8 Groups Finish Continuous Improvement Training
The Initiative Foundation is proud to celebrate eight Central Minnesota organizations that successfully completed the 2025 Continuous Improvement program. This year’s participants made meaningful strides to strengthen their internal operations, clarify processes and increase long-term impact for the people and communities they serve.
Launched in 2021 in partnership with Sourcewell, the Continuous Improvement program helps nonprofit and government organizations take a strategic look at their internal systems and operations. Through training, peer learning and expert coaching, participants identify and implement process improvements to boost their overall effectiveness. The 2025 cohort tackled a wide range of operational challenges—from budgeting and data management to service transitions and food access.
“Behind every successful organization are strong systems that help people do their best work,” said Nicole Clements, nonprofit development program officer at the Initiative Foundation. “We’re proud to support these teams as they build capacity and sharpen their tools to better serve Central Minnesota.”
2025 Continuous Improvement Cohort Participants:
- Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corporation: Develop a standardized process to improve service and response times when fulfilling member data requests using a new technology platform.
- Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud: Standardize the volunteer onboarding process and enhance volunteer retention to support congregate dining and plan the launch of a mobile food shelf.
- Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services: Advance internal budgeting processes to make it more adaptive and responsive to changing organizational and community needs.
- Crow Wing County: Improve systems to better support clients transitioning between service systems as they age, helping to ensure continuity and quality of care.
- Eagle Bend Economic Development Corporation: Lay the groundwork for a senior housing development project to support aging residents in their community.
- Happy Dancing Turtle: Organize and streamline digital file systems to reduce email clutter, improve efficiency and advance its mission of environmental responsibility.
- Lighthouse Beginnings: Establish consistent and transparent purchasing and spending processes to support financial accountability and planning.
- Pine River Group Home, Inc.: Create standardized meal-planning and menu guidelines to improve nutrition and coordination across its residential homes.
Each organization received grant support, participated in coaching sessions, and benefited from shared learning with peer organizations. The program is designed to honor each participant’s unique mission while providing tools to strengthen internal systems and increase overall capacity.
“This program is not about changing who an organization is,” said program co-leader Tammy Filippi, senior resource development administrator at Sourcewell. “It’s about helping them build systems that reflect and support their values so they can do their work even more effectively.”
The Continuous Improvement program is offered to Central Minnesota nonprofits and local units of government each spring through the Initiative Foundation-Sourcewell partnership. To learn about other Continuous Improvement success stories, read this IQ Magazine story. Find training opportunities online at ifound.org.