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Iowa · Nonprofit

COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC

COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC (Iowa) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,105,727 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA ($3,213,995). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$2.9M
Funders on record
21
Grants received
$7.1M
Net assets
$4.7M
8/21 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 58%
01What it does

What Council Bluffs Schools Foundation Inc does

Mission

To provide financial resources and support to benefit the children, families, and staff of the council bluffs community school district.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Kids & company provides child care services to elementary schoolaged children in the council bluffs, iowa area

    $1,620,368 spentof which $283,483 as grants$1,994,432 earned by the program
    70% of program spending

  2. Stars program a program designed for lowincome fulltime students pursuing a degree.

    $226,025 spentof which $226,025 as grants$222,114 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

  3. Scholarship program administer scholarships to students from council bluffs.

    $72,200 spentof which $72,200 as grants
    3% of program spending

  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $403,191 spent
    17% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,321,784.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.8M) Expenses 100 ($2.9M) Net assets 100 ($2.9M)2019 Revenue 152 ($2.7M) Expenses 87 ($2.5M) Net assets 95 ($2.8M)2020 Revenue 98 ($1.8M) Expenses 72 ($2.1M) Net assets 86 ($2.5M)2021 Revenue 143 ($2.6M) Expenses 64 ($1.9M) Net assets 120 ($3.5M)2022 Revenue 469 ($8.4M) Expenses 82 ($2.4M) Net assets 316 ($9.2M)2023 Revenue 199 ($3.6M) Expenses 241 ($7.0M) Net assets 201 ($5.8M)2024 Revenue 155 ($2.8M) Expenses 107 ($3.1M) Net assets 161 ($4.7M)2025 Revenue 162 ($2.9M) Expenses 104 ($3.0M) Net assets 162 ($4.7M)
'17'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (162)Expenses (104)Net assets (162)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $3.6M to $9.4M (+157%).

$3.1M
$2.9M
$2.8M
$3.6M
$9.4M
$6.1M
$4.9M
$4.9M
'17'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 19% · 2023 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

19% of COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,352 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$1.1M
’17
$219k
’19
−$328k
’20
$700k
’21
$6.1M
’22
−$3.4M
’23
−$310k
’24
−$99k
’25
2.7
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Bridgette Watson

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020, and between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.

'17'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed1412111212121515
Joined··+3+2+0+3+8+0
No longer listed··410350
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 9 funders, grant income rose $105k → $553k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'26*
total
Southwest Iowa Foundationunclassified
$255k
Iowa Women's Foundationunclassified
$10k
funders
1
3
2
6
4
10
9
7
1

5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 19 of 21 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

53% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC.

45%
largest funder
77%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 61% · 2019 91% · 2020 76% · 2021 79% · 2022 62% · 2023 51% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

38% of COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC draws 66% of its grant income from funders outside Iowa, across 5 states in all.

MT
IA
NE
DE
NC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Iowa out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 9 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−3% · below the median
Months of reserve2.7mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)6% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Iowa

The Foundation for the Iowa City Community School District81%Cedar Falls Schools Foundation81%Cedar Rapids Community School District Foundation81%It's All for the Kids80%Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce Foundation Inc80%Children and Families of Iowa80%Community Action of Eastern Iowa80%Southwest Iowa Families Inc79%

Nationally

Bennington Public Schools Foundation82%Children's Bureau Foundation Inc82%Nebraska Children & Families Foundation81%The Foundation for the Iowa City Community School District81%Child and Family Resources Inc81%Cedar Falls Schools Foundation81%Cedar Rapids Community School District Foundation81%Columbia County Public Schools Foundation Inc81%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

77% of spending goes to programs.

Program 77%Management 15%Fundraising 8%

Governance

12
board members
0%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

97%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC?
COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC (Iowa) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,105,727 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA ($3,213,995). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC have?
IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $7,105,727 in grants to COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC?
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR WESTERN IOWA is the largest funder on record, with $3,213,995 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like COUNCIL BLUFFS SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 21 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing