Quad Cities Community Foundation welcomes new Vice President of Development

Anne Calder comes to the Community Foundation from Augustana College, bringing with her a background in donor stewardship

Strengthening new and existing relationships with Quad Citizens will be at the center of each day's work for the newest staff member of the Quad Cities Community Foundation. Anne Calder recently joined the leadership team at the Community Foundation as Vice President of Development.

"I love inviting people to make gifts," said Calder, who started her new position earlier this month. "I enjoy sharing the stories about the choices people make to give to causes they are passionate about. People, by nature, want to give back and improve their communities. At the Community Foundation, I will be a conduit for philanthropy and a leader in strengthening and connecting our community."

Calder was born and raised in the Chicagoland area, and first came to the Quad Cities to attend Augustana College in Rock Island. After graduating from Augustana, she worked with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and various other agencies and institutions of the ELCA in both development and communications capacities.

She returned to the Quad Cities 10 years ago to serve as a Development Associate at Augustana. Since 2009, she has lead the college's stewardship work as the Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship.

Calder was a great fit for the Community Foundation, said President and CEO Sherry Ristau. "Anne is a respected philanthropic leader in the Quad Cities and we are excited to work alongside her as she continues to be a trusted and knowledgeable resource to those wishing to leave a legacy. She has a wonderful reputation for being people-centered and community-minded. We are grateful to have her as part of the team."

Returning to Augustana College just over a decade ago was a reminder of the reasons she fell in love with the Quad Cities. "Reconnecting with my alma mater has been one of the greatest things about moving to the Quad Cities," Calder said. "I have loved working on campus, around and with the students. I have a daughter who is student at Augustana and it's been a joy to watch the transformation I've seen in thousands of students also happen in her.

"I look forward to taking my experience in stewardship to enhance the ways in which we collaborate with, and support, donors of the Community Foundation," she added. "I'm excited to take what I know and put it to work for the larger community."

At Augustana, Calder grew a robust stewardship program, ensuring that donors knew they made a difference with their gift and were properly acknowledged. "When you show donors that their gift made a difference, they get to experience the joy of giving again and again and again," she said. "I think philanthropy should be joyful for the giver and the recipient. It is a magical moment when you are able to show the person what they made possible."

She looks forward to translating that approach to the Community Foundation, where she will work on bringing new endowment gifts to the community. "Endowed gifts are a way to get your hands and heart on needs now, and for the future," she said. "If you have a passion for something now, you can express that passion through your giving."

It is also a marker for the next generation. "We're serving as models for our children," she said. "Philanthropy takes gifts of all kinds and all sizes and we have to teach our children to be givers."

Calder said she is also looking forward to working on the Q2030 initiative. "The Q2030 Regional Action Plan is a really powerful way to make positive changes in the region, make the region more attractive, and a richer and fuller environment," she said. "I am eager to help donors be a part of that."