44 Georgia Nonprofits Selected to Take Part in Momentum, a Process to Build their Community Impact

ATLANTA, March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Georgia Center for Nonprofits (GCN) announces 44 nonprofit arts organizations from across the state have been selected to take part in Momentum—a competitive and transformative multi-year process designed to help nonprofits build strategy and leadership that leads them to higher impact in their communities.

These organizations will take part in one of four Momentum cohorts being launched this spring in Albany, Augusta, Macon and Savannah, with major statewide support from the Georgia Council of the Arts (GCA), and regional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area in conjunction with the Knox, Creel-Harrison, and other local foundation partners.

"We are excited to partner with this impressive team of foundations who share our view that well-managed and strategic nonprofits who seek to leverage their work through collaborative efforts have the power to transform communities," said Karen Beavor, president and CEO of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits.

"Georgia Council for the Arts' mission is to cultivate the growth of vibrant, thriving Georgia communities through the arts," said Karen Paty, Director of Georgia Council for the Arts. "Nonprofits sit squarely at the center of this work and foster the vitality of our cultural communities. We are investing in Momentum to help them cultivate strategic capacity, develop effective leaders, foster collaboration, and ensure the sustainability of these vital groups."

The first and largest project of its kind in Georgia, Momentum was developed by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and pioneered on the southern coast over the past two years. An evaluation of the inaugural cohort of 25 nonprofits in Brantley, Camden, Charlton and Glynn counties validated remarkable transformations in the ways their organizations create actionable, high-impact strategy; make dynamic, data-driven decisions; and implement enduring systems to measure and manage results.

Based on extensive research, the 18-month Momentum process focuses on transforming the way nonprofits manage and sustain high performance levels over time, while catalyzing communities of peer leaders to cooperatively tackle large and long-entrenched problems in their community.   

2014 Momentum Participants

Albany cohort: Albany Museum of Art; Albany Symphony Association; Colquitt Miller Arts Council; Lowdnes-Valdosta Arts Commission; Rylander Theatre; and, South Georgia Ballet.

Augusta cohort: Aiken Center for the Arts; Juilliard in Aiken; Aiken Performing Arts Group; Arts and Heritage Center of North Augusta; Augusta Mini Theatre; Symphony Orchestra Augusta; Barefoot Productions, Inc./Creative Impressions; Broad Street Artists Row; Emanuel Arts Council; Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art; Greater Augusta Arts Council; Imperial Community Theatre; Jessye Norman School of the Arts; Morris Museum of Art; Sacred Heart Cultural Center; Storyland Theatre; The Augusta Ballet; The Augusta Players; Waynesboro-Burke Concert Series; and, Westobou Festival.

Macon cohort: Eatonton-Putnam Arts Foundation; Friends of the Historic Douglass Theatre Complex; gloATL; Jazz Association of Macon; Macon Arts Alliance; Macon Film Festival; Milledgeville Baldwin County Allied Arts; Museum of Arts and Sciences; The 567 Center for Renewal; Theatre Macon; and, Tubman African American Museum

Savannah cohort: Art Rise Savannah; Averitt Center for the Arts; Deep Center; Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association; McIntosh Art Association; Savannah Philharmonic; and, Telfair Museum

2014 Momentum Funding Partners
Georgia Council for the Arts
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area
Knox Foundation
Creel Foundation
Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County
National Endowment for the Arts
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits

Local Host Organizations
The Augusta Collaborative Partnership
Macon Arts Alliance

About the Georgia Center for Nonprofits
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits builds thriving communities by helping nonprofits succeed.  Through a powerful mix of advocacy, solutions for nonprofit effectiveness, and insight building tools, GCN provides nonprofits, board members and donors with the tools they need to strengthen organizations that make a difference on important causes throughout Georgia. Learn more at GCN.org, follow us on Twitter @GAnonprofits, and like us on Facebook.

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Contact:
Tom Zimmerman
Communications Manager |Georgia Center for Nonprofits
678-916-3090
[email protected]

SOURCE Georgia Center for Nonprofits