Beyond the grant
Community foundations exist to amplify a community’s generosity. Last year, thanks to the generosity of donors, the Quad Cities Community Foundation granted $10.8 million to local organizations. At the Community Foundation, grantmaking is a large part of our work, but it is only one of the many ways we support our region’s nonprofit sector.
Nonprofits need tools, peer learning opportunities, meeting spaces, avenues for knowledge-sharing, and more to continue their work as effectively as possible. This need was the catalyst for our new Center for Nonprofit Excellence, a resource hub for area nonprofits. The center will allow the Community Foundation to expand our existing offerings, providing more resources and new opportunities for collaboration to local organizations.
We’ve asked some of our nonprofit partners to share their experiences working with the Community Foundation beyond the realm of grantmaking. We look forward to unifying these efforts in the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and sharing them with more organizations.
Endowment-building
Establishing and growing an endowment is an outstanding way to ensure the long-term financial stability of a nonprofit organization. When a nonprofit opens an endowment fund at the Community Foundation, we provide a broad range of support, expertise, and tools such as nonprofit reserve funds to help build the endowment into a reliable source of flexible funding. Learn more about how we support nonprofit endowment-building here.
“For so long, we’ve gone from project to project, living in and getting through the moment. We don’t have the skill set to manage an endowment fund ourselves, and we loved the idea of working with another local nonprofit organization that’s in the service of the community. Now, thanks to an improved endowment model, we’ll be able to think more broadly and proactively about where we want to be in five or 10 years and how we can better serve the community.”
—Daniel Sheridan, development director, Davenport Junior Theatre
Fiscal sponsorship
Fiscal sponsorship is a special relationship between a nonprofit like the Community Foundation and a charitable project or group. Acting as fiscal sponsor, we can receive and manage charitable donations on a group’s behalf, so they can get the resources they need to reach their goal. Information about fiscal sponsorship can be found here.
“Our organization's partnership with the Quad Cities Community Foundation has helped us expand our programming. RiverBend Ag in the Classroom is focused on providing STEM-based materials and lessons to area schools to help their students better understand local agriculture. Having a fiscal agent partner expands our relationship with donors who are also passionate about agriculture. The Foundation's expertise allows us to spend more time with programs.”
—Mark Hotvedt, RiverBend Agriculture in the Classroom
DevelopmentLink
DevelopmentLink is our bimonthly workshop for nonprofit fundraising professionals. Participants focus on fundraising, gift development, and stewardship topics selected by the group, providing opportunities for idea sharing, peer resourcing, and growth in development planning and execution. Learn more about this workshop on our website.
“The Quad Cities Community Foundation has been one of the greatest community-based organizations that continue to transform partners through their networking for funding others. The Community Foundation helps other programs by providing training needs in terms of strategic planning, grant writing, and serving generations of students through scholarships. Not only that, but they play a leading role in connecting community-based organizations. QCAIR is grateful for our working relationship established over the years and will value it for years to come.”
—Isaac Carr, Citizenship Manager, Quad Cities Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees
CEOLink
Through CEOLink, nonprofit CEOs and executive directors connect, collaborate, and learn from each other. At each session, participants focus on a self-selected topic facing their organizations, providing opportunities for best practice sharing and collaborative partnerships among CEOs. Details about CEOLink are available here.
“I have really appreciated the workshop breakout sessions where you learn that you're not the only one going through issues in the nonprofit world, and you do have some people you can learn from.”
—Lisa Ambrose, CEO, Amani Community Services
Grantmaking strategy and support for other funders
The Community Foundation is here to support nonprofits of all kinds in our region—including other funders. It’s our area of expertise, after all! Our staff is available to help local funders refine or revisit their grantmaking strategy and more to help them better serve our community, whether on a contracted basis or through peer learning in quarterly meetings of Funders Forum. Contact Kelly Thompson to learn more about these opportunities.
“The deep connections that the QCCF has cultivated in the Quad Cities have helped our foundation meet and understand the needs of this community. Tapping into their networks of nonprofits and community activism enables us to foster collaborative work that makes our foundation more effective. Working with Kelly Thompson and Kaleigh Trammell has helped us streamline and better manage our own grant work capabilities which affords us more time to connect with our community. Our partnership with the QCCF has improved our reach, our capabilities, and our effectiveness as a foundation.”
—Jennifer Waterman, Trustee, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation
Meeting space
The Community Foundation makes meeting space available to nonprofits free of charge. If you are interested in reserving space for your organization, contact Cory Sellers for more information.
“AFP Quad Cities is incredibly grateful for the partnership with the Quad Cities Community Foundation, especially with the use of their Community Room. The AFP board of directors meets regularly in that space for our monthly board meetings and strategic planning sessions. Additionally, we host our highly attended monthly lunch and learn sessions in the room. Not only is the space clean, bright, and modern, but the staff are extremely welcoming, helpful, and easy to work with. Thank you, QCCF!”
—Jenny Colvin, President-Elect, AFP Quad Cities