For a second consecutive year, the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal will present the Connect for a Cause Awards program to recognize the critical work of our area’s nonprofits and their supporters.
The awards include four categories: Corporate Citizen of the Year, Partnership Awards (for a small and large business) and a Nonprofit Collaboration of the Year. The QCBJ will present the awards at its Connect for a Cause event in June. More details are forthcoming.
Nominations now are open for the 2024 awards and the public is invited to submit nominations. The deadline is Friday, March 22.
Connect for a Cause Awards are being presented in conjunction with the QCBJ’s second annual Giving Guide publication, which will be published on June 10. The guide is sponsored by John Deere, Huiskamp Collins Investments, Ascentra Credit Union, Northwest Bank & Trust Co. Investment Management Group, and Royal Neighbors of America. Sponsorships are still available for the awards event.
The awards honor outstanding companies and leaders who have supported nonprofit organizations, as well as nonprofit executives who have significantly impacted the community over the past year. The winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges.
A person or organization may be nominated in one or more of the categories. Nominations must include a summary of their work and examples of why they are deserving. Entries should highlight achievements from January 2023 through December 2023. To submit a nomination, visit this website.
Organizations or individuals may submit entries on behalf of themselves or others and may enter any number of categories. Please limit the summary attachment to 1,000 words plus a 200-word executive summary.
The QCBJ first presented the Connect for a Cause Awards program and published its inaugural Giving Guide last May. The 2023 winners were: Nonprofit Collaboration, (tie) Project Now and Quad Cities Open Network; Partnership Award (small company), SMG (Solutions Management Group); Partnership Award (large company), Iowa American Water; and Corporate Citizen, Quad City Bank & Trust.
Here’s a closer look at the 2024 award categories:
Corporate Citizen – Given to a for-profit organization that can best articulate a successful, measurable business outcome from their community service efforts, exemplifying the principle that doing good is also good business.
Partnership Award (Two awards one for Small Business, 1-99 employees, and a Large Business (100+ employees). It is given to a for-profit organization that can best articulate a successful, measurable business outcome from their community service efforts.
Nonprofit Collaboration – This award recognizes a collaborative project that engages relationships with multiple nonprofit organizations and multiple shareholders within the community and that helps solve a community problem or issue.
The QCBJ will announce the winners via social media, on quadcitiesbusiness.com, and in a future print edition of the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal. Winners also will be recognized in the 2024 Giving Guide, an annual publication spotlighting Quad Cities area nonprofits.
For information to become a Connect for a Cause sponsor or for details on inclusion in the Giving Guide publication, contact Dayle Hall at [email protected].
