Iowa · Nonprofit
IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $209,987 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN ($209,788). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $158k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $210k
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Iowa Civil Justice Foundation does
Mission
Programs & activities that inform and educate about americas justice system
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation provides funding for educational programs and activities to enhance public understanding and appreciation of our justice system; train trial lawyers through continuing legal education; and protect the health, safety and financial wellbeing of iowa families.
$60,000 spent97% of program spendingThe byard and marcia braley scholarship fund provides educational assistance to injured workers, or family members of the injured workers, who have been set back by a workplace injury and are in pursuit of further education.
$2,000 spent3% of program spendingThe safe cycling project (in collaboration with the iowa bicycle coalition) was launched in 2010, with the intention of outfitting children with bicycle helmets to help prevent or reduce injuries and save lives.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $62,000.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $1.1M to $1.3M (+21%).
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.
86% of IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Andrew Mertens
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $69k → $30k.
2 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 100% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
100% of IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $210k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.
Against its field
IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
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
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Iowa Association for Justice · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION: 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.
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 IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION?
- IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $209,987 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN ($209,788). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $209,987 in grants to IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION?
- COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN is the largest funder on record, with $209,788 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IOWA CIVIL JUSTICE FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 2 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