ABOUT US
Mission:
Cause Collective strengthens nonprofits to better serve the community through collaboration, education and advocacy.
Vision:
Nonprofits inspire a vibrant, thriving and compassionate community where all residents have equal opportunity.
Our Diversity Statement:
Cause Collective affirms its commitment to human diversity, equity and inclusion. We encourage mutual respect and understanding among people of all abilities, ethnicities, cultures, races, generations, religions, sexual orientations and gender identities. We recognize that true excellence in organizations and communities results from identifying, serving, and enlisting the participation of people who represent a diversity of experiences.
We urge member agencies to provide services to, and with equal respect for, those of all abilities, ethnicities, cultures, races, generations, religions, sexual orientations and gender identities, and economic status; and to recruit staff and board members who represent diverse populations.
We believe this commitment to be our responsibility as a professional organization which plays an integral leadership role in the community and future of this City.
BOARD AND STAFF
Shannon Seim, President
Executive Director, Volunteer Lawyers Project
Dawn Rockey, Vice-President
Executive Director, CASA for Lancaster County
Chris Lauer, Treasurer
Loan Officer, Pinnacle Bank
Elton Edmond, Secretary
Executive Director, Mentoring Plus
Rhonda Mattingly, Past President
Executive Director, Bridges To Hope
Karen Bell-Dancy, At-Large Member
Executive Director
Randy Hawthorne, At-Large Member
Downtown Lincoln Association
Kiley Wiechman, At-Large Member
CPA, HBE
Suni Kasibhatla, At-Large Member
Customer Champion & Technology Leader
Staff:
Jason Varga, Executive Director
Laura Uridil, Associate Executive Director
Milli Ciprian, Projects & Events Coordinator
ANNUAL REPORT
Cause Collective's mission is to strengthen nonprofits to better serve the community through collaboration, education, and advocacy. Click on the below headings to see an overview of our achievements in the 2024-25 fiscal year, broken down by the three areas of our mission statement.
COLLABORATION
"I recently began looking for an opportunity to re-engage with community organizations and contribute toward keeping Lincoln a thriving place. Through the Cause Collective board match, I was able to find an organization with open board positions whose mission I believe strongly in (The Bridge Behavioral Health). I have found it to be an even more amazing experience than I expected.“
-Cathy Kottwitz, Guiderock Realty LLC
Cause Collective Radio
Cause Collective worked with KZUM 89.3 FM to air 51 episodes of Cause Collective radio.
Member outreach events
Cause Collective helped organize a total of 5 member outreach events, providing opportunities for 51 agencies (duplicated) to advertise their services to the community.
Networking events
Cause Collective organized 3 networking events, with over 229 attendees.
Member meetings
Cause Collective hosted 10 monthly member meetings, with over 500 attendees.
Newsletters
Cause Collective sent a total of 36 newsletters to member agency staff and the greater Lincoln community.
EDUCATION
"The Leadership Training series, hosted by Cause Collective, gave me concrete information to apply in guiding our organization. It helped me to understand the importance of certain aspects of my role as a leader from a fresh perspective."
-Ann Seacrest, Executive Director, MilkWorks
Trainings
Cause Collective organized 23 trainings, including general trainings, Volunteer Coordinator Council trainings, and Case Management trainings. These trainings pulled in over 430 registrants!
Executive Director Roundtables
Cause Collective hosted 12 monthly ED Roundtables, bringing together over 55 Directors (duplicated).
Board 101 Trainings
Cause Collective led 26 free Board 101 Trainings for member agencies and corporate sponsors.
Skill Share program
Cause Collective made 43 connections for member agency staff through our Skill Share program.
ADVOCACY
“Cause Collective's Nebraska Nonprofit Lobby Day 2022 was immensely helpful. As a new nonprofit Executive Director, I found the training to be relevant, practical, and applicable regarding a critical part of my role - the art of advocating for public funds in support of important community work. I'll attend again!”
-Dr. Julie Murray-Jensen, Executive Director, The Foundry/nonprofit hub
Elected official guests
Cause Collective hosted a total of 10 elected official guests at member meetings.
Nonprofit Lobby Day
Cause Collective organized and hosted its fifth annual Nebraska Nonprofit Lobby Day in 2025 with 27 registrants.
