Supporting nonprofits during challenging times encompasses grantmaking, training and community generosity.
In the fight against food insecurity, Amanda Reynolds’ tool of choice is a bicycle. Recognizing that there was nowhere to get a free meal in Dubuque on a Sunday evening, she joined the Urban Bicycle Food Mission as a way to reach those in need. Volunteers deliver meals often by bike.
“It started out small: 25 meals on the first night,” says Reynolds, who joined after Melinda Vize founded the organization. “As we made connections in the community and checked in with shelters, talked with police officers, we found out that the population that needed this was much larger. We’ve grown to over 200 meals every single week, and we find out that we’ve run out of food every single week.”
To grow this initiative, the Urban Bicycle Food Mission applied for and received a Community Impact Grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque in 2024. The Impact Grant program and other grantmaking opportunities are prime examples of the ways the Community Foundation works to support nonprofits and address the needs of people across the Dubuque region. Funding from competitive grant cycles, along with payouts from donor and nonprofit endowment funds, provide critical funding to organizations that are tackling issues from food insecurity to education, brain health to access to the arts. Since its inception in 2003, the Community Foundation has granted over $75 million to nonprofits. In 2024 alone, the Foundation made $8.3 million in grants.
“At a time when nonprofits are facing funding challenges and an increased need for services, the resources that foundations can provide, such as grants, trainings and coaching, are important lifelines,” says Peter Supple, director of nonprofit relations for the Community Foundation. “Supporting these critical local organizations is key to our mission of empowering communities and igniting generosity.”
Supple and the entire Foundation staff have seen first-hand the funding challenges nonprofits face. A record number of nonprofits – 222 – participated in the Community Foundation’s Great Give Day on May 21 to increase their visibility, connect with donors, and raise dollars to support their work. The $630,000 these nonprofits raised far exceeded last year’s total of $450,000, illustrating how the community has stepped up during a time of need.
In addition, the Community Foundation’s competitive grant programs are attracting more interest than ever from nonprofits. Not only has the number of applications increased but so has the total dollar amount.
“Our goal is to increase nonprofits’ capacity to make an impact and address community needs,” Supple says.
Capacity-building takes many forms. For example, the Community Foundation offers Board Boot Camp, a workshop for nonprofit leaders to help them understand the ins and outs of the nonprofit world and gain knowledge that enables them to best serve their organization. The Foundation also facilitates trainings for nonprofits on how to start and grow endowment funds, which pay out a percentage each year to support organizations’ work.
Grant programs, too, are designed to help nonprofits grow their ability to deliver services. For example, Community Impact Grants support training, collaboration, programming and operations, while the Grants for Tech program helps nonprofits overcome a common hurdle that impedes their operations: Outdated technology.
For recipients of Foundation grants, the funding can make a significant impact – on their work and the people they serve. Take, for instance, People in Need (PIN), a Dubuque nonprofit that provides financial assistance to people when they are unable to afford rent or utilities. In recent years, grant support has enabled PIN to support even more households.
“The number of assists we do has just mushroomed in the past couple of years,” says Tom Stoval, PIN’s volunteer president. “In 2023, we assisted 319 families. Because we are serving so many more people and households, we decided to emphasize applying for grants.”
In 2024, PIN applied for and received a grant through the Theisen’s More for Your Community program, a partnership between the Community Foundation and Theisen’s Home*Farm*Auto that supports nonprofits helping people meet their basic needs in 24 Theisen’s store communities. This year, Theisen’s is looking to increase the amount it grants through the program, from $350,000 to $400,000, reflecting the growing need among nonprofits.
Steeple Square is another nonprofit that has seen the impact of Community Foundation grant funding. In 2021, the nonprofit received $3,000 through Grants for Tech to evaluate and update its audio-visual systems, which enable remote and hybrid board meetings and enhance Steeple Square’s training and event hosting capabilities. Steeple Square ultimately added new wireless access, a projector and screen and purchased a 360-degree video conferencing camera.
“The upgrades have allowed us to work more efficiently as a board, while also meeting the needs of external audiences who utilize our space,” says Steeple Square President Judy Wolf.
Grants for Tech also is an example of how the Foundation’s partnerships with donors can drive community impact. As volunteers with Dubuque nonprofits, Dave and Liz Cushman noticed many organizations faced a common obstacle: technology challenges like outdated hardware and lack of expertise often stifle their operations. Their experience inspired them to work with the Community Foundation to create Grants for Tech in 2017.
Programs like Grants for Tech are indicative of how the Community Foundation drives impact across the Dubuque region. By bringing together diverse community stakeholders and listening to voices from all corners of the region, the Foundation spurs collaboration that addresses pressing challenges. Through this process, opportunities for action, such as grant programs and community initiatives, are born.
“We welcome all forms of generosity and innovative ideas for supporting our region’s nonprofits,” Supple says. “When community members come together to care for nonprofits and one another, our impact grows exponentially.”
If you would like to learn more about how your generosity can support local organizations, contact Peter Supple at 563-588-2700 or peter@dbqfoundation.org. Learn about the ways the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque empowers communities and ignites generosity at Dbqfoundation.org. To learn more about the Community Foundation’s grant programs, visit Dbqfoundation.org/grants.
This article is made possible by a partnership between the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and Julien’s Journal.
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