21/64 Certified
Senior Vice President of Development
Michelle Beisker is Senior Vice President of Development at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. She provides guidance and support to donors to help them achieve their charitable giving goals. She is responsible for the asset development activities for the Community Foundation – overseeing donor service, stewardship, communication, as well as the administrative database and systems that support those activities. Since joining the Community Foundation in June 2014, Michelle developed an asset development strategic plan resulting in over $83 million in contributions in 7 years. She is 21/64 Certified Advisor – Next Generation Philanthropy. Michelle was recognized as 2020 Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Eastern Iowa Chapter and 2021 Women of Influence by the Corridor Business Journal.
Michelle is a member of Downtown Rotary, Cedar Rapids Area Estate Planning Council, Association of Fundraising Professionals and Eastern Iowa Planned Giving Council. She currently serves as member of the board of directors at Theatre Cedar Rapids and at Advancement Network (AdNet) a national network of community foundation development professionals. Michelle is also a Leadership for Five Seasons Alumni.
Prior to joining the Community Foundation in 2014, Michelle was the Program Director of PUSH-CR with Four Oaks, a federal demonstration program to end family homelessness; Assistant Vice President of Development at Mount Mercy University; and Chief Operations Officer at Waypoint. In addition, she worked 10 years in business development at PMX Industries, Inc. in several roles including Inside Sales Manager and Global Sales Manager and was responsible for negotiating multi-million-dollar contracts with global mints.
Michelle is a Cedar Rapids native and graduated from Prairie High School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Business minor at the University of Iowa. Michelle and her husband, Craig, have two adult children, Alyssa and Erik, and live on an acreage south of Shueyville. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, tending to their 15 acres, and traveling. She appreciates the people of Cedar Rapids and their passion for enriching our community. Michelle believes this is a resource-rich community that offers a great place to raise a family. Although she and her family have done extensive traveling, they always enjoy coming home to Cedar Rapids.