Georgia Community Foundations Summit 2025 Wrap-Up: Your Takeaways, Stories, and Photos
What an incredible couple of days! The Georgia Community Foundations Summit brought together leaders and peers from across the state to share ideas, explore challenges, and celebrate the work of the philanthropic community in Georgia.
As we wrap up, let’s keep the conversation going.
💬 What sessions or conversations stood out to you?
💡 What new insights or strategies are you taking home?
🔧 What tools, tweaks, or takeaways are you excited to implement in your Foundant software?
📸 Do you have any favorite photos or moments from the summit?
This post serves as a space for reflection and connection. Whether you’re walking away with a new approach to stewardship, inspiration from another foundation’s work, or just an appreciation for the shared learning, we’d love to hear about it.
Please drop a comment below and let us know what you’re taking with you from the GACF Summit 2025.
Comments
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Hi all!
Thanks again to everyone who attended the Georgia Community Foundations Summit. What an incredible event! It was a privilege to meet many of you in person and hear firsthand about the inspiring work you’re doing across the state.
I had the opportunity to lead and support several sessions, and I wanted to share some of the materials and takeaways from those in case they’re helpful to you or your team moving forward:
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📌 GLM & SLM Best Practices + Common Workflow Mistakes (Q&A Session)
We covered a wide range of topics in this session, from request closing and follow-up logic to internal communication and site maintenance tips.
🔗 PDF Slide Deck:
📄 Printable Handout:
💬 Key takeaway: Small workflow adjustments (like linking follow ups to installments or cleaning up old user accounts) can make a big difference in usability and reporting accuracy.
———————————————————————————————————————————🌐 Integrated Grants Catalog: From GLM to CSuite
This session focused on how to build an integrated grant catalog experience, both pre- and post-approval, and featured real-world examples from across the country.
🔗 PDF Slide Deck:
📄 Printable Handout:
💬 Key takeaway: The “crowdfund” (pre-approval) and “top up” (post-approval) models give you the flexibility to match community energy with your existing grantmaking strategy.———————————————————————————————————————————
🧾 How to Create an Event in CSuite
This session walked through the step-by-step process for building and managing events in CSuite, including configuration tips and reporting best practices.
🔗 PDF Slide Deck:
💬 Key takeaway: CSuite’s event tools can be simple and powerful, especially when you pre-plan your setup, track participation thoughtfully, and leverage the system to save time.———————————————————————————————————————————
🤝 Building a Stewardship Plan That Works
This was a collaborative discussion about how to build intentional fundholder relationships that go beyond transactional support. Thank you to everyone who joined and shared ideas!
🔗 PDF Slide Deck:
💬 Key takeaway: Stewardship doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all. Foundations are tailoring strategies to match their size, staffing, and fundholder personalities.———————————————————————————————————————————
📸 Photos from the conference
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This community of Georgia foundations is something special, and I’m looking forward to keeping the conversation going here on Compass. If you have questions about anything we covered (or didn’t get to), please reply here or message me directly. I'm happy to help however I can!
Mark Bejcek
Client Success Consultant2
