In The Community

In 1997, IFMA Atlanta decided to advance its community services efforts beyond a one-day event to an ongoing program throughout the year. With the goals of utilizing the strength of our membership to improve the facilities of nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta area and, at the same time, promoting the profession of facility management to the nonprofit community, the IFMA Atlanta Community Services Committee was formed.

With the help, support, in-kind donations, and services of our professional and associate members, we have assisted with the completion of many projects, saving nonprofit organizations thousands of dollars and enabling them to renovate and maintain their facilities with minimum impact on their operating programs. In some cases, IFMA members serve on their Boards and represent IFMA when needed to aid in obtaining grants for capital projects.

In 2008, the Community Services Committee hosted the first annual IFMA Atlanta Nonprofit Facility Summit, a one-day educational event open to all nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta area. Through presentations from industry professionals that focus on the concerns of nonprofit facilities, participants gain insight into renovating and maintaining their facilities and learn to develop a written Preventative Maintenance Plan.

The following year, we began offering a quarterly Nonprofit Lunch and Learn program with IFMA members donating time to discuss core competency topics as they relate to managing a nonprofit facility.

In the Spring of each year, we invite the entire IFMA Atlanta community to join us for Volunteer Day to assist our partners with sprucing up their facilities, helping them with cleaning, painting, landscaping, and minor repairs.

In May of each year, nonprofit organizations are invited to submit an application for partnership with IFMA Atlanta Community Services. Upon acceptance for partnership, each nonprofit is assigned a Team Leader who coordinates the activities of the Committee to assist the partner in developing and implementing a plan to effectively achieve their facility goals.

At the IFMA Atlanta July luncheon meeting, we recognize our retiring, returning, and new partners. We have grown from serving one partner in the beginning to serving eight partners for the 2011-2012 program year: Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children, Decatur Cooperative Ministry, The Drake House, The Elaine Clark Center, Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Jerusalem House, and Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services.

IFMA Foundation

Established in 1990 as a non-profit corporation, the IFMA Foundation is designed to identify, fund and promote education and research for the advancement of facility management. Funded exclusively by the generosity of individual IFMA members, chapters, councils and corporate sponsors, donations underwrite research, fund educational program development, provide scholarships to students pursuing degrees in facility management and support certification programs benefiting the profession. The Foundation invests every contributed dollar in programs that directly benefit the future of the profession. Please click here for contact information.

GA Tech Masters Degree Program

The Atlanta Chapter of IFMA has partnered with Georgia Tech on a Masters Degree Program in Integrated Facility and Property Management, Course work began in the fall 2000. We have published notices and articles on this Program in our newsletter and Georgia Tech has presented at several monthly programs. As a result of our partnership, Georgia Tech has become an IFMA Atlanta Chapter member. The Chapter has also committed to the IFMA Foundation and Georgia Tech an annual $10,000 Endowment for the Masters Program.