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.

Through the Giving Together program, donors can co-invest with the Community Foundation to support important work being done by nonprofit organizations throughout the region. Our spring competitive grant cycle and Giving Together effort is running now – the deadline for giving is May 20.

Thanks to generous investments from a few longtime fundholders when it first launched, the program was a success and continues to thrive today. Within the first two years, contributions through Giving Together grew to $736,000 from 36 participating donors. Since 2013, donors have co-invested more than $14 million to cover the gap.

“One of the most immediate impacts our donors and community can make with the Community Foundation is through our Giving Together program,” said Kendall Chew Jones, Director of Donor Stewardship. “Each grant cycle, Giving Together provides a huge increase in funding the immediate requests of our grantees.”

In the fall 2025 grant cycle alone, 34 donors gave $589,347 toward the Foundation’s competitive grantmaking.

The Community Foundation’s Giving Together program is an opportunity to bring anyone to the grantmaking table, as you can contribute even if you don’t have a donor-advised fund with the Foundation.

Previous donors have shared that, through the Giving Together process, they learn about exciting and innovative funding opportunities and can support creative programs and start-up nonprofits that address critical local needs.

Trussville residents Sid and Mellony McNeal see it as an opportunity to respond to community issues with urgency.

“With the Giving Together fund, the Foundation can evaluate immediate and changing needs from year to year based on its twice-yearly process and get more money out to meet urgent, immediate needs,” Sid McNeal said. “Giving Together supports innovative, scalable solutions to our community’s biggest challenges.”

If you’ve ever visited a business or attended a workshop at Innovation Depot, you have the Giving Together program to thank for that. Giving Together donors contributed $18,000 to the Community Foundation’s $75,000 grant in 2011 to help start Innovation Depot.

If you’ve ever chatted with a friend before or after seeing a show at the Lyric Theatre, you have the Giving Together fund to thank for that, too. An early grant from the program helped restore the lobby of Lyric Theater, which helped inspire confidence in the restoration project among prospective donors.

Twice a year, Giving Together makes even more possible for the nonprofits across our five counties and projects that are not only vital to the organizations’ missions but also to the communities they serve.

“In a matter of weeks, we can raise over half a million dollars through Giving Together,” Chew shared, “and that impact really cannot be replaced.”

Join us in Giving Together