Iowa · Nonprofit
UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY
UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY (Iowa) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $252,408 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($123,300). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $481k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $252k
- Net assets
- $724k
What United Way of Mahaska County does
Mission
United Way of Mahaska County empowers our communities by promoting education, encouraging healthy living, and strengthening financial stability.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
In 2024, the organization launched the Imagination Library program to provide free books to children under age five in Mahaska County to encourage early literacy
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Community Investment (Allocations): Occurs each February. After our annual campaign, a group of community volunteers come together to allocate campaign dollars to social service agencies that serve Mahaska County. Local agencies submit grant applications and make presentations outlining the programs they would like funded. In 2024, United Way of Mahaska County funded 8 local agencies. These agencies focus their efforts on addressing education, income, health, and basic needs throughout Mahaska County.
$160,691 spentof which $160,467 as grants57% of program spendingSpecial Grants: United Way of Mahaska County provided a special grant to two local organizations in Mahaska County. Funding went to a program that helped local high school students fund a project that provided clothing and Christmas presents to local children in need, and the local community park rebuild.
$26,500 spentof which $26,500 as grants9% of program spendingTake-Along Food Program: United Way of Mahaska County's Take-Along Weekend Food Program provides bags of meals, snacks, and drinks to students who struggle with food insecurity over the weekend. Each Friday during the school year, the program served approximately 168 students at Oskaloosa Elementary School, Oskaloosa Middle School, Eddyville Elementary School, and Fremont Elementary School.
$16,512 spent6% of program spendingBack to School Fair: Each summer United Way of Mahaska County sponsors a school supply drive, collecting school supplies and accepting donations for the purchase of backpacks and supplies. Any child or youth (preschool through 12th grade) residing in Mahaska County is eligible to receive a filled backpack through this program. In 2024, a drive-thru Back to School Fair was organized to distribute the backpacks, as well as offer shoes and socks. Agencies that offer programming for youth were able to submit information about their activities for inclusion in the backpacks. Approximately 400 backpacks were distributed to families in need. Some of the leftover school supplies were given to local schools to stock school supply closets, which teachers can utilize throughout the year. We partnered with Mahaska YMCA, Soles 4 Souls, and the school districts in Mahaska County.
$3,675 spent1% of program spendingVolunteer Mahaska: United Way of Mahaska County operates a Volunteer Center in Mahaska County. Local agencies are able to post volunteer needs on the Volunteer Mahaska website. Community members can access the website to find volunteer opportunities that match their interests and availability. The Volunteer Center coordinated many volunteers for the Oskaloosa Summer Lunch Program in 2024.
$2,920 spent1% of program spendingDesignated gifts: United Way of Mahaska County accepts designated donations from donors during the annual fundraising campaign. Donations are forwarded to designated human service 501 (c)3 agencies.
$2,770 spent1% of program spendingImagination Library: United Way of Mahaska County provides free books for children 5 and under through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program
$1,599 spent1% of program spendingVITA Tax Site: United Way of Mahaska County recruits volunteers, coordinates and hosts a VITA Tax Preparation Assistance Site. IRS Certified Volunteer Tax Preparers provide free tax preparation for seniors and low-income families and individuals.
$972 spent0% of program spendingDays Of Caring: United Way of Mahaska County empowers volunteers in our community to come together to assist in completing a variety of projects each year, including those that serve seniors and individuals with disabilities, city and council projects, local non-profit agencies, and schools. In 2024, we completed 29 projects with approximately 147 volunteers.
$747 spent0% of program spendingWinter Coat Drive: United Way of Mahaska County coordinated a local Coat Drive. Volunteers provided manpower for distribution of collection boxes and regularly collected coats and other winter outerwear items. Of these items, many were given to local schools. A distribution event was held at Penn Central Mall to distribute the remaining items to the public at no charge.
$0 spent0% of program spendingOskaloosa Summer Lunch Program: United Way of Mahaska County promotes the Oskaloosa Community School's Summer Lunch Program within the community and recruits and coordinates volunteers for both meal preparation and distribution.
$0 spent0% of program spendingCompensation, Wages and Allocable Expenses (in aggregate) included in Program Service Expenses on Part IX - Statement of Functional Expenses but not specifically separated in reporting to individual Program Service Accomplishments.
$66,066 spent23% of program spending
The 12 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $282,452.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
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 $621k to $735k (+18%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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
Michella Friesen
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $1k → $35k.
6 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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 UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 12 of 13 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
UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% 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 UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 37% · 2021 43% · 2022 69% · 2023 60% — 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
71% of UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
71% of UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY'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. Of the $73k that is directly attributable, 87% of it comes from Iowa funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $180k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.
Organizations like UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
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 UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY: 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 UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY?
- UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY (Iowa) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $252,408 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($123,300). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $252,408 in grants to UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $123,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNITED WAY OF MAHASKA COUNTY 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 2020–2024), and the filings of 13 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