in which the individual or corporation is most passionate. We can even assist with organizing volunteer days for a corporation with one or more nonprofit agencies.