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

· Public charity

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement

To empower and unite grassroots people of all races to take control of their communities; involve them in identifying problems and needs; and in taking action to address them; and be a vehicle for social, economic and environmental justice.

$58k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$177kPublic Benefit$174kFood & Nutrition$162kCivil Rights$133kYouth Development$84kCrime & Legal$29k
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$14,250
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VISION LEADS FOUNDATION INC$15,000
LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT$14,250
DAKOTA RURAL ACTION$14,250
MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER$14,250
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $42k → 11%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $9k → 10%LINN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION FUND: $27k → 9%IOWA MIGRANT MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE: $29k → 10%QUAD CITIES INTERFAITH: $45k → 12%GREAT PLAINS ACTION SOCIETY: $58k → 15%MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER: $44k → 17%VISION LEADS FOUNDATION INC: $15k → 5%EMBARC: $84k → 14%DAKOTA RURAL ACTION: $14k → 13%LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $15k → 11%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $9k → 10%OUR FUTURE: $20k → 9%COMMON GOOD IOWA: $84k → 10%INDIGENOUS IOWA: $15k → 15%MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER: $14k → 17%PEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE: $75k → 14%DAKOTA RURAL ACTION: $14k → 13%LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $14k → 11%LINN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION FUND: $15k → 9%DSM BLACK LIBERATION MOVEMENT FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER: $14k → 17%DAKOTA RURAL ACTION: $13k → 13%LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $14k → 11%MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER: $13k → 17%DAKOTA RURAL ACTION: $12k → 13%LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $12k → 11%MISSOURI RURAL CRISIS CENTER: $12k → 17%DAKOTA RURAL ACTION: $12k → 13%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.

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$339k · 5 repeat orgs$420k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
8

Total granted

$339k
$405k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
0%

Still filing today

100%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementEducationYouth DevelopmentCivil RightsCrime & LegalOther
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

  • LS
    LAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT
    5× · 2020–2024 · $97k · revenue +13%
  • MR
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    5× · 2020–2024 · $97k · revenue +25%
  • DR
    Dakota Rural Action
    5× · 2020–2024 · $65k · revenue +112%

Funded once

  • CG
    COMMON GOOD IOWA
    one grant, 2021 · $84k · revenue -23%
  • EI
    EMBARC INC
    one grant, 2021 · $84k · revenue -20%
  • PA
    PEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2020 · $75k · revenue -34%
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
Iowa Citizen Action Network

To promote social, economic and environmental justice.

—
2
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund

The mission of iowa citizens for community improvement action fund is to build economic, racial, and environmental justice and grassroots democracy through community organizing, education, advocacy, and electoral politics in iowa and…

Food & Nutrition
3
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement

To empower and unite grassroots people of all races to take control of their communities; involve them in identifying problems and needs; and in taking action to address them; and be a vehicle for social, economic and environmental justice.

Community Improvement
4
Farmers' Legal Action Group Inc

Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which operates a law center that provides legal services and support to America's family farmers and their communities to help keep farmers on…

—
5
Iowa Policy Project

The mission of Iowa Policy Project is to promote public policy that fosters economic opportunity while safeguarding the health and well-being of Iowa's people and the environment. By providing a foundation of fact-based, objective research…

—
6
Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community

Isaac is a faith-based community organizing group made up of congregations and organizations that unite in order to accomplish what cannot be done as individuals or single congregations. together, we focus our collectively formed…

Religion
7
Lavender Legal Center

Public interest law firm

Crime & Legal
8
Center for Rural Affairs

To cultivate strong communities rooted in social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, and opportunity for all.

—
9
Environmental Initiative

Catalyze collaboration across perspectives, power, and systems for social equity and environmental health.

Environment
10
Linn County Advocate Inc

Linn County Advocate, Inc., provides quality legal representation for indigent clients in criminal and juvenile cases at the state court level in Linn, Johnson, Benton, and Jones Counties in the state of Iowa.

—
11
350 Wisconsin Action Inc

350 Wisconsin Action mobilizes concerned climate voters to push for bold climate action from government and elected officials. We keep the climate crisis at the center of the political conversation, and push for progressive policies that…

Environment
12
Colorado People's Action

Colorado people's action (cpa) is a member-driven, racial justice organization dedicated to winning long-lasting progressive public policies in colorado. cpa builds power by mobilizing voters, electing our own people to office, holding…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Great Plains Action Society; the most unlike its peers is Linn County Community Action Fund. 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

13 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. 13 of the 14 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/13
Grantees still filing
7/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Missouri Rural Crisis Center: $96,846 · OtherMissouri Rural Crisis CenterCOMMON GOOD IOWA: $84,166 · OtherCOMMON GOOD IOWAQUAD CITIES INTERFAITH: $45,000 · OtherQUAD CITIES INTERFAITHINDIGENOUS IOWA INC: $15,000 · OtherINDIGENOUS IOWA INCDES MOINES BLACK LIBERATION MOVEMENT FOUNDATION dba DSM BLM Foundation: $15,000 · OtherDES MOINES BLACK LIBERATION MOVEMENT FOU…VISION LEADS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · OtherVISION LEADS FOUNDATION INCLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $97,346 · EnvironmentLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECTLINN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION FUND: $62,000 · EnvironmentLINN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTI…SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $18,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONEMBARC INC: $84,166 · Youth DevelopmentEMBARC INCPEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE: $75,000 · Community ImprovementPEOPLE'S AC…Dakota Rural Action: $64,846 · EducationDakota Ru…GREAT PLAINS ACTION SOCIETY: $57,723 · Civil RightsIOWA MIGRANT MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE: $29,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$271,012Environment$177,346Youth Development$84,166Community Improvement$75,000Education$64,846Civil Rights$57,723Crime & Legal$29,000

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 budgetLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $97,346 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetMissouri Rural Crisis Center: $96,846 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetCOMMON GOOD IOWA: $84,166 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetEMBARC INC: $84,166 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetPEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE: $75,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetDakota Rural Action: $64,846 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetLINN COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION FUND: $62,000 over 3y, 87% of budgetGREAT PLAINS ACTION SOCIETY: $57,723 over 1y, 12% of budgetQUAD CITIES INTERFAITH: $45,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetIOWA MIGRANT MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE: $29,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $18,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINDIGENOUS IOWA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 10% 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.

The Chicago Community…National Philanthropi…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL11.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · National Philanthropic Trust · Amazonsmile 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 Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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.

    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 14 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 Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement’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