The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Launches New Website and Online Giving Feature

The Community Foundation’s new online tools focus on informative, convenient resources for charitable giving

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – As the calendar turns to the holidays and giving back becomes a focus for many, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization dedicated to encouraging and facilitating philanthropy to benefit the region, announces the launch of its new website, at www.cfmt.org.

Whether people are looking to make charitable gifts during the holiday season, or are focused on structuring a way to achieve philanthropic goals, www.cfmt.org is designed to offer users simple, convenient tools to inform charitable giving decisions.

Features of The Community Foundation’s new website include:

•    An option to donate to any Community Foundation charitable fund in someone’s honor or memory, with an automatically-generated card that can be printed and folded into the style of a greeting card.

•    A “Find Your Perfect Cause” giving quiz, which delivers suggestions about different charitable opportunities and vehicles, depending on the quiz-taker’s preferences.

•    Toolkits of articles and facts focused on charitable giving information for groups such as corporations, professional advisors or grant-seekers. (Example page)

•    An interactive map of the 43 counties The Community Foundation serves in Middle Tenn., and Southern Ky., with specific data available for each county.

•    A library of The Community Foundation’s more than 800 charitable funds, categorized by cause, with descriptions and an online donation option for every fund.

“The new cfmt.org provides our community access to easy, inspired and interactive giving ideas, literally at their fingertips,” said Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “This new online resource is a great example of how The Community Foundation can help anyone with a charitable goal achieve it – efficiently, effectively and with meaning. It demonstrates that giving, at its best, is a two-way street, bestowing great joy on both the donor and the recipients.”

For more information, visit The Community Foundation’s new website at www.cfmt.org.

About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 800 charitable funds, providing customized philanthropic solutions with flexibility for donors, nonprofit organizations and the community. In the past 20 years, The Community Foundation has distributed more than $540 million to community programs and institutions. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, #400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.

The Community Foundation Hosts Parenting Author for Edna S. Thomas Lecture Series

Founder of UCLA’s Inner Kids and Author Susan Kaiser Greenland to Lead October Workshop on Parenting

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee announces the 12th annual Edna Thomas Lecture Series, featuring Susan Kaiser Greenland, author and founder of the acclaimed Inner Kids program affiliated with UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center.

The lecture will take place Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, at 7 p.m. at the University School of Nashville (2000 Edgehill Avenue, Nashville). The session is free and open to the public.

The series is made possible by The Community Foundation’s Edna S. Thomas Fund, established in 2000 by Thomas’ daughter, Judy Lewis, as a tribute to her mother’s outstanding parenting skills. The Fund endows the annual lecture series to provide tools for parents and educators to raise healthy children. For details about this year’s session, or to make a gift to the Edna S. Thomas Fund, visit www.cfmt.org.

The seminar, titled “The Mindful Child: how to help your kid manage stress and become happier, kinder and more compassionate,” will focus on ways parents can help children respond to stressful situations, be aware of their own healthy inner compasses, and become more thoughtful, resilient and empathetic. Kaiser Greenland will share tools from which parents and educators can benefit.

“Among the countless lessons a parent teaches their children, raising a child that is ‘aware’ of his or her emotions is one of the most important,” said Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. “Through the work of the Edna S. Thomas Fund, we are honored to work with Judy Lewis and her family to create annual learning opportunities to help parents better navigate their most important job, that of raising children.”

Greenland, who authored “The Mindful Child,” is a nationally recognized leader in teaching mindfulness awareness to children and teens.

For more information, visit www.cfmt.org, or call The Community Foundation at 615-321-4939.

About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 800 charitable funds, providing customized philanthropic solutions with flexibility for donors, nonprofit organizations and the community. In the past 20 years, The Community Foundation has distributed more than $540 million to community programs and institutions. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, #400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.