Georgia Power Foundation Inc. In Receivership

Georgia Power Foundation operates as one of Georgia's most significant corporate philanthropic institutions — an independent 501(c)(3) funded primarily by Georgia Power Company, a Southern Company subsidiary serving 155 of Georgia's 159 counties. With $217 million in assets and over $170 million distributed since its 1986 founding, the foundation has been ranked the third- or fourth-largest corporate funder in Georgia by total giving. Its giving philosophy centers on long-term community investment over transactional grant-making, rewarding organizations that align their work with the communities where Georgia Power operates.

The foundation strongly favors established Georgia nonprofits with proven track records, particularly in metro Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, and surrounding service territory. Flagship multi-year relationships — Children's Healthcare of Atlanta ($2.5M across 3 grants), Westside Future Fund ($950K across 4 grants), and Georgia Foundation for Public Education ($1.32M across 6 grants) — illustrate the foundation's appetite for sustained co-investment. Numerous "future commitment" entries in the grantee database confirm that multi-year pledges are standard practice, not exceptional. Applicants who propose a 2-to-3-year phased program arc are more likely to be funded at scale.

First-time applicants should recognize this is a hybrid corporate-community foundation. Unlike private family foundations, its priorities align partly with Georgia Power's community reputation and workforce interests. Organizations addressing education, healthcare access, economic mobility, and community development within the utility's 155-county service footprint have the strongest positioning.

The formal entry point is the online application portal (georgiapower.com/in-your-community/charitable-giving/apply-for-a-grant), but the informal gateway is a regional company representative — a Georgia Power employee who champions applications and serves as the primary contact for their geographic territory. Reaching out to your regional rep before submitting is standard practice and significantly improves outcomes.

Note on the "In Receivership" IRS designation: The foundation's IRS Exempt Organization Business Master File name includes "In Receivership," which may reflect a legacy administrative classification. All available evidence — grant announcements through April and October 2025, a 2025 Waters for Georgia program, and a 4th Workforce for Georgia cycle planned for March 2026 — confirms the foundation is fully operational. Applicants should proceed as with any active corporate foundation and verify current status directly at (404) 506-6784.

For first-time applicants, a request under $25,000 is the recommended entry point: evaluated on a rolling basis without quarterly board approval, these constitute the vast majority of the foundation's grant count and open the door to larger future asks.

Across 1,310 recorded grants totaling $27.6 million in the grantee database (a multi-year historical snapshot), the Georgia Power Foundation's giving profile is sharply bimodal: high volume at the smaller end anchored by transformative investments at the top.

Core grant metrics: Median grant: $5,000. Average grant: $21,071. Range: $75 (minimum) to $2,500,000 (maximum, to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation). This 33,000:1 spread from smallest to largest reflects the foundation's dual role as neighborhood-level micro-grantor and major capital campaign anchor funder.

Annual giving trends (recent complete fiscal years): - FY2023: $16.9M total giving / $15.0M grants paid - FY2022: $19.9M total giving / $18.3M grants paid - FY2021: $20.7M total giving / $19.2M grants paid (record year; bolstered by $13.35M in contributions from Georgia Power Company) - FY2020: $9.5M total giving / $8.0M grants paid (COVID-reduced year with targeted emergency grants) - FY2019: $18.3M total giving / $16.9M grants paid

Post-pandemic giving has settled at approximately $16-20M annually, modestly below the 2021 peak. Foundation assets have held steady near $217M through FY2022-2024, providing a durable endowment base. Net investment income reached $9.1M in FY2023 (up from $6.5M in FY2022), indicating improving portfolio returns that should sustain grant levels.

Geographic distribution: 90.9% of recorded grants (1,191 of 1,310) went to Georgia-based organizations. Out-of-state grantees included Tennessee (14 grants), North Carolina (12), Virginia (7), DC (6), South Carolina (7), Mississippi (7), Alabama (19), New York (7), and Massachusetts (6) — predominantly national/regional policy organizations and HBCU affiliates.

By program area (estimated from grantee purpose descriptions): - Education and workforce development: ~35% (university foundations, HBCUs, CTAE programs, teacher pipelines, Ron Clark Academy) - Health and human services: ~28% (hospital foundations, direct-service nonprofits, recovery programs) - Community development and housing: ~15% (Atlanta Beltline, Westside Future Fund, housing partnerships) - Economic mobility: ~9% (Urban League, UNCF, job training organizations) - Arts and culture: ~8% (Woodruff Arts Center, National Center for Civil and Human Rights) - Environmental stewardship: ~5% (Waters for Georgia, land trusts)

Typical grant tiers by request type: - Small/community grants: $5K-$25K (rolling evaluation, most common by count) - Mid-level programmatic: $50K-$150K (quarterly board approval required) - Major institutional/capital campaign: $250K-$2.5M (board-driven, relationship-dependent, typically structured as multi-year pledges)

Georgia Power Foundation's peer set includes large corporate and utility-affiliated foundations operating in Georgia and the Southeast. The table below compares key metrics; peer figures are approximate estimates drawn from public IRS filings and philanthropy databases.

Georgia Power Foundation occupies a distinctive and advantageous middle position among these peers. It is significantly more accessible than Coca-Cola Foundation (which operates almost entirely by invitation with a global focus) and more broadly scoped than Home Depot Foundation (which has narrowed sharply to veteran housing and skilled trades). Unlike Delta Air Lines Foundation, which directs giving primarily through employee programs and invited grantees, Georgia Power Foundation maintains a documented public application process and evaluates unsolicited requests under $25,000 on a rolling basis — rare openness for a corporate foundation of this asset size in Georgia. For nonprofits serving Georgia communities, this accessibility advantage over peer funders is significant and strategically exploitable through a deliberate first-grant entry approach.

The foundation has remained conspicuously active through 2025 and into early 2026, with multiple new program announcements and grant cycle launches.

April 2, 2025: The Georgia Power Foundation announced a Workforce for Georgia milestone — over $2.25 million awarded through 65 grants since 2020, reaching more than 10,000 students across CTAE and College and Career Academy programs. Executive Director Rita Breen stated: "By fostering a well-trained workforce, we are not only enhancing the quality of life for Georgia residents but also ensuring that our state remains competitive." The 2024 grant cycle supported 21 schools; individual grants run up to $50,000 for 12-to-18 month program periods.

October 15, 2025: Georgia Power and the University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government launched the inaugural Georgia Superintendents' Workforce Leadership Academy, selecting 19 education leaders statewide for a cohort-based program. The cohort will present capstone workforce-development projects in April 2026.

2025 Waters for Georgia cycle: The foundation committed up to $1 million — $500,000 each for the Chattahoochee River/Metro Atlanta region and the Alabama River Headwaters (Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers) — for watershed health and community water resilience projects administered in partnership with Bonneville Environmental Foundation.

March 2026 — Workforce for Georgia, 4th Cycle RFP: The foundation announced that 4th cycle RFP details would be released in March 2026, continuing the biennial cadence established in 2020. No leadership changes have been publicly reported for 2025-2026; Rita Breen continues as Secretary and Executive Director.

1. Enter through your regional representative, not cold through the portal. The online application (georgiapower.com/in-your-community/charitable-giving/apply-for-a-grant) is the formal submission mechanism, but your regional Georgia Power company representative is the real gateway. Each rep manages a geographic territory within the 155-county service area. Identify and contact your regional rep before submitting — they can confirm eligibility, advise on positioning, and internally champion your request. Cold portal submissions from organizations with no representative relationship are at a significant disadvantage.

2. Start small to build the relationship. Requests under $25,000 are evaluated on a rolling basis without board approval. The database median of $5,000 across 1,310 grants confirms smaller awards dominate by count. A successful first grant of $5,000-$15,000 creates the relational foothold for escalating to $50,000-$250,000+ asks in subsequent cycles.

3. Time larger requests precisely. For grants over $25,000, board approval is required at quarterly meetings. Submit proposals by February 15, May 15, August 15, or November 15. Missing a deadline means a three-month delay. Plan 8-12 months ahead for major requests and begin the regional rep relationship well before the submission window.

4. Lead with workforce, education, or healthcare language. These three sectors represent approximately 70% of the foundation's total dollar giving. Explicitly connect your work to specific Georgia Power service communities by naming counties and cities. Reference the 155-county service footprint; national or non-Georgia-specific framing weakens positioning significantly.

5. Structure as a multi-year investment. The grantee database is filled with "future commitment" entries and multi-year pledge payment sequences. If your project has a 2-to-3-year arc — whether programmatic expansion or capital campaign — present it as a phased proposal. The foundation has documented appetite for this structure.

6. Assemble required documents before starting the application. Required materials per published guidelines: brief cover letter, IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, most recent audited financial statements, organizational description, current officer/board member list, specific dollar amount requested, purpose statement, and a list of other funding sources with amounts. Incomplete submissions stall processing.

7. Apply only once per year. Foundation guidelines state organizations may receive contributions once per year and reapply annually. Do not submit multiple requests in the same calendar year.

8. For signature programs, use the dedicated process. Workforce for Georgia is administered through Georgia Foundation for Public Education (gfpe.org) with a multi-page RFP; Waters for Georgia requires a 200-word abstract, GPS coordinate map, and budget template. Neither should be submitted through the general portal.