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Community Foundation Awards $1.6 Million in Grants
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has awarded more than $1.6 million in grants to 66 area nonprofits serving Blount, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, and Walker counties. These grants are focused on the five priorities identified in our 10-year strategic plan: Thriving Communities, Regional Cooperation, Overcoming Persistent Poverty, Equity and Inclusion, and Economic Opportunity for All. (Explore our Priority Areas.)
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The Philip A Morris Fund for the Design Arts: Building a Better Birmingham
Kathryn Harbert and Philip Morris at Railroad Park Anyone who has ever enjoyed an afternoon with family and friends at Railroad Park, a place often called Birmingham’s living room, has Philip A. Morris to thank for those memorable moments. Though not a trained designer, Morris was a visionary. He not only served on the planning committee for Railroad Park but also for Linn Park and Red Mountain Park. He was chair of Operation New Birmingham (now REV Birmingham), Birmingham Historical Society, and Mountain Brook Villages Design Review Committee. He was co-chair of the Vulcan Park renovation planning committee and served on the boards of the Vulcan Park Foundation, Birmingham Botanical Society, and Friends of Linn Park. He was also a founding board member of Design Alabama and Horizon 280 Association.
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Giving Together, Growing Together
Each year, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham receives an increasing number of applications for our spring and fall grant cycles, and existing funds are never enough to cover all the grants approved. So, in 2008, the Giving Together program was born to accompany the grant cycles.
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OBBBA and Charitable Giving in 2026: What Advisors Need to Tell Clients Now.
For many attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, the tax law changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are old news. That is not the case for many of your clients! While you’ve been busy reading dozens of articles and evaluating how the changes will impact your clients, many of your clients are just now learning about the changes, especially as issues came to the forefront for them during tax season. Even if you’ve been talking with clients about the changes for months, don’t stop. For many clients, now is the first time they’ll really be listening.
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Rare but useful: Planning with charitable lead trusts
“Charitable lead trust” is far from a household word, and you might not run across the need for one very often in your practice. They sure do come in handy in certain client situations, though. At the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, we are happy to establish a donor-advised fund or another type of fund to serve as the income beneficiary of a charitable lead annuity trust, or “CLAT,” established by a client.
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Worth a look: Charitable gifts of real estate
If your client base includes philanthropic individuals and families, you’re likely aware that gifts of real estate are an option to fund charitable giving. Real estate is the largest asset class in the world, yet various industry sources suggest that only 3% of charitable giving involves gifts of real estate. Still, it’s understandable that charitable real estate donations are often overlooked; the rules and process are complex. What’s more, many clients struggle emotionally when they start to think about parting with their real estate.
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Postmarks, rule changes, and remedies for clients’ 2025 charitable gifts
If you were surprised to read about the ripple effect of a seemingly small change in the U.S. Postal Service regulations late last year, you were not alone! Here’s what you need to know, including potential remedies for your clients whose 2025 charitable deductions may be impacted by the rule change.
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Sudden life changes: Charitable giving can help clients get through it
As an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, you are no stranger to witnessing the ripple effects of life’s unexpected curveballs. If you represent a client over many years, you’re very likely at some point to help the client through a serious illness, a loved one’s death, business challenges, marital dissolution, strained relationships with children, or all of the above.
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How Innovation and Collaboration Can Empower Students in Walker County and Beyond
Hundreds of high school students in Walker County will soon have access to a state-of-the-art facility offering high-quality career and technical education, equipping them with credentials and skills aligned with Alabama’s workforce needs.
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Community on the Rise is shifting the narrative for women survivors of homelessness
As executive director of Community on the Rise, a nonprofit and social enterprise dedicated to empowering the unhoused in Birmingham, Ala., Avery Rhodes is all too familiar with the perceptions that some people have of women who are experiencing homelessness.