New Sandy Springs Foundation aims to raise private funds for city events, camps and adaptive recreation

Sandy Springs — The Sandy Springs Foundation, a nonprofit vehicle reconstituted in 2023, presented the council work session on Oct. 7 and described plans to underwrite public events, youth camp scholarships and adaptive-recreation equipment.

Elizabeth Fite, vice chair of the Sandy Springs Foundation, said the group’s directive was to help fund Veterans Park elements and to develop public-private partnerships to sustain the city’s signature events that the city currently budgets at roughly $900,000 per year. "We are a 501(c)(3), and we're here to inspire a vibrant, connected, and culturally rich Sandy Springs," Fite said.

The foundation reported early fundraising success tied to a launch event: it had budgeted to raise about $118,000 in advance of its City Springs twentieth‑anniversary celebration and had raised more than $128,000 as of Oct. 1. Fite said the event’s ticketing and auction are live, the tent will hold up to 500 people and 340 tickets had been sold as of late afternoon the day of the council meeting.

Scope and priorities outlined: foundation leaders said they will take donations to sponsor signature events, create campaign pages for individual programs and support recreation department needs such as adaptive bikes and kayaks. Fite noted specific price points used for donor pages (for example, an adaptive recreation bike listed at $5,000) and said the board is considering sponsorship packages for recurring series such as City Green concerts.

Relationship with the city and governance questions: council members pressed how the foundation’s money would interact with the city’s budget and decision-making. City Attorney Dan Lee and foundation members clarified the nonprofit is an autonomous 501(c)(3); bylaw language gives the mayor a seat on the foundation’s board. The city manager and council discussed whether the foundation’s funds should be strictly accretive (add new programming) or whether they could reduce city operating costs. Foundation leaders said their preference is to be "additive" to city programs rather than to supplant core city funding.

Next steps: the foundation said it is nascent and building internal procedures, including a budget, campaign pages and sponsor packages; it is willing to partner with existing event leads (including Juneteenth organizers) and to track donor‑directed gifts. No formal council vote was requested; staff and foundation leaders agreed to follow up on coordination and signage for fundraising pages.

Ending note: the foundation emphasized that it intends to be a working board focused on fundraising and operations, and asked the public to support its launch event and online donation pages.