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Community Foundation for Western Iowa at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Community foundation

Community Foundation for Western Iowa

The COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA is dedicated to creating a lasting legacy in our region by engaging our citizens and communities for durable change and fostering a culture of philanthropy.

$4.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
39
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Youth Development$5.9MCommunity Improvement$2.2MHuman Services$1.5MArts & Culture$1.4MHousing & Shelter$1.3MPhilanthropy$1.3MEducation$770kPublic Safety & Disaster$432kOther$0
02FY2024 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 39 grants below total $3,548,833, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,167,939 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $619,106 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $373k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $857k
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.3M
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$83M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOUTHWEST IOWA NONPROFIT FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT$1,000,000
CHARLES E LAKIN HUMAN SERVICES CAMPUS$600,000
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$360,000
COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOL DISTRICT$315,000
MINDEN COMMUNITY CLUB$231,000
POTTAWATTAMIE ARTS CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT$193,150
NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES$125,562
REVITALIZATION ASSOCIATION OF WEEPING WATER NEBRASKA$100,000
CITY OF MINDEN$85,860
HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE$69,479
RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT$51,513
AMERICAN MIDWEST BALLET$43,000
CENTRO LATINO OF IOWA$31,000
CHILDRENS SQUARE USA$30,081
UNION PACIFIC MUSEUM ASSOCIATION$29,924
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $1.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FAMILY CRISIS CENTERS: $10k → 8%STANTON CHILD RESOURCE CENTER: $12k → 11%CHARLES E LAKIN HUMAN SERVICES CAMPUS: $600k → 12%YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: $60k → 12%YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: $10k → 12%NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES: $126k → 12%EAST MILLS CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS: $20k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: $5k → 12%EAST MILLS CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS: $11k → 9%HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE: $78k → 12%NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES: $26k → 12%HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE: $26k → 12%HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE: $6k → 12%OMAHA BRIDGES OUT OF PROVERTY INC: $38k → 12%TOGETHER INC: $17k → 12%NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES: $18k → 12%OMAHA BRIDGES OUT OF POVERTY INC: $25k → 12%FIREFLY: $11k → 12%NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES: $10k → 12%HEARTLAND CHILD DEVELOPMENT: $7k → 12%NEW VISIONS HOMELESS SERVICES: $6k → 12%PLAY HAVEN CHILD CARE: $20k → 12%CHILDRENS SQUARE USA: $33k → 12%CHILDRENS SQUARE USA: $30k → 12%CHILDRENS SQUARE USA: $22k → 12%FAMILY INC: $22k → 12%FAMILY INC: $12k → 12%FAMILY INC: $11k → 12%FAMILY INC: $10k → 12%CHARLES E LAKIN YMCA: $8k → 12%CONNECTIONS AREA AGENCY ON AGING: $7k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 32 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
37

Total granted

$13M
$971k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+21%

Still filing today

75%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.6M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterArts & CultureEducationRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CB
    COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $3.2M · revenue +62% · 36% of their budget
  • BA
    BLUFFS ARTS COUNCIL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $534k · revenue +14%
  • GH
    Glen Haven Home Inc
    3× · 2017–2019 · $333k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • FR
    FIRST RESPONDERS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $201k · revenue -13%
  • CB
    COUNCIL BLUFFS COMMUNITY SCHOOL DIS
    one grant, 2020 · $143k
  • IW
    IOWA WEST FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $129k · revenue +342%
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.

04Its field

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.

1
Food Bank of Iowa

The organization receives, warehouses, and distributes salvageable food items to non-profit tax exempt member agencies to feed the ill, needy, and infants.

Food & Nutrition
2
Regional West Health Services

Health care services for the people of western nebraska and eastern wyoming.

Health
3
Iowa Business Council

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.

—
4
Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce

Our mission is to inspire the iowa city area to be greater by: 1) elevating business, 2) investing in strategic initiatives, and 3) advocating for the economic resiliency of the greater community.

—
5
United Way of North Central Iowa

Seeking to build a stronger, more caring community by forming partnerships with businesses, community experts, education & health & human service agencies to achieve targeted outcomes & sustained changes in community conditions which will…

Philanthropy
6
Western Iowa Development Assoc

Facilitate economic opportunity, business success, community engagement, prosperity, and quality of life for rural western iowa

—
7
Northeast Iowa Community Action Corp

Through dynamic partnerships, quality family services, advocacy and education, neicac advances community development and improves social and economic conditions for individuals and families with limited resources.

Human Services
8
Common Good Iowa

Common good iowa engages iowans to create and advocate for research-based public policy that makes life better and more equitable for all who make iowa home.

—
9
Habitat for Humanity of Central Iowa Inc

Habitat for humanity of central iowa, inc. works in partnership with god and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with god's people in need by building houses, so that there are decent houses in decent…

—
10
Iowa Newspaper Association

To improve member newspapers

—
11
Iowa Bird Rehabilitation

The organization's mission is to address the immediate needs of sick, injured, and orphaned wild birds, with the goal to return them to the wild and help educate and bring awareness to the global issue that birds are dissappearing at an…

Animals
12
Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity

To provide low-cost housing to eligible families.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Iowa West Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

57 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. 57 of the 89 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/57
Grantees still filing
32/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COUNCIL BLUFFS COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $1,317,366 · OtherCOUNCIL BLUFFS COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRIC…VARIOUS: $807,521 · OtherVARIOUSPOTTAWATTAMIE ARTS CULTURE & ENTER: $694,757 · OtherPOTTAWATTAMIE ARTS CULTURE & ENTERBLUFFS ARTS COUNCIL: $534,268 · OtherBLUFFS ARTS COUNCILRIVERSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $397,716 · OtherRIVERSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICTMINDEN COMMUNITY CLUB: $231,000 · OtherFIRST RESPONDERS FOUNDATION: $201,000 · Other+47 more: $1,594,547 · Other+47 moreCOUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $3,213,995 · EducationCOUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS F…IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $360,000 · EducationIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FO…+1 more: $10,000 · EducationSOUTHWEST IOWA NONPROFIT FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT: $2,050,000 · HealthSOUTHWEST IOWA NO…Glen Haven Home Inc: $333,000 · HealthGlen Haven Home I…+7 more: $116,082 · HealthCHARLES E LAKIN HUMAN SERVICES CAMPUS FOUNDATION: $600,000 · Human ServicesCHARLES E…New Visions Homeless Services: $185,591 · Human ServicesNew Visio…CHRISTIAN HOME ASSN - CHILDREN'S SQUARE USA: $130,267 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN…HEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE: $109,914 · Human ServicesHEARTLAND…YMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: $83,033 · Human ServicesYMCA OF G…FAMILY INC: $65,672 · Human ServicesOMAHA BRIDGES OUT OF POVERTY INC: $63,416 · Human Services+7 more: $103,400 · Human Services+7 moreMICAH HOUSE CORPORATION: $1,066,057 · Housing & ShelterINTER-FAITH RESPONSE INC: $68,527 · Housing & Shelter+3 more: $31,482 · Housing & ShelterWOODBINE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyOmaha Community Foundation: $83,223 · PhilanthropyFOOTHILLS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $57,000 · PhilanthropyBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE MIDLANDS: $1,025,145 · Youth Development
Other$5,778,175Education$3,583,995Health$2,499,082Human Services$1,341,293Housing & Shelter$1,166,066Philanthropy$1,140,223Youth Development$1,025,145

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $3,213,995 over 6y, 36% of budgetSOUTHWEST IOWA NONPROFIT FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT: $2,050,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetMICAH HOUSE CORPORATION: $1,066,057 over 4y, 30% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE MIDLANDS: $1,025,145 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetCHARLES E LAKIN HUMAN SERVICES CAMPUS FOUNDATION: $600,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetBLUFFS ARTS COUNCIL: $534,268 over 3y, 11% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $360,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGlen Haven Home Inc: $333,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetMINDEN COMMUNITY CLUB: $231,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetFIRST RESPONDERS FOUNDATION: $201,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetNew Visions Homeless Services: $185,591 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetMIDLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY: $180,042 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN HOME ASSN - CHILDREN'S SQUARE USA: $130,267 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetIOWA WEST FOUNDATION: $129,316 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHEARTLAND FAMILY SERVICE: $109,914 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetRevitalization Association of Weeping Water: $100,000 over 1y, 73% of budgetCENTRO LATINO OF IOWA: $90,522 over 4y, 15% of budgetBALLET NEBRASKA: $85,239 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetYMCA OF GREATER OMAHA: $83,033 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetINTER-FAITH RESPONSE INC: $68,527 over 3y, 9.8% of budgetFAMILY INC: $65,672 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSOUTHWEST IOWA NATURE TRAILS PROJECT: $65,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetOMAHA BRIDGES OUT OF POVERTY INC: $63,416 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetALEGENT HEALTH - BERGAN MERCY HEALTH SYSTEM: $41,728 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIowa Legal Aid: $41,479 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetEAST MILLS CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS: $31,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetUNION PACIFIC MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $29,924 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetVISION TREYNOR GROUP INC: $26,500 over 2y, 8.2% of budgetPLAY HAVEN CHILD CARE: $20,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetJENNIE EDMUNDSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $19,735 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetPOTTAWATTAMIE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $19,224 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetHISTORIC GENERAL DODGE HOUSE INC: $17,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetTOGETHER INC OF METROPOLITAN OMAHA: $17,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF THE MIDLANDS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetALL CARE HEALTH CENTER: $14,153 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAPPLIED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE: $13,750 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHWEST IOWA FAMILIES INC: $12,170 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE STANTON CHILD RESOURCE CENTER INC: $11,900 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS IA: $11,095 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNEOLA BETTERMENT CORPORATION: $10,387 over 1y, 16% of budgetKANESVILLE RIDERS HONOR GUARD: $10,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetVISION ATLANTIC INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY CRISIS CENTERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetQUALITY LIVING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetESSEX CHILD CENTER: $8,640 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetJENNIE EDMUNDSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $8,296 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
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.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Iowa West FoundationThe Lozier FoundationCharles E Lakin Found…The Sherwood Foundati…Todd and Mary Heistan…Mutual of Omaha Found…Immanuel Community Vi…Robert B Daugherty Fo…The Hawks FoundationUnion Pacific Foundat…United Way of the Mid…Peter Kiewit Foundati…
Iowa West FoundationIA65.7× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Iowa West Foundation · The Lozier Foundation · Charles E Lakin Foundation Inc · The Sherwood Foundation · Todd and Mary Heistand Family Foundation · Mutual of Omaha Foundation · Immanuel Community Vision Foundation · Robert B Daugherty Foundation · The Hawks Foundation · Union Pacific Foundation · United Way of the Midlands · Peter Kiewit Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Community Foundation for Western Iowa funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Community Foundation for Western Iowa. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    22report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Community Foundation for Western Iowa?

    Find your warmest path to Community Foundation for Western Iowa 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.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 89 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Community Foundation for Western Iowa’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home