The Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence

The Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence will strengthen the nonprofit sector as a connector, capacity builder, and champion for regional nonprofits and philanthropy. Together, we will build and strengthen the systems, structures, cultures, skills, resources, and power we all need to serve our community with excellence.

Answering the call for solutions

The Quad Cities nonprofit sector has many strengths—leaders and staff dedicated to their missions and to supporting each other, many strong collaborations, effective and innovative programs, and caring donors. Yet common challenges persist. Filling key positions and supporting the people in those positions. Increasing the diversity and effectiveness of board leadership. Advancing equity and inclusion in our community. And the ever-present effort to raise resources for our missions.

Common challenges call for collective solutions

Many consultants, educational programs, and grant opportunities exist to strengthen Quad Cities nonprofits, but lack of alignment among those services and lack of financial resources and time among nonprofits make them less effective. We don’t need to replace or duplicate these supports, but we do need to build on them. Through the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, the Quad Cities Community Foundation will align and increase access to opportunities to strengthen our community’s nonprofits—individually and collectively.

The Community Foundation aims to play a central role in strengthening the nonprofit sector by creating the Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence, building on:

  • our mutually trusting relationships with nonprofits, donors, and fellow funders

  • our commitment to advancing equity and inclusion 

  • our decade-plus focus on nonprofit capacity building, and

  • our ability to build on our existing services and our organizational backbone—as a community foundation, we are designed to be here for the long term.

Staffing and leadership

The Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence will be served by a Director and an Administrative Assistant. The Director will report to the Vice President of Grantmaking and Community Initiatives, who will be deeply involved in the development and work of the Center.

Advisory Committee

The Center is guided by an Advisory Committee made up of leaders from the organizations it serves—nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.

Scope of services

The services provided by and through the Center for Nonprofit Excellence will be continually shaped by assessments, evaluations, and the guidance of the Advisory Committee. Based on our existing services and programs, our community knowledge and experience, and our review of comparable models across the country, we anticipate that the following will be key services and programming.

Services and programs we already provide—which would align and grow under the Center for Nonprofit Excellence—are marked with an asterisk.

Connector 

  • Lead Networking and Peer Learning Groups* 

  • Provide introductions to peers and partners*

  • Host list-serves to facilitate peer communication and information sharing

  • Expand access to shared resources through membership discounts and shared purchasing

  • Offer grantmaking strategy support and effective funding practices that lead to the best outcomes for nonprofits and community*

  • Provide meeting space* 

Capacity builder

  • Coordinate a mix of education programs relevant to our local nonprofit and philanthropic sector, some led by staff and some by local, regional, and national providers* 

  • Curate a library of educational resources*

  • Provide custom coaching and technical assistance

  • Engage a team of vetted local and regional consultants as referral options  

  • Offer capacity building grant programs*

  • Provide fiscal sponsorship for nascent nonprofits and groups doing charitable work without seeking 501c3 status*

Champion

  • Amplify the voices of the nonprofit sector to advance shared goals

  • Provide valuable information to the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors through ongoing assessment of nonprofit sector strengths, needs, and opportunities

  • Contribute to evaluation and research of the most effective ways to support the nonprofit sector to advance their missions

Partnerships

The Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence will align and enhance—not replace or duplicate—existing supports for the nonprofit sector.

Have Questions?

If you have any questions about the Quad Cities Center for Nonprofit Excellence, please contact:

Daisy Moran / email

Call (563) 326-2840

Interested in getting involved? Fill out the form below.

Upcoming events

A Program Driven by Values

By Nonprofits, For Nonprofits

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence is guided by the stated and evaluated needs and preferences of the nonprofit sector, and by an Advisory Committee representing diverse aspects of our sector and our community. 

Equity at the center

Programs and services are developed and conducted with an equity lens to work against the existing racial and other disparities present in our sector, and to engage the strengths of all for the benefit of our community. View the Community Foundation’s Commitment to Equity here.

A contextual, continuous, and collective approach

Programs and services offer different entry points for greatest impact and meaningful choice by different organizations. Programs and services are also ongoing because change does not happen from one learning experience, and they take advantage of the benefits of learning together to benefit not only that individual or organization, but the Quad Cities nonprofit and philanthropic sector.

Launch Timeline

Phase 1: July 2023–December 2023 - Complete

Phase 2: January 2024–JUNE 2024

  • Advisory Committee begins to meet.

  • Begin new and expanded education and connection opportunities that are “lower-lift.”

  • Shape and secure providers for larger, “flagship” programs.

Phase 3: July 2024–December 2024

  • Continue “lower-lift” education and connection opportunities.

  • Begin one or two larger, “flagship” programs.

Ongoing

  • Evaluate outcomes of new and existing programs.

  • Assess needs and opportunities that are priorities for the nonprofit sector, and how best to meet them.