Join us for an insightful and engaging conversation with Bre’Anna Brooks, Program Officer Mississippi River Initiative at The Walton Family Foundation, where we will delve into the intricacies of finding and fostering relationships with national funders. This event is a must-attend for nonprofit professionals, grant seekers, and anyone interested in learning the best practices for building strong connections with major funding organizations. If you're new to the process or looking to enhance your existing approach, this event will give you the tools and confidence needed to connect with national funders successfully.

The workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 26 at the Quad Cities Community Foundation. Lunch and networking start at 11:00 a.m., with the conversation from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Participants will learn to:

1. Identify Potential Funders: Understand how to research and identify national funders that align with your organization's mission and goals.

2. Effective Networking Strategies: Gain insights into building a strong network with national funders through effective communication and engagement tactics.

3. Sustainable Relationship Building: Discover strategies for maintaining and nurturing long-term relationships with funders beyond the initial grant.

4. Understanding Funders' Perspectives: Gain valuable insights into what national funders like the Walton Family Foundation look for in potential grantees.

5. Q&A Session: Have your specific questions answered by an experienced professional in the field. Please email your questions to juanitapassno@qccommunityfoundation.org to be included in the session. 

About the Speaker: 

Bre’Anna Brooks, a unique grant-making professional at the Walton Family Foundation, brings a wealth of experience in philanthropy and nonprofit support. As a program officer on the Environment Program’s Mississippi River Initiative, she spearheads a multi-state portfolio, focusing on community engagement, nature-based solutions, and coastal restoration efforts. Beyond her grant-making role, Bre'Anna is a member of a 14-person Inclusion Council at Walton Enterprises Inc., contributing to the creation of an environment centered on trust, respect, and belonging.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Bre’Anna made a significant impact as a program officer for the Chesapeake Bay Trust. In this role, she led restoration and outreach grant programs that enhanced waterways and outdoor communal spaces through community-led and -inspired projects across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Bre’Anna also championed diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice efforts in her previous role. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Johns Hopkins in Environmental Science and Policy with a concentration in equity.

The Community Foundation provides peer networks, training opportunities, and resources through the Center for Nonprofit Excellence to help strengthen the nonprofit sector as a connector, capacity builder, and champion for our region.

DevelopmentLink is offered at no charge to nonprofit fundraising professionals. Participants focus on fundraising, gift development and stewardship topics selected by participants, providing opportunities for idea sharing, peer resourcing and growth in development planning and execution.

At each session, exclusively for nonprofit development professionals, DevelopmentLink participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for idea sharing and collaborative partnerships among peers.

Announcements about DevelopmentLink are sent via an email distribution list. If you are a nonprofit development professional interested in joining us for DevelopmentLink, click here for more details.

Spring Operations and Programs Grants open on June 1, 2024, and we're hosting an info session to help you make the strongest case possible for your project.

Please join us in person on June 4 to hear from Community Foundation staff, learn more about our Operations and Programs Grants, and ask any questions you may have about the application process. 

The session will also be recorded and posted on the Operations and Programs Grants page on our website for those who are not able to attend.

LOCATION UPDATE: The info session will be held at the Quad Cities Community Foundation (852 Middle Rd, Ste 100, Bettendorf, IA 52722)

Please RSVP for this session.

Spring Operations and Programs Grants open on June 1, 2024, and we're hosting an info session to help you make the strongest case possible for your project.

Please join us virtually on June 4 to hear from Community Foundation staff, learn more about our Operations and Programs Grants, and ask any questions you may have about the application process. 

The session will also be recorded and posted on the Operations and Programs Grants page on our website for those who are not able to attend.

Please RSVP for this session to receive a link to the virtual meeting.

The Quad Cities Community Foundation's Center for Nonprofit Excellence invites you and your organization to attend Budgeting Your Leadership Influence, a workshop for nonprofit leaders. The event will be held on Friday, May 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and led by Dr. Stacy Van Gorp and Kelsey Kleinheinz from See What I Mean Consulting.

Budgeting is a way of aligning our actions with our goals. We might budget our money to ensure we have enough to buy healthy groceries or purchase a new vehicle. We might budget our time to prioritize time with family or a new initiative at work. In this session, we'll take this idea of budgeting into a new realm, using our influence to advance important goals for our organization and community.

Participants will learn to:

1. Identify settings where you have influence, authority, and opportunity

2. Reflect on your methods of budgeting your influence

3. Explore ways to use your influence strategically and avoid behaviors that might minimize your influence

4. Expand your understanding of how influence works in the context of inclusion and equity

Space is limited for this in-person event, with a maximum capacity of 50 participants. Registration is $35, which includes the workshop session and a boxed lunch. View refund policy on our event website.

Nonprofit CEOs connect, collaborate, and learn from each other at the Quad Cities Community Foundation.

At each session, exclusively for nonprofit CEOs and Executive Directors, CEOLink participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for best practice sharing and collaborative partnerships among CEOs. Past discussions have included working with a Board of Directors, strategic planning, volunteer management, and grant seeking.

More information here.

DevelopmentLink is offered at no charge to nonprofit fundraising professionals. Participants focus on fundraising, gift development and stewardship topics selected by participants, providing opportunities for idea sharing, peer resourcing and growth in development planning and execution.

At each session, exclusively for nonprofit development professionals, DevelopmentLink participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for idea sharing and collaborative partnerships among peers.

Announcements about DevelopmentLink are sent via an email distribution list. If you are a nonprofit development professional interested in joining us for DevelopmentLink, click here for more details.

Title: Weaving Planned Giving Into Your Donor Conversations

Presenter: Melanie Norton, National Association of Charitable Gift Planners

Webinar Description: Organizations that leave gift planning out of the conversation will be leaving money on the table and their future security on the line. This presentation offers helpful conversation tips and cues to transition into a discussion about planned gifts.

Learning outcomes: How to make an easy introduction to the largest and most impactful gifts our donors will make, and our organizations will experience.

Speaker Bio: Melanie J. Norton is the Founder/CEO of Norton Philanthropic Counsel (NPC), a fundraising consulting firm in Indianapolis. Prior to launching NPC, she was the vice president for development and alumni engagement at DePauw University, leading DePauw to more than $320 million of a successful $383 million comprehensive campaign that surpassed its original goal some 2 ½ years in advance of the campaign’s end. Her career includes leadership positions in higher education administration and fundraising, fundraising consulting, and banking (trust and retail). Melanie is a CFRE and a proud member of the Association of Philanthropic Counsel and NACGP, where she was the national chair of the board in 2016 during a major rebranding initiative.

Details: Due to RSVP demand the workshop will be held at St. Ambrose University’s Rogalski Center (518 West Locust Street Davenport, IA). To avoid confusion, we have changed the title of this series from Lunch and Learn. The session is Bring Your Own Lunch.

Time: 11:30 am (networking) 12-1 pm (program session).

This session is free thanks to our sponsor, Quad City Planned Giving Council

Nonprofit CEOs connect, collaborate, and learn from each other at the Quad Cities Community Foundation.

At each session, exclusively for nonprofit CEOs and Executive Directors, CEOLink participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for best practice sharing and collaborative partnerships among CEOs. Past discussions have included working with a Board of Directors, strategic planning, volunteer management, and grant seeking.

More information here.

Spring Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants open on March 1, 2024, and we're hosting an info session to help you make the strongest case possible for your project.

Please join us in person on March 5th to hear from Community Foundation staff, learn more about our Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants, and ask any questions you may have about the application process.

The session will be held in Room 120 at WIU-Moline (3300 River Dr., Moline, IL 61265).

The session will also be recorded and posted on the Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants page on our website for those who are not able to attend.

Please RSVP for this session below.

Spring Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants open on March 1, 2024, and we're hosting an info session to help you make the strongest case possible for your project.

Please join us virtually on March 5th to hear from Community Foundation staff, learn more about our Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants, and ask any questions you may have about the application process. 

The session will also be recorded and posted on the Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants page on our website for those who are not able to attend.

Please RSVP for this session to receive a link to the virtual meeting.

Title: Focus on Relationship: How Legacy Circles Help Launch or Re-establish a Gift Planning Program

Presenter: Michael George, National Association of Charitable Gift Planners

Workshop Description: Join us as we explore how legacy circles can be used not only to retain donors, but also to attract them to your planned giving program. .

Learning outcomes: Give your donors the opportunity to be a part of your organization's "family" now and forever by building and maintaining a legacy circle that allows you to deepen partnerships with your best donors.

Speaker Bio: Michael George is a Senior Development Officer and has been with The Catholic Foundation for more than 23 years. He is responsible for developing and cultivating donor relationships and assisting individuals and families with donor-advised funds, permanent endowments, and planned gifts to the Foundation. Michael is a member of The Dallas Council of Charitable Gift Planners, The Estate Planning Council of North Texas, is a past president of the Dallas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and has served on the board of the Dallas Estate Planning Council. He is also a past Chairman of the Stewardship Council at his home parish of St. Rita Catholic Community, where he has been a member since 1985.

This session is free thanks to our sponsor, Quad City Giving Council

DevelopmentLink is offered at no charge to nonprofit fundraising professionals. Participants focus on fundraising, gift development and stewardship topics selected by participants, providing opportunities for idea sharing, peer resourcing and growth in development planning and execution.

At each session, exclusively for nonprofit development professionals, DevelopmentLink participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for idea sharing and collaborative partnerships among peers.

Announcements about DevelopmentLink are sent via an email distribution list. If you are a nonprofit development professional interested in joining us for DevelopmentLink, click here for more details.

Title: Data-Informed Gift Planning: Using Research to Help Donors and Improve Your Program.

Presenter: Joe Bull, National Association of Charitable Gift Planners

Workshop Description: This session will provide research-based insights that gift planners from any organization can use to enhance their gift planning programs.

Learning outcomes: Identify potential planned gift donors, improve the interactions with those donors, strengthen the relationships with existing donors, and build organizational leaders' support of the gift planning program.

Speaker Bio: Joe Bull currently serves as Vice President and Chief Advancement Officer at Wilmington College and is the founder and principal of Philanthropy Advisory Council, LLC. He has held senior advancement leadership positions at Carnegie Mellon University, The Nature Conservancy and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and provided 16 years of service to his alma mater, The Ohio State University, primarily as Director of Planned Giving. He is currently the President of the American Council on Gift Annuities and was the 2005 Board Chair of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners--only the second person to have held the top leadership position at both of charitable gift planning’s professional organizations.

This session is free thanks to our co-sponsor, Quad City Giving Council. Please RSVP by January 29.