Meet Hannah Morrell, Community Foundation’s resident problem-solver

It’s a good day when Hannah Morrell can help someone else.

“I love when I pick up the phone and someone has a problem and I’m able to resolve the issue,” said Morrell, who is the Director of Administration and Donor Services at the Quad Cities Community Foundation. “Whether it’s a staff person or a donor, I love finding solutions.”

Morrell, who is leading the charge for the Community Foundation’s second reaccreditation with the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations, has been at the Community Foundation for 11 years. Previously, she worked at Quad City Arts. She has a bachelor’s degree in English with minors in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Iowa.

The move to the Community Foundation more than a decade ago was a good fit, Morrell said, as she had studied nonprofit agencies in some of her classes at Iowa. In one of her classes, she wrote a final paper on Community Foundations and felt drawn to their mission. “The Community Foundation fills so many roles in our region,” she said, including reaching out to nonprofits and bringing them together, assisting people with their philanthropic goals, and helping transform the community.

At the Community Foundation, Morrell oversees gift processing, information technology and works hand-in-hand with donors to answer questions about things like fund balances and the online portal MyFund. She also assisted with the Community Foundation’s 2013 remodel project, which included taking over an empty retail space next-door to the Community Foundation’s current operating facilities and renovating it. “It took a lot of planning but it was worth it,” she said.

The challenge, Morrell said, is fitting in day-to-day work with the larger projects like the re-accreditation, which takes months and consumes much of her time. “But it’s things like the National Standards that help give me fulfillment,” she said. “I can really dig deep and the outcomes are worth it.”

Her work at the Community Foundation has been exciting, she said, because of the changes during the past decade. “We’ve grown so much,” she said. “I’m always trying to take what we’ve learned, and use that knowledge and apply it in ways that will make us more effective in our growth.”