The family of Diane and the late Hunt Harris has made a transformative and historic $10 million endowment to the Quad Cities Community Foundation’s newly renamed Hunt and Diane Harris Center for Nonprofit Excellence.
In a news release, the foundation called the gift a powerful investment in the family’s lifelong dedication to building a vibrant, strong, generous community across the Quad Cities region.
Their generosity will ensure the Harris Center, which the couple originally dreamed of creating more than a decade ago, will have permanent operating resources needed to strengthen and sustain the nonprofit sector across the region, the foundation added.
“The Harris family’s foresight and generosity are nothing short of remarkable,” QC Community Foundation President and CEO Sue Hafkemeyer said.
“This gift demonstrates their confidence in our region’s nonprofits and ensures the Harris Center will always be here as a connector and capacity builder for the sector. It will impact every nonprofit in the Quad Cities and, by extension, our entire community,” she added.
Built by and for nonprofits, the foundation’s Center for Nonprofit Excellence was launched in 2023 to serve as a hub where nonprofits can come together to collaborate, strengthen operations, and expand their reach.
Since then more than 1,250 leaders have participated in the center’s wide range of educational workshops, peer networking sessions, and other learning opportunities. More than 85 individuals representing 50 organizations enrolled in the center’s first two flagship programs. They focus on nonprofit management and board training.
Outcome assessments show that participants are already putting the lessons and tools from these programs to work and making an impact in their organizations and the community.
Harrises laid groundwork
“When our nonprofits are strong, our whole community benefits,” Diane Harris said. “Hunt and I watched our local organizations grow stronger and smarter by working together. This gift, and the programming it makes possible, is meant to ensure that learning, collaboration, and growth continue for the good of our entire community.”
Ms. Harris previously served as board chair for the community foundation and as a leader on many nonprofit boards across the region. She continues her charitable work in Naperville, Illinois, where she now lives close to family.
Mr. Hunt, who was president of Star Forms and Isabel Bloom, and a former Community Foundation committee member, died in 2023.
The couple formed the Hunt and Diane Harris Family Foundation in 1986. They worked closely with the Community Foundation for years, eventually converting their private foundations to funds that, through their grantmaking, have reached every corner of the Quad Cities, from economic development to education to health and the arts.
“Our parents have always believed in the power of nonprofits to transform communities,” Alex Harris of Naperville and Diane and Hunt Harris’ son said in the release.
“With the community foundation, they have championed local organizations and worked to give them the tools and resources they need to grow. I’m proud that this gift indelibly names their incredible legacy of generosity,” he added.
“Through their leadership, vision, and giving, Diane and Hunt touched the lives of nearly everyone in our community,” Ms. Hafkemeyer added. “Their charitable legacy recognizes that nonprofits are the backbone of our community and need to be well-resourced and supported. Now, the Harris Center will stand as a permanent marker of their generosity and their faith in that belief.”
