Celebrating generosity: Quad Cities Botanical Center

How the Botanical Center grows giving 

Leadership
Ami is the executive director and the Botanical Center’s sole fundraiser. She gathers input from staff to invest donor dollars in the best possible way.

Endowment
Donors can give one-time gifts, or leave a legacy gift in their will, to support the Botanical Center through the Nonprofit Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation.

Expertise
When a donor was interested in making a gift, Ami talked to the donor about the benefits of a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation, which unlocked added benefits of tax incentives, expertise from the staff, and the chance to give in perpetuity.

Collaboration
Ami collaborates with other nonprofit leaders through CEO Link, hosted quarterly by the Community Foundation, and benefits from endowment building tools and support provided by our staff.

We’ll often say, “generosity lives here.”

It also grows here—literally. 

The Quad Cities Community Foundation can stay on the pulse of the most pressing needs and promising opportunities of our bi-state region because of the collaborative partnerships we have with area nonprofits—and the Quad Citizens who lead them.

Ami Porter is one of those people. She arrived at the Quad Cities Botanical Center in Rock Island more than two decades ago. Now, as executive director, Ami is growing the organization’s endowment so that the flora and fauna—and the educational programs the Center offers—are around forever.

“The gifts and grants we have been given—thanks to donors of the Community Foundation—make our mission possible, pure and simple,” Ami says.

“We are fortunate enough to have community members leave us legacy gifts through their estate, and whenever possible, we like to take a percentage of those gifts and place them in our endowment. We will be here for the long haul, no matter the challenges that come our way. The fund we started at the Community Foundation will be part of helping to ensure that.” 

In addition to the endowed fund the Botanical Center has started, it has also benefited from operational support from the Amy Helpenstell Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation. Before she passed away, Amy Helpenstell was a member of the board of directors at the Botanical Center.

“Amy was close to my heart—she still is,” Ami says. “The support we’ve received through her legacy has allowed us to grow our children’s garden, invest in technology, and expand opportunities for young people in particular.”