Iowa West Foundation funds two types of organizations:
We do not fund individuals, private businesses, or 501(c)(3) private foundations.
As a place-based foundation, we are organized to serve the interests of residents of southwest Iowa. We do so by providing grant funding to a limited geographic area.
Iowa funding: Our Iowa footprint includes 14 counties. Our primary funding area is in Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County. We also serve communities located in Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Shelby, and Taylor counties.
Omaha metro funding: We also fund organizations in the Omaha metropolitan area that benefit Iowa residents. This can be through the provision of direct services into Iowa or through the operation of regional amenities. We define regional amenities as facilities that can demonstrate an audience that includes Iowa residents, and which do not have equivalents in our Iowa giving area.
Through thousands of ideas shared in community Imagine Hour listening sessions, four core outcomes emerged to form a picture of vibrant, successful communities.
Everyone in the community experiences a deep sense of being included and appreciated.
The community is rooted in meeting all residents’ basic needs and beyond.
High quality opportunities are available to pursue personal achievement.
Individuals have the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.
Applicants may apply for one of four distinct types of grants. We consider all resources available to you in determining how much funding to provide – we want to help you bridge the gap between your resources and your goals.
Program Grants are a form of restricted support. They help a grantee implement a defined project or activity and are tied to specific, project-based outcomes. When considering a program grant application, Iowa West Foundation considers the likelihood that proposed activities will contribute to our four target outcomes. As our outcomes look to long-term community improvement, we tend not to fund projects/programs that are only focused on short-term impacts.
Operating Grants are a form of unrestricted support. They fund a grantee’s overall activities, including administrative functions. Iowa West Foundation supports grantee operations when the overall work of the grantee during the period of support will demonstrate results in our target outcomes.
Capital Grants are restricted grants that support the infrastructure needs of an organization. Typically, this is through the acquisition, construction, or installation of facilities or equipment.
Launch Grants are a type of grant that responds to a frequently heard need from our partner organizations. They are designed to support the creation of needed programs or organizations that are not provided by the existing system. Typically, these include organizations / programs that are in their formative phase. Because they are new, they often entail a higher amount of risk. Iowa West Foundation is only interested in supporting launch grants that are additive rather than duplicating existing services.
In addition to the four grants described above, the Iowa West Foundation funds initiatives, capacity building, contingency support and emergency funding to existing grantees and partners. We know our partners are tackling some of our communities’ most significant challenges. The funding channels allows the Foundation to be both proactive and responsive in anticipating and resolving issues when circumstances allow. There is no application for this support. Instead, Iowa West Foundation deploys these funds when we identify an opportunity to help overcome a barrier to our partners’ success. Typically, this is through:
Grant contingency support – When an unexpected obstacle arises, we can add additional funds to existing grants to help our partners overcome the challenge. These opportunities are most frequently identified through interim reports or when our partners proactively reach out to share their needs.
Capacity building – When possible, we seek to resolve areas of risk before they become problems. One way to do this is to ensure our partners have the skills and advice they need to be successful. Typically, capacity building opportunities arise from our due diligence and reporting conversations.
Emergency funding – In the lifecycle of a nonprofit there can be moments of vulnerability. During these times, Iowa West Foundation may choose to infuse an organization with emergency operational funding to help weather a period of difficulty.
Initiatives – Initiatives are primarily driven by the Foundation and allow us to work proactively toward systems change in the community.
The Iowa West Foundation staff are available to discuss application ideas before you apply. We will do our best to identify strengths and challenges as well as to make suggestions on how to make the strongest case for support. Read more about our policies and procedures.
In order to create maximum benefit for our communities, Iowa West Foundation will not fund more than 50% of the eligible costs of proposed work. Projects that require a smaller percentage of Iowa West funding are viewed more favorably by our Grants Review Committee.
Many of our nonprofit partners make use of in-kind contributions for their projects and programs. We see strong value in partnerships that support non-cash contributions and will consider in-kind contributions for up to 15% of the total eligible budget as a match to our funds. In-kind contributions may exceed this amount but will not be considered for match purposes.
Eligibility for new grant consideration or renewal of funding relies on a past recipient being in good standing with the Iowa West Foundation. Good standing means that all current grants are in compliance (meeting all award conditions) and that reporting is complete and current. If the Foundation has provided notice of specific concerns, a partner is not considered to be in good standing unless those concerns have been satisfactorily addressed.
We understand that occasionally work on a project must begin prior to our award announcement. However, when we review your proposal budget, we only consider as a match the costs/work you anticipate after we provide notification of an award. Please review our grants cycle timeline to understand which cycle bests matches the needs of your project.
Changes to your budget or information you provided as part of the LOI may turn an eligible request into an ineligible one. If you need to make significant changes, we encourage you to contact the grants team to discuss the impact of those changes on your eligibility.
Individual schools are not eligible to apply for grant support, however we do partner with districts on transformational investments through our grants and initiatives. Transformational projects typically help a district to launch a new program/facility that will achieve a significant advance in specific learning outcomes.
Publications, films, books, seminars, and conferences are not eligible as stand-alone projects. They may only be considered when they directly support eligible programs.
We accept Letters of Inquiry throughout the year through our online grants portal, GivingData. We know your time is a limited resource. Because of this, we encourage new applicants as well as past grantees to reach out to the grants team staff with any questions about our policies and procedures.
Contact the Grants Team