Iowa · Nonprofit
WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $710,555 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN ($563,119). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $625k
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $711k
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What West Des Moines Community Schools Foundation does
Mission
To actively seek private funds (and to coordinate funds entrusted to its care) that ensure each student, regardless of his or her means, has the opportunity to reach his or her fullest potential.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation actively seeks funding for the 13 schools in the west des moines community school district. The funds are used to support the following programs: school programs, tiger pride supplies, valley after prom committee, friends of valley debate, valley voices, valley pto, valley drama and many other programs.
$300,796 spent57% of program spendingThe student scholarship program expands the access to educational opportunities by involving and assisting the community in the support of students and in the encouragement of education achievement beyond high school. The scholarship program provides financial support to over 100 district graduates each year.
$227,992 spentof which $227,992 as grants43% of program spendingThe staff recognition program is a citizen-based program that organizes an annual reception to honor teachers and school staff personnel reaching years of service milestones.
$500 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $529,288.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.1M to $1.4M (+22%).
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: 2022 1% · 2023 1% · 2024 2% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 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
Tiffany Barlow
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $65k → $138k.
5 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 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
WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 92% · 2018 76% · 2019 89% · 2020 90% · 2021 87% · 2022 91% · 2023 67% — 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
50% of WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% 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
84% of WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 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. Of the $114k that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from Iowa funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $596k 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.
Against its field
WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 4,237 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,237 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 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
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
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 WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 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 WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION?
- WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $710,555 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN ($563,119). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $710,555 in grants to WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION?
- COMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN is the largest funder on record, with $563,119 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WEST DES MOINES COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 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 West Des Moines Community Schools →
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 15 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