Iowa · Nonprofit
WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION
WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,490,250 to it, the largest being THE TU FOUNDATION ($710,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $549k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.5M
- Net assets
- $592k
What Western Iowa Journalism Foundation does
Mission
Supporting community journalism that ensures long-term access to accurate local news and investigative reporting throughout western Iowa.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
La Prensa Iowa was granted the total amount of $50,000 in 2025. The grant money was given to further the mission of Western Iowa Journalism Foundation by supporting reporting positions that would educate, inform, and engage residents to ensure long-term access to accurant local news and investigative reporting in western Iowa. There were no expenses, as the grant process was driven by volunteer Board of Directors who serve without any compenation.
Storm Lake Times Pilot was granted the total amount of $212,500 in 2025. The grant money was given to further the mission of Western Iowa Journalism Foundation by supporting reporting positions that would educate, inform, and engage residents to ensure long-term access to accurant local news and investigative reporting in western Iowa. There were no expenses, as the grant process was driven by volunteer Board of Directors who serve without any compenation.
Iowa Information Media Group was granted the total amount of $4,000 in 2025. The grant money was given to further the mission of Western Iowa Journalism Foundation by supporting reporting positions that would educate, inform, and engage residents to ensure long-term access to accurant local news and investigative reporting in western Iowa. There were no expenses, as the grant process was driven by volunteer Board of Directors who serve without any compenation.
Denison Free Press was granted the total amount of $15,000 in 2025. The grant money was given to further the mission of Western Iowa Journalism Foundation by supporting reporting positions that would educate, inform, and engage residents to ensure long-term access to accurant local news and investigative reporting in western Iowa. There were no expenses, as the grant process was driven by volunteer Board of Directors who serve without any compenation.
Central Iowa Publishing was granted the total amount of $39,000 in 2025. The grant money was given to further the mission of Western Iowa Journalism Foundation by supporting reporting positions that would educate, inform, and engage residents to ensure long-term access to accurant local news and investigative reporting in western Iowa. There were no expenses, as the grant process was driven by volunteer Board of Directors who serve without any compenation.
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2021 to 2022, from $200k to $607k (+204%).
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.
97% of WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 2 funders, grant income rose $172k → $175k.
4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM 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
WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 58% · 2022 73% · 2023 57% — 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
WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Iowa, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $211k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM 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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM 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 WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION?
- WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,490,250 to it, the largest being THE TU FOUNDATION ($710,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,490,250 in grants to WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM FOUNDATION?
- THE TU FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $710,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WESTERN IOWA JOURNALISM 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 FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), 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