Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

What Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta does

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA) is a 501(c)(3) public charity and community foundation established in 1951, headquartered at 191 Peachtree Street NE in Atlanta, Georgia. It operates as a regional philanthropic intermediary for the metro Atlanta area, connecting individual donors, corporate donors, and professional advisors with vetted nonprofits, students, and community initiatives. Core offerings span donor-advised funds, designated funds, field-of-interest funds, and agency funds; scholarship administration (including the Achieve Atlanta partnership, which has supported 7,000+ Scholars with $65M+ in cumulative scholarship funding); the Student Loan Debt Payment Program launched in 2023; the Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund launched in 2026 in partnership with Nonprofit Finance Fund; competitive grant programs under the TogetherATL strategic framework (arts/culture, housing, income/wealth, power/leadership); legacy and charitable IRA rollover vehicles; and educational resources for donors and advisors via the Nonprofit and Donor Resource Hub.

The foundation's technology stack is a cloud-based fund management platform with an online Fund Advisor Portal (cfga.fcsuite.com), grant management workflows, and a public-facing website serving as a resource hub. CFGA does not develop proprietary technology products; its platform leverages third-party fund administration software typical of community foundations. Distribution runs through a relationship-led, consultative GTM motion targeting HNW individuals, corporate giving programs, and the professional advisor channel (Atlanta Charitable Advisor Network, WISEgenerosity), supplemented by event-driven engagement, email newsletters (Gift Planning ATL, Nonprofit News), and competitive application processes for grants and scholarships.

The revenue model is donation- and investment-based rather than fee-for-service: contributions from individual and corporate donors form the primary capital base, with investment returns on diversified portfolios supporting operations and grantmaking. As a community foundation, CFGA does not publicly disclose a fee schedule and does not charge for basic philanthropic advisory services. Organizational scale is 11–50 employees, with leadership under President and CEO Frank Fernandez, VP of Advancement and Philanthropic Services Tim Bresnahan (joined February 2025), and Director and Philanthropic Counsel Alison O'Carroll, governed by an independent board of directors.

Name

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Legal name

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Website

https://cfgreateratlanta.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) community foundation established in 1951 that connects metro Atlanta donors with vetted nonprofits through donor-advised funds, scholarships, grants, and philanthropic advisory services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Philanthropy Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Civic and Social Organizations (81341)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC), Fundraising & Annual Giving (EDALAOAB)

Keywords

• Donor-advised funds
• Community philanthropy services
• Charitable grantmaking programs
• Scholarship fund administration
• Nonprofit sector support

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donor Contributions: Individual and corporate donors contribute to various fund types including donor-advised funds, designated funds, field-of-interest funds, and agency funds. These contributions form the primary capital base for grantmaking.
2. Investment Returns: The foundation invests contributed assets in diversified portfolios, generating returns that support ongoing operations and grantmaking. Endowed funds are invested for long-term growth.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) public charity that mobilizes charitable resources to address regional needs through donor-advised funds, scholarship administration, competitive grantmaking, and educational debt-relief initiatives. It connects individual and corporate donors with vetted nonprofits in metro Atlanta, manages charitable funds on behalf of donors and advisors, and operates direct programs (e.g., the Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund, Student Loan Debt Payment Program) to strengthen community outcomes.

Product overview

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta operates as a philanthropic services organization offering a portfolio of charitable giving products and programs. The core offerings include Donor-Advised Funds for organized charitable giving, Scholarships and the Student Loan Debt Payment Program for education access, and the Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund supporting nonprofit resilience. Additional services include Grant Opportunities across multiple focus areas (arts, housing, income/wealth, power/leadership), the Fund Advisor Portal for fund management, Newsletter subscriptions for donors and nonprofits, and the Nonprofit and Donor Resource Hub providing educational content. The Foundation also partners with Achieve Atlanta on postsecondary education initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TogetherATL: Strategic plan encompassing efforts to drive equity across the Atlanta region
• GoATL Funds
• Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund
• Student Loan Debt Payment Program
• Achieve Atlanta

Products and services

• Donor-Advised Funds Charitable giving accounts that allow individual donors, families, and corporations to contribute assets, receive an immediate tax deduction, and recommend grants to qualified nonprofits over time through the Fund Advisor Portal.
• Scholarships Administered scholarship funds that provide financial support to students pursuing higher education, including the Mason Trust Scholarship, the Rosa T. and Joseph B. Nathan Scholarship, and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarship.
• Student Loan Debt Payment Program A program that enables nonprofit employers to make tax-free contributions toward their employees' student loan debt, helping attract and retain talent in the nonprofit sector.
• Grant Opportunities Competitive grants awarded to nonprofits addressing priorities such as education, health, housing, and economic mobility in the 23-county region of metro Atlanta.
• Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund A collaborative fund designed to strengthen the metro Atlanta nonprofit sector through pooled philanthropic investment, with Frank Fernandez serving on the advisory committee.
• Charitable IRA Rollover Services A giving service that enables donors aged 70½ and older to transfer up to $108,000 annually directly from their IRA to the Foundation, satisfying required minimum distributions without generating taxable income.

Quantifiable outcome

• $13.4 million in scholarships awarded to 2,906 students in 2025
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026CFGA partnered with Nonprofit Finance Fund to create the Nonprofit Sector Sustainability Fund, a two-year initiative combining $100,000 grants with financial strategy support, coaching, consulting, and peer learning for 12 metro Atlanta nonprofits.
• Achieve AtlantacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFGA serves as close partner and provides internal operations support for Achieve Atlanta, which supports metro Atlanta students along their full college journey from access through completion.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Communities Foundation of Texas: Large community foundation serving the Dallas-Fort Worth region with a comparable mix of donor-advised funds, scholarship programs, and grantmaking. Highly comparable operating model to CFGA — multi-city Texas analog of an Atlanta-based community foundation.
• Foundation For The Carolinas: Charlotte-based community foundation offering donor-advised funds, competitive grant programs, and donor advisory services across the Carolinas. Operates with similar scale, multi-fund-type structure, and regional intermediary role as CFGA.
• The Cleveland Foundation: The oldest community foundation in the US (1914), serving Northeast Ohio with donor-advised funds, competitive grants, scholarships, and impact-driven initiatives. Comparable model and program mix (DAFs, scholarships, place-based grantmaking) to CFGA.
• The Chicago Community Trust: Major regional community foundation serving the Chicago metropolitan area with donor-advised funds, scholarship programs, and an aggressive place-based grantmaking strategy. Closely analogous to CFGA's model and scale.
• The Boston Foundation: Greater Boston's community foundation, managing donor-advised funds, endowed funds, and a wide range of grantmaking and civic leadership programs. Same archetype of urban community foundation as CFGA.
• The Pittsburgh Foundation: Community foundation serving the Pittsburgh region with a comparable portfolio of donor-advised funds, scholarship programs, and place-based grantmaking. Similar mid-sized urban community foundation profile to CFGA.
• Greater Kansas City Community Foundation: Regional community foundation providing donor-advised funds, scholarships, and grant programs across the Kansas City metro. Same operating model, regional scope, and DAF-centric service offering as CFGA.
• The San Francisco Foundation: Bay Area community foundation offering donor-advised funds, grantmaking, and equity-focused regional initiatives. Comparable model to CFGA with a similar emphasis on racial and economic equity through place-based grantmaking.

Broad incumbents

• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: One of the largest community foundations in the US by assets, operating nationally and globally with a deep DAF business. Same product family as CFGA but at materially larger scale and with broader geographic reach.
• The New York Community Trust: Major New York metropolitan community foundation with multi-billion-dollar assets under management, donor-advised funds, scholarship and grant programs. Same archetype as CFGA but with substantially greater scale and a longer history.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/philanthropyATL
• Facebookfacebook.com/cfgreateratlanta

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments13 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta