The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation (GCRCF) creates opportunities each day. We create opportunities for the community through the programs and services offered by the organizations we support. We create opportunities for the nonprofit community through the grants we provide and through the Linn County Nonprofit Resource Center. We create opportunities for donors by helping them realize their philanthropic goals.

The mission of The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation is to connect donors to the priorities they care about and to the needs of the community, to increase charitable giving, and to provide leadership on important community issues.

The Community Foundation serves as one of the most important resources in Linn County, Iowa, funding nonprofit activities in four essential program areas: Arts and Culture, Community Development and the Environment, Education, and Health and Human Services.

Many of the opportunities created by the Community Foundation are available today, because of the leadership and foresight of seven community-minded leaders who established the Community Welfare Foundation of Cedar Rapids in 1949 - Robert C. Armstrong, Edwin Evans, John T. Hamilton, Van Vechten Schaeffer, A. L. Smulekoff, Frank T. Welch and T. M. Ingersoll. Originally established as a private foundation for the purpose of receiving gifts and bequests to provide support for charitable enterprise in the city of Cedar Rapids, the Community Welfare Foundation experienced only modest growth for its first twenty-three years. In 1972, however, the Community Welfare Foundation received its first significant gift - a $300,000 bequest from the estate of Minnie Rubeck, a cleaning lady employed by a local utility company.

In 1987 local radio and television entrepreneur William B. Quarton changed the scene of Cedar Rapids philanthropy by offering a challenge to his friends at the Community Welfare Foundation. If the Foundation would agree to change the IRS tax status of the Foundation from "private" to "public," change the name to reflect the broader interests of the rapidly growing Linn County community, and pledge to raise an additional $450,000 in permanent endowment, he would match the funds raised, dollar-for-dollar, by means of a $900,000 charitable lead trust. The challenge was quickly accepted and successfully achieved, and following a mandatory five-year transition period, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation (GCRCF) received its 501(c) (3) designation from the IRS in 1992.

 Milestone events in recent years include:

The Community Foundation embarked on a state-wide collaboration with other community foundations to lobby for the development of Endow Iowa, a unique charitable tax credit program, which has spurred more than $75 million in endowment building statewide since 2004. Endow Iowa encourages individuals, businesses and organizations to make lasting investments in their communities by establishing permanent, endowed funds during their lifetime at qualified Community Foundations in Iowa. In exchange, donors can claim state income tax incentives worth 25 percent of the amount of their gift (in addition to federal charitable deductions).

In 2005, the GCRCF expanded its impact and reach by establishing the Linn County Nonprofit Resource Center, whose mission is to build vibrant communities by promoting, supporting, and strengthening the nonprofits of Linn County.

In 2005, the GCRCF partnered with the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce to develop and lead Fifteen in 5, a county-wide community planning process.

William B. Quarton left a powerful legacy upon his passing at age 104 in August 2007. His $35 million planned gift to the Community Foundation tripled the organization’s unrestricted assets and created endowments for four organizations. The GCRCF continues to honor William Quarton and his spirit of philanthropy with the William Quarton Society, recognizing those who have established an endowed fund or will make a planned gift. This growing group of local philanthropists now stands at more than 250 members.

The Flood of 2008 will forever be part of the history of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. On June 13, 2008, downtown Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas were inundated with floodwaters from the Cedar River. More than 5,000 homes, 700 business and nearly 500 nonprofits were damaged or destroyed in addition to vital cultural sites such as the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library and the African American History Center of Iowa.  

The Community Foundation established the Flood 2008 Fund a day before the crest of the Cedar River. This fund has since granted $5.7 million to 77 local nonprofits.

Soon after the flood waters receded, the Community Foundation opened the Nonprofit Recovery Fund to provide immediate assistance grants of up to $5,000 to Linn County nonprofits directly impacted by the flood. Approximately $313,000 was granted to 70 nonprofits and/or places of worship from the Nonprofit Recovery Fund. Of the total amount granted, $231,000 came from the Community Foundation’s operating reserves. In partnership with the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation developed and managed the Job and Small Business Recovery Fund. To date, more than $6 million has been granted to 334 Cedar Rapids businesses.

In the fall of 2009, the Community Foundation learned that Joseph Kacena had gifted more than $5 million to support several nonprofits in Cedar Rapids and the University of Chicago. More importantly, Mr. Kacena specified that 39 percent of that contribution be designated for the GCRCF’s unrestricted funds.

In July 2010, the GCRCF welcomed the fourth president and CEO in history of the organization as the board approved the hiring of Dr. Les Garner, Jr. This moment marked the leadership transition that began in March 2010 with the departure of Dan Baldwin, president and CEO of the GCRCF from 2002 to 2010. Baldwin left to become the president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Monterey County in Monterey, California. Dr. Garner is a widely recognized expert in higher education, public policy, and leadership. He most recently served as president of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, for the past 16 years.

The Cedar Rapids community lost a great friend, philanthropist and leader on July 27, 2010, with the passing of William Whipple. Bill was the first honorary director of the GCRCF and along with his wife, Gayle were members of the Quarton Legacy Society. Mr. Whipple’s life gifts and estate gift create funds at the GCRCF of $7 million – the second largest gift in the history of the Community Foundation, second only to William Quarton’s $35 million gift in 2007.

The unrestricted endowment of the Community Foundation has more than tripled in the last five years, from $8.9 million in 2005 to $27.1 million in 2010, thanks in part to gifts from William Quarton, Joe Kacena and William Whipple among numerous others. These resources help the Community Foundation address the changing needs and opportunities in the community in a flexible and timely way.

Mid 2010 through 2011, the GCRCF board of directors embarked on a year-long process of strategic review. The GCRCF wants to assure that it will continue to serve this community effectively as it faces a new chapter in its history. The board is currently reviewing resource and donor development, grant programs, community leadership, the Linn County Nonprofit Resource Center and our investment management strategy.

Since the fall of 2010, the Community Foundation has reviewed the use of the unrestricted endowment and proposed changes that will accommodate current and future growth of the endowment, with the overall goal of improving the quality of life in Linn County. A grants planning task force has guided this process.

The task force identified that the Community Foundation’s discretionary grants help organizations:

1. Innovate to meet new circumstances and expanding opportunities.

2. Sustain on-going effective programs.

3. Build the capacity of organizations to adapt to a changing environment.

Using these three functions, the Community Foundation developed a framework that incorporates some existing unrestricted grant programs while providing additional flexibility and room to grow. One new element includes a matching grants opportunity, helping organizations meet match requirements from regional and national funders, leveraging additional resources to our community. Other changes include the way nonprofits would access small “field of interest” funds to lessen the number of applications a nonprofit would need to prepare each year.

The Community Foundation will use 2011 to complete the planning process, and will implement the changes in 2012.

In its most recent year-end (2010), the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation made charitable distributions of $6.3 million through more than 1,000 grants to nonprofit organizations and public agencies. The GCRCF held assets of approximately $111 million as of Dec. 31, 2010.

The Community Foundation has nearly 500 funds established by individuals, families and businesses. In 2010, the GCRCF received 882 donations from 618 unique donors totaling $12.8 million.

Since becoming a public foundation in 1992, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation has distributed more than $60 million in grants.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation exists to promote community philanthropy and to accept gifts to and make grants from the "community's endowment." We provide our donors and fund holders with the highest possible level of philanthropic stewardship and professional services. We are responsive to the ever-changing needs of Linn County's charitable sector and will continue to be a catalyst for solutions that have lasting impact.