Iowa · Nonprofit
IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION
IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 115 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,327,204 to it, the largest being THE SHERWOOD FOUNDATION ($3,581,241). 73 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $53M
- Funders on record
- 115
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $119M
What Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation does
Mission
This member-supported organization protects and restores iowa's land, water and wildlife for future generations. Priorities include permanent land protection, promotion of improved land management and bringing new conservation opportunities to iowans.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Land protection and stewardship:during the 12-month fiscal year july 1, 2024 - june 30, 2025, inhf protected 46 conservation properties totaling 4,669 acres. Of these, 24 properties have been, or will be transferred to a public conservation agency for public enjoyment. Thirteen properties will be owned and stewarded by inhf and nine conservation easements on privately owned lands were accepted by inhf. Numerous landowners chose to permanently protect wildlife habitat, open space, and agricultural areas with inhf. All inhf-held conservation easements are monitored annually by visiting the properties and talking with the landowners. Since 1979, inhf has helped protect over 202,808 acres of land across iowa. Our land conservation projects range from important ecosystem conservation to private working lands throughout iowa and in priority regions such as the loess hills of western iowa, upper mississippi river blufflands, iowa great lakes, prairie pothole regions and southern iowa grasslands. Inhf works towards the creation of larger stretches of inter-connected protected conservation lands that improve wildlife habitat and offer management for improved soil health, water quality and…
$38,171,619 spent$31,118,734 earned by the program98% of program spendingConnecting people with nature: our donor-supported organization works statewide to protect our natural heritage - iowa's prairies, woodlands, waters and open spaces. Each year we work on dozens of projects that increase the number of acres available to the public for outdoor recreation, support private landowners in placing permanent protection on their properties with our conservation easement program, help coordinate the continued growth of iowa's network of multi-use trails with our trails and greenways program, get over 600 people of every age out on the land with our volunteer program, establish conservation legacies with our planned giving program, and give 20+ college students meaningful educational employment with our intern program. In addition, we steward a range of inhf-owned properties, some of which are open to the public. Interested landowners learn about options for permanent land protection through printed materials, online resources and personal communication with inhf staff. Inhf introduces people to iowa's conservation challenges and shares stories of conservation success in our quarterly magazine, media outreach, strong digital and social media communication,…
$678,742 spent2% of program spendingCreating impact statewide and beyond:inhf excels in public and private collaborations that bring organizations and agencies together for action. In fy 2025, inhf led partnerships to restore extensive prairie and pollinator habitat across iowa, and to conduct ecological stewardship on natural and conservation lands. Because iowa's landscape and land-use choices are strongly shaped by public policy and funding, inhf collaborates in a non-partisan way to support conservation policy. This creates tomorrow's conservation opportunities in iowa through stronger state public policies and funding that help protect and restore iowa's natural lands, working lands and wildlife habitat along with recreation, trails, and water resources. Advocacy also helps protect the integrity of state and federal tax incentives for land protection. Inhf supports the development and implementation of long-range conservation plans. Inhf's land conservation and trail projects help fulfill multiple long-range plans developed by federal, state and county agencies such as the iowa wildlife action plan, iowa monarch conservation consortium action plan, iowa bicycle-pedestrian and trails plan, prairie pothole joint…
$294,074 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $39,144,435.
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 2023 to 2024, from $130M to $160M (+23%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 2% · 2019 1% · 2020 0% · 2021 2% · 2022 1% · 2023 2% · 2024 1% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
33% of IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Greg Grupp
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 34 funders to 49 funders, grant income rose $627k → $1.3M.
24 of 115 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% 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 NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 115 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
IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
47% 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 NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 45% · 2019 63% · 2020 22% · 2021 75% · 2022 22% · 2023 17% — 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
51% of IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.
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
IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION draws 70% of its grant income from funders outside Iowa, across 23 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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 NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $528k on record.
- Department of the Interior$528k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE 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
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
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
- Boylan Farms Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE 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 NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
- IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 115 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,327,204 to it, the largest being THE SHERWOOD FOUNDATION ($3,581,241). 73 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 115 organizations giving $13,327,204 in grants to IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION, 73 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
- THE SHERWOOD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,581,241 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE 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.
Play a game about who funds Iowa Natural Heritage →
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 115 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing