· Public charity
Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau
The mission of the ames convention and visitors bureau is to strengthen the ames economy by attracting events and tourism and promote ames as a travel destination.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k2 grants · $14k
- $10k–50k4 grants · $104k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| IOWA SPORTS FOUNDATION | $43,935 |
| Individual grant recipient | $25,000 |
| IOWA GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC UNION | $23,493 |
| IOWA YOUTH ATHLETIC FOUNDATION | $12,000 |
| USATF MASTERS REGION 8 | $7,000 |
| SPECIAL OLYMPICS | $7,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 93% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
4 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 47% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $62k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- ISIOWA SPORTS FOUNDATION8× · 2017–2025 · $303k · revenue -9%
- IYIOWA YOUTH ATHLETIC FOUNDATION7× · 2019–2025 · $80k · revenue +271%
- ISIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY4× · 2017–2020 · $25k
Funded once
- ARAMES REGIONAL ECONOMIC ALLIANCEgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $7k · revenue +78%
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONone grant, 2017 · $7k · revenue +1%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
Serving iowa amatuer athletics
The commission is organized for the purpose of fostering national or international sports competition in the greater iowa city, iowa metropolitan area; to support & develop amateur for national & international sports competition.
The iowa golf association is the governing body for amateurgolf in the state of iowa and exists as a non-profit organization that works to preserve, protect and promote the best interests and spirit of the game. as "caretakers" of the game…
The mission of the iowa business council is to engage the personal commitment of its executive members in active leadership roles on major initiatives that offer opportuinities to enhance iowa's overall economic vitality.
To promote the sport of soccer through organization, training and education. to aid, administer, assist and teach the sport of soccer for pleasure, recreational and other nonprofit purposes to and for the residents of the state of iowa
The iowa scholarship fund solicits gifts to provide financial support exclusively for scholarships (tuition, room, board, and fees) to students who participate in intercollegiate athletics at the university of iowa.
Ihsaa achieve foundation is organized to promote, develop, and assist the iowa high school athletic association. see schedule o.the sole purpose of the ihsaa achieve foundation is to provide financial assistance to the iowa high school…
How this is measured
8 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 8 of the 10 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds IOWA SPORTS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds IOWA YOUTH ATHLETIC FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds IOWA GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC UNION ↗
- Who funds OCTAGON CENTER FOR THE ARTS ↗
- Who funds USATF MASTERS REGION 8 ↗
- Who funds AMES REGIONAL ECONOMIC ALLIANCE ↗
- Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS IOWA INC ↗
- Who funds IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau?
Find your warmest path to Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.
Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.
Play a game based on Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau’s filings →