On Wednesday, Aug. 21, Cobb Community Foundation will officially launch a tool that has been two years in the making, the Cobb Community Connection.
“One of my first questions when I joined CCF was, ‘Where can I find a list of non-profits serving Cobb County?’” said Shari Martin, the foundation’s executive director. She quickly learned that what she was looking for did not exist. “The only list is the one generated by the IRS,” she said.
Thanks to Kennesaw State University’s Senior Honors Capstone Experience, that is no longer the case. Encouraged by her faculty adviser, Dr. Jennifer Wade-Berg, then KSU senior, Rachael Rucker, reached out to Martin to identify an opportunity to make a difference at Cobb Community Foundation.
“The project deliverable was always a database of non-profits serving Cobb and their volunteer and financial needs,” said Rucker, now on staff at CCF while pursuing her Masters in Public Administration. What both Martin and Rucker quickly learned, however, was this database would not only connect donors and volunteers to charitable organizations, it would also connect charitable organizations to charitable organizations.
“Donors tell us they want to see non-profits collaborating with one another, sharing resources, but many of them do not know who else is doing work in the same space or a complementary one,” Martin said. According to Martin, it is the tool’s ability to facilitate so many connections that inspired its name, Cobb Community Connection.
Cobb Community Connection, or “The Connection”, has been quietly available to the non-profit community for a while but is officially launching on Wednesday, Aug. 21. The Connection is available to everyone at no cost. Over 120 non-profit organizations and 165 programs, all of which serve Cobb County, are listed in The Connection, all searchable by cause area, population served, and physical location.
There are also roughly 100 “giving opportunities,” said Rucker. “The Connection includes opportunities for someone to give their time, their money, or goods and services.”
In addition to being searchable by cause area, population served and location, volunteer opportunities are also searchable by who can volunteer and when they are needed. The Goods and Services feature not only allows non-profits to indicate what goods and services they need, users of The Connection can also indicate what goods and services they have available to donate.
CCF board members Al Martin and Ken Harmon recently met with a number of business leaders to learn how they are making charitable giving decisions. As first-year board members, they both recently saw the online tool for the first time.
“We held our focus group sessions one week then saw The Connection the following week. This was exactly what businesses want,” said Harmon.
Al Martin added, “Non-profits can even indicate that they need board members.”
The Connection will officially begin connecting on Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 11:00 a.m. Access The Connection at cobbcommunityconnection.org.
When asked why Cobb Community Foundation would go to the trouble and expense of creating The Connection then making it available for free, CCF board chair, Bruce Clayton, said, “Our mission is inspiring charitable giving, building resources for the future and connecting donors who care to causes that matter. The Connection accomplishes all three.”
For more information, visit www.cobbfoundation.org, or contact Shari Martin at 770.859.2366.
About Cobb Community Foundation
Founded in late 1993 by a group of Cobb business leaders who recognized the community’s need for a vehicle to invest in its future, Cobb Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that is passionate about inspiring charitable giving, building resources for the future and connecting donors who care with causes that matter. To learn more, email CCFTeam@cobbfoundation.org or visit www.cobbfoundation.org.
