How the Chestnut Family Foundation is Helping Non-Profits Navigate COVID-19

I’m so proud of the ways we’re supporting small business owners, entrepreneurs and creatives through Mailchimp’s COVID-19 relief. You can read more about it on our resource page. On the personal side, my wife Teresa and I are working with the Chestnut Family Foundation home office to donate $1M to relief efforts in Atlanta and our hometown of Hephzibah and Augusta, Georgia. (Here’s my earlier post about our goals for the foundation.)

The donations include contributions to the response and recovery funds created by community foundations and the United Way organizations in Atlanta and Augusta. We’re also providing support to enable non-profits to pivot resources towards getting supplies and services to those most in need.

When we initially reached out to these organizations to ask what help they needed, the overall response was surprising—they said they didn’t need any support. Instead, they said they were just focused on keeping the lights on and ensuring they still received commitments from donors. Fortunately, through some light cajoling, Teresa was able to convince them otherwise. 

There is still so much more for all of us to do, but here are some ways we’re helping.

Savannah Music Festival ($10,000)

The arts are a major focus of CFF, especially youth programs. The Savannah Music Festival was cancelled for 2020 but their children’s music education continues, and we’re happy to support them. 

Atlanta Children’s Shelter ($25,000)

ACS’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty for families facing homelessness by building pathways to long-term self-sufficiency and providing quality early childhood education.

Wellspring Living ($25,000)

Wellspring Living’s focus is transforming the lives of people at risk of or victimized by sexual exploitation. In response to COVID-19, they’ve added wi-fi and online meeting capabilities for their tenants—important upgrades that we’re pleased to help with.

CHRIS180 ($25,000)

CHRIS180’s focus is on homeless youth with targeted outreach to LGBTQ+ youth, who are disproportionately homeless. The COVID-19 crisis has really hit these kids hard, so we’re glad to be able to support them.

Helping Mamas ($25,000)

Helping Mamas is an organization doing significant work in Norcross, Georgia. They provide essential baby supplies to families in need. During the pandemic, they’ve more than tripled their distribution of supplies.

Ballethnic ($30,000)

When Covid first hit, Ballethnic had to cancel their performances of The Leopard Tale—a big setback for Nena and her team. Teresa bought out the show to cover the entire cost. We love this group’s work and we’re heartened to see them getting back on their feet.

Moving in the Spirit ($30,000)

Moving in the Spirit is a youth development program that uses dance to teach young people social, emotional and cognitive skills. We helped develop a digital learning plan so that students could continue their dance education from home.

Atlanta Music Project ($50,000)

We helped them pivot to online classes this summer. They launched these online Master Classes as a result, and boy are we blown away!

CommonLit ($50,000)

CommonLit is a nonprofit focused on education technology to ensure that all students—especially students in Title I schools—graduate with the reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills they need to be successful in college and beyond. Times like these highlight the growing importance of educational technology tools and we’re proud to help CommonLit help kids get ahead.

Soccer in the Streets ($50,000)

After they had to cancel their spring and summer programming, we challenged Soccer in the Streets and Coach Phil Hill to find new ways to engage with their communities. Over the last few months, they’ve pivoted in a big way, and we’re now helping pay their staff to provide personal tutoring to the kids they used to coach on the field. This is in addition to a $120k commitment that we made just prior to the pandemic.

Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ($50,000)

We’re continuing to work with the Atlanta Community Foundation, which is partnering with United Way, to help more broadly with their work around town, which has become even more important during the pandemic.

ArtsNow Learning ($67,000)

The mission of ArtsNow Learning is to transform lives by meeting educational needs utilizing arts-integration and innovative strategies. They’re expanding online learning for the kids in our hometown of Hephzibah and delivered 137 laptops to students who needed them.

Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area + United Way Augusta ($250,000)

Whatever Teresa and I do in Atlanta, we try our best to match it in our hometown of Augusta. We trust these two organizations to know where help is needed right now and get to work. 

Georgia Center for Nonprofits ($100,000)

We committed these funds to provide resiliency planning training (about strategy, operations, management, and other business basics) to early-stage nonprofits so they can better run their own orgs. Our one condition is that the GCN seek nonprofits that serve Black communities around Georgia, as they’ve been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

One of the things we learned from the ArtsNow project above was just how many families were hungry for online learning, but were sharing their parents’ or grandparents’ smartphones. It was great to see that tiny screens won’t stop them from getting their education, but we want to help them get access to bigger screens. With the remaining funds, we’re looking into ways of providing tablets to schools in my hometown of Hephzibah. Many of our peeps are just starting your careers. It’s my opinion that you should take care of yourself first and foremost, but when you’re ready to help others, don’t forget your hometowns. It took a village, as they say, to raise you up into the successful person you are now, and the super successful person you’re destined to be! So when you’re ready, go back and support your village a little.  

Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship (endowment of $100,000 to fund two $2,000 scholarships annually)

This is a tough time for new graduates, so we were thrilled to award this year’s AFCEA Henry M. Chestnut Scholarship, named after my father, to Kamora Johnson and Kelly Tran. The $3,000 college scholarship I received from the AFCEA in 1996 was transformational, so I wanted to pay it forward.

Kamora will study biomedical science at Clemson University and dreams of owning her own OB/GYN practice. Kelly will study Industrial Design at Georgia Tech (my alma mater!) and wants to build online learning tools for children. We’re so proud of both of them. 

Teresa and I know that we’re lucky to be able to help in this way—and we know this is only a start. These organizations serve our communities, and they rely on those same communities to keep them going. When I was in my 20s, fresh out of school, I barely made enough money to pay for rent and for a half tank of gas. I felt a strong sense of duty to help others in my community, but I simply couldn’t afford to. As Mailchimp grew and became more successful, we could help more and more. You might have a strong yearning to help, but you’ve got to lay your own foundation first. There’s nothing wrong with that. I recently heard a quote that I wish I read many years ago: when asked to summarize Buddhism in one succinct statement, a monk said, “If you can help, help. If you can't, then do no harm."

For those who are curious, you can follow the Chestnut Family Foundation’s philanthropic journey at chestnutfamily.foundation.