Iowa West Foundation Offering Pottawattamie Gives! Incentives

Pottawattamie County-Based Nonprofits will be eligible for $20,000 in “Challenge Funds”

(Council Bluffs, IA) – The Iowa West Foundation is again adding to the pot of incentives available to nonprofits participating in Pottawattamie Gives!, scheduled for May 24^th this year. The 24-hour charitable giving event held in conjunction with Omaha Gives! is organized by the Omaha Community Foundation and held in partnership with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation. The goal is to inspire the community to come together for 24-hours to give as much as possible to support the work of public 501(c)(3) nonprofits in the metro area. The minimum donation is $10 and there is no maximum. Prizes and challenge funds amplify charitable donations to make each dollar go further.

Iowa West Foundation’s $20,000 in “challenge funds” will be set aside strictly for nonprofits providing services in Pottawattamie County five days per week or more that meet the Foundation’s focus area criteria.

“Our Board of Directors feels this is a great opportunity to encourage our community nonprofits to maximize and leverage the funds they receive from donors on this day,” said Pete Tulipana, President, and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation.

To make it easy for donors to access Pottawattamie County organizations specifically, a “PG” portal button is located on the www.pottawattamiegives.orgwebsite. The page lists organizations located in and serving Pottawattamie County. Organizations eligible for the Iowa West Foundation challenge funds, which are in addition to the prizes that Omaha Gives! offers to all nonprofits that participate, will have a special “Challenge Funds” designation represented on their profile. The Iowa West Foundation dollars will be distributed based on each organization’s overall percentage of funds raised for the event.

Last year nearly 19,000 people raised $8.9 million for nearly 800 area non-profits. Nonprofits located in Pottawattamie County raised nearly double what was raised in 2015.

“This will be our fifth year of “Omaha Gives!” and it has grown each year,” explained Sara Boyd, OCF President & CEO. “We appreciate the partnership with the Iowa West Foundation, and are hopeful that charities in Pottawattamie County can continue to grow from this event, too.”

About the Iowa West Foundation

The Iowa West Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the Midwest. It has distributed more than $400 million in grants to nonprofits and governmental agencies throughout southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska since the inception of its grant program. Funding for the grants comes from investment earnings and the Iowa West Racing Association, which receives contractual fees from casino operators, Ameristar and Harrah’s. IWRA is the license sponsor for Ameristar and Harrah’s and the license holder for Horseshoe-Bluffs Run. The Foundation targets resources into programs and projects that focus on economic development, education, place-making and healthy families.