Moline Foundation marks 70th birthday with new name, tagline

The Moline Foundation is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee by rebranding as the Moline Regional Community Foundation to better reflect its multi-county, bi-state scope and inspire more Quad Citians to give more. The new name also comes with a new tagline: “Your giving in action.”  Both changes were publicly unveiled for the first time today, Sept. […]

The Moline Foundation is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee by rebranding as the Moline Regional Community Foundation to better reflect its multi-county, bi-state scope and inspire more Quad Citians to give more. The new name also comes with a new tagline: “Your giving in action.”  Both changes were publicly unveiled for the first time today, Sept. 20, at a special breakfast gathering at the University Club. In addition to hearing what was initially billed as “a special announcement,” the large crowd gathered at the downtown Moline venue also was invited to commemorate the foundation’s 70th anniversary. Foundation Board President Larry Meeske and foundation President & CEO Paul Plagenz led off the morning with a brief history of the organization and its founder before introducing the new name in a short video. There were several reasons for the change, Mr. Plagenz said. It begins with the former Moline Foundation’s desire to showcase its partner funds and show their impact on the community.  “Specifically,” he told the QCBJ, that includes shining a spotlight on “how they help our community by financially supporting the great work of our nonprofits.” They have done it, he said, by putting a combined $49 million over the past 70 years into the communities they serve.

'People like you'

“These funds were established by people just like you,” Mr. Plagenz said. “They are people who care about their community and because of that they decide to give back.” “We have 102 partner funds that do useful work, too, so they’re a part of us and they also go out and do great, generous things. We want to highlight them,” added Mr. Plagenz. He joined the organization in 2019, and took the reins after the retirement that December of its first President & CEO Joy Boruff. The foundation’s office is located at 1601 River Drive, Suite 210, Moline. During the rechristened Moline Regional Community Foundation’s event, Ms. Boruff also was greeted by a round of applause from the large crowd. Mr. Plagenz presented his friend and mentor with a large flower bouquet. The rebranding announced Wednesday also is designed to inspire more Quad Cities to give and show them that “they, too, can be involved in changing the quality of life for our community,” Mr. Plagenz told the QCBJ.

Name reflects 'region'

The new name also will for the first time take into account the large, seven-county area served by the Moline Foundation and going forward, by the Moline Regional Community Foundation. That area includes Scott County in Iowa and the Illinois counties of Rock Island, Mercer, Henry, Warren, Henderson, and McDonough.  In addition, Mr. Plagenz said, it’s important to note that while the organization was founded in Moline and a significant number of its donors are from Moline, funding for the organization now comes from throughout the bistate area, but the old name didn’t reflect that. It also has created confusion among potential donors. “By adding the word ‘community’ to our name, it will further help define what type of organizations we are,” he added. “We are not a private foundation,” he said. Instead, like the Rock Island Foundation and the Quad Cities Community Foundation, the Moline-based organization Mr. Plagenz leads is funded by the community and services the needs of that community.  Organization leaders trace the Moline Foundation’s roots to an initial donation of $350,000 made in 1953 by Robert K. Swan. Mr. Swan was, Mr. Plagenz told the QCBJ, a “very, very modest man.” He was a business person who neither married nor had children. His family owned a manufacturing company in Moline that no longer exists today and he made a good living, and  chose to use those funds to help the city that he loved.

$350K grant started it all

Mr. Swan’s $350,000 gift was a significant one, especially at that time, Mr. Meeske. And through careful investment over the last seven decades, his generous contribution has created $9 million in assets. That helped the agency fund $30 million in grants over the last 70 years, he said. Mr. Swan also donated the funding with no strings attached, which has allowed its board of directors to give the dollars his donation leveraged where they will do the most good. “I think Robert Swan would be very, very proud” of the work the foundation has done and will do to make the community better, Mr. Meeske said Wednesday.  Both Mr. Plagenz and Mr. Meeske also said they hope that, like Mr. Swan did, more generous Quad Citians will be inspired to “put their heart into action” by giving to the regional community foundation and its partners, thus multiplying their own community contribution. The company’s new tagline – “Your giving in action” – is an attempt to distill the foundation’s mission down to “what is somebody’s passion, what do they love and care about. What is their cause,” Mr. Plagenz said. There are any number of ways, he added. They can include for example, creating an endowment or launching a scholarship fund in, say, the name of a favorite teacher; making an IRA distribution; or by giving directly to the Moline Regional Community Foundation or any of its 102 partner funds. To leverage more investment, the organization also announced Wednesday the creation of a $70,000 matching fund program that will donate 50 cents for every $1 that new donors give.