On Thursday, September 14, the Community Foundation will host the Nonprofit Party at the Market. The Nonprofit Party is an annual celebration of local nonprofit professionals and the incredible work they do to strengthen our community. This year’s party is being held at NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. All nonprofit staff are invited to attend. RSVP for the party here.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation continues the tradition of recognizing nonprofit professionals with the 2023 Spirit of Minnie Rubek recognition. The Spirit of Minnie Rubek honors a nonprofit employee (leader or staff member) or founder of a Linn County nonprofit organization who has gone "above and beyond" in their commitment and dedication to their organization and its mission. Please find a list of 2023 honorees here. Honorees will be recognized at the Nonprofit Party at the Market on September 14th.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation announces its final grant cycle for 2023 for local charitable nonprofits. Applications will be accepted through Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. CST. For more information on funding opportunities this cycle, visit gcrcf.org/grants.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation is pleased to announce the new Vice President of Community Impact at the Community Foundation, Joe Heitz. Joe currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota but is originally from Farley, Iowa. He is currently the Executive Director of Cantus, one of two full-time professional vocal chamber ensembles in the country. His educational background includes a double major in music and journalism from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and an MBA from Cambridge University in arts management. Other career highlights include fundraising and re-granting for an arts consulting firm, media relations and development for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, and writer for the Cape Cod Times in Massachusetts. We look forward to welcoming him to Cedar Rapids. Joe will provide leadership for the teams that implement grantmaking, nonprofit capacity building, learning, and community leadership priorities. He will begin on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.

The Gazette and program sponsor Collins Community Credit Union are proud to bring The Gazette Gives Back to eastern Iowa. Organizations that apply and are selected receive free Gazette advertising, networking, and learning about the latest community resources and initiatives. Deadline to apply is September 15, 2023. Find more information and the application here.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation recently launched a new website which includes a new Nonprofit Giving Center and Nonprofit Calendar to help donors learn about and easily connect with causes they wish to support. Nonprofits serving Linn County, Iowa are invited to create a page in the Nonprofit Giving Center and add events to the Nonprofit Calendar. Once created, nonprofits will manage and update their own information. Find instructions to create an account here and more information here.

The Welcoming Week is a nation-wide initative set forth by Welcoming America where organizations and communities bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity. Check out Welcoming Week Cedar Rapids for more information about local events.

Linn County has launched a new online community resource hub that helps people find information about critical needs, such as affordable housing, childcare, employment, food resources, health needs, legal assistance, and transportation. This resource hub digitizes the community resource sheet that Linn county Community Services has updated and shared with the community for more than 20 years. The new digital platform is interactive, allowing residents to search the entire database to identify resources that best meet their needs. The new hub also allows community resource providers to update their available resources on a regular basis instead of once a year. Visit the new online resource hub here.

The Linn County Board of Supervisors is now accepting applications for the Legacy & Community Attraction Fund grant program. The program fosters and supports long-standing, new, and diverse community events and organizations in Linn county. The application deadline for the competitive grant process is September 29, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. CST. Find more information here.

Two statewide conferences will occur this fall in Iowa. The Gazette's Iowa Ideas 2023 is a free virtual statewide conference on October 12 and 13. Iowa Ideas is an annual virtual conference designed to gather Iowans from all perspectives to explore, discuss, and offer solutions on issues impacting the state. Find more information and register here. Registration is free.

The 2023 Iowa Nonprofit Summit will be held on November 13 and 14 in Ankeny, Iowa. The conference features breakout sessions for Iowa nonprofits and a keynote by Vu Le of Nonprofit AF. Find more information and register here.