Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines Announces Plans for Campus and C3 Center

Oct 1, 2021

The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines improves quality of life for all by promoting charitable giving, connecting donors with causes they care about and providing leadership on important community issues. For over twenty years, the Finkbine Mansion, located at 1915 Grand Avenue, has served as an iconic home for this work. As the organization, staff team and Greater Des Moines community continue to grow, the Community Foundation is announcing its plans to grow its physical footprint by creating the Community Foundation Campus and C3 Center. The Campus will include the Finkbine Mansion, the creation of an outdoor plaza to the north of the building and the transformation of the building currently located at 1910 Ingersoll into the C3 Center, a center for connection, collaboration and community, available for use by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit sector.

The C3 Center is intended to be a community hub serving the entire nonprofit and charitable giving sectors and will bring diverse groups and perspectives together to make our community better together. The Community Foundation purchased the property at 1910 Ingersoll in 2020 and has been working with Slingshot Architecture, Confluence Landscape Architecture and Hansen Construction to develop the design and development of the properties. The Community Foundation board of directors approved the project at a recent meeting with construction slated to start in late-winter 2022.

The C3 Center will serve as the heart of Greater Des Moines where connections are made, collaborations form and community is built. The first floor features a board and community convening space and a training space that will seat up to 75. Both will be fully equipped to offer in-person, hybrid and virtual learning events. The second floor will feature a conference room and office space that will serve nonprofit tenants with missions aligned with the Community Foundation to create synergy and build social capital within community funders and partners. The outdoor plaza will provide an opportunity for reflection and appreciation of our city through the inclusion of a Nature Sacred urban sanctuary, collaboration deck and outdoor event space. The entire project scope has been financed through generous gifts from current and past Community Foundation leaders, friends and funding partners.

“The Community Foundation Campus and C3 Center realizes the dreams of the many leaders who have long believed in the mission of the organization and the ways in which it propels Greater Des Moines forward. And while this dream sets the stage for the future of the Community Foundation, it is, at its essence, a dream for the entire community,” shares Kristi Knous, Community Foundation president.

Adds Dr. Richard Deming, Community Foundation board chair and member of the organization’s Facilities Task Force, “The Community Foundation serves as a hub for our community and its nonprofits. People look to the Community Foundation not only as a partner in charitable giving, but as a leader, bringing people together around issues important to our community’s future. The Community Foundation Campus and C3 Center allow the organization to make the table infinitely larger to include more voices, more perspectives and more meaningful, authentic plans for action that will make our community better together.”

The C3 Center seeks to not only provide a space to promote giving, but to build future community leaders. The organization will continue to work hand-in-hand with existing, local leadership programs by providing office and training space. Noemi Mendez of the Latina Leadership Initiative of Greater Des Moines shares, “I’m grateful for the opportunities that the Community Foundation has provided to the Latina Leadership Initiative. It will be amazing to have somewhere we can call home and know anyone in the community can find us and provide a real home for us as our programs continue to grow.”

Through the development of the Campus and C3 Center, it is the vision of the Community Foundation to create more than a space. The project manifests the core of the organization’s name and work: community. It provides the opportunity for continued promotion of charitable giving, convenings, connections and collaborations that will go far beyond the walls of each building, they will transform Greater Des Moines.