New Resource Available to Connect Local Nonprofits with Board Members

Available now through the Community Foundation’s website, nonprofits can browse local individuals who are prepared for board service through a board member training program by John Wood Community College. The database provides each candidate’s professional and volunteer background, as well as their charitable interest areas, so nonprofits can seek individuals who meet their specific leadership needs. 

The program is a strategic initiative of the Tracy Family Foundation, which identified a need to strengthen and increase the pool of high-quality board member candidates who are eager to serve. 

“West Central Illinois communities are filled with great leaders and organizations making an impact, but it is often challenging for them to find each other,” expressed Dan Teefey, executive director of Tracy Family Foundation. “This project creates this vital connection. It will help leaders find meaningful ways to use their gifts and organizations build stronger boards.”

The course, conducted in the fall of 2021, provided participants with instruction on understanding nonprofits, community leadership, board member roles and responsibilities, board effectiveness and commitment, and community contribution. 

Clairice Hetzler, who served as executive director of Advocacy Network for Children from 1998 to 2016, developed the training curriculum. She has a longstanding history of exemplary board engagement practices in our community. She is joined by Pam Shaffer in leading the course, who served as the executive director of the Adams County Chapter of the American Red Cross from 1991 to 2014.

“Even though I have served on various nonprofit boards, I was very pleased with the information that I learned in this course,” explained Quincy Mayor Mike Troup, who completed the board training program. “This course will assist me not only when I’m talking to board members, but also when I’m discussing key items with those who may be interested in serving the City of Quincy on various board and commissions that we have.”

Information on the attendees who completed that course and are ready for board service can be found on the Community Foundation website, www.mycommunityfoundation.org and navigating to the “nonprofits” section. Nonprofits are invited to view the database and contact prospective board members who align with their needs directly.

“The Community Foundation’s mission is to connect people who care with causes that matter, and this program is a fantastic expression of it,” said Catherine Bocke Meckes, Community Foundation CEO. “We are proud to partner with Tracy Family Foundation and John Wood Community College to bring this resource to life because when our nonprofits are strong, so are our communities.”

A second session of the board training program will begin February 18. Individuals interested in board service are encouraged to participate in the four-part training. The class meets from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the John Wood Community College Workforce Development Center. The program is free of charge to participants. Each class session is two and half hours long and includes a presentation of the topic, discussion, and homework relating to each participants’ organization. For more information and to register, please contact Gordon Forbes, John Wood Community College Business & Industry Coordinator, at gforbes@jwcc.edu.

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The Tracy Family Foundation (TFF) was established in 1997 by the Robert and Dorothy Tracy family to advance innovative, collaborative, and sustainable change in Brown County, Illinois, and the surrounding region through organizations that share the values of family, faith, education, leadership, and community. 

TFF seeks to cultivate a philanthropic spirit in all generations of the Robert and Dorothy Tracy family by providing opportunities for the family to give and serve together.

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The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri builds permanent charitable funds to assist area nonprofits and communities. 

Its mission, “connecting people who care with causes that matter,” is achieved by gathering funds, growing them through investments, then granting to nonprofit organizations, causes or communities that mean the most to its donors.   

Since 1997, the Community Foundation has made more than $12 million in grants. It serves 12-counties: Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike in Illinois and Clark, Lewis, Marion, Ralls, Pike, Knox, Shelby and Monroe in Missouri.