Iowa Council of Foundations

Joe Sorensen, Vice President of Affiliate Relations
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines

Four members of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines team recently attended the annual National Conference for Growing Community Foundations in Wichita, Kansas hosted by the Kansas Association of Community Foundations. This year’s theme was “Putting Unity in Community.”

For those who have not attended this conference before, it brings together nearly 500 community foundation professionals and board members representing 36 states and Bermuda. Speakers from all sizes of community foundations speak on topics ranging from finance, charitable giving, grantmaking, community leadership, investment, legal and much more. It provides a tremendous learning and networking opportunity to bring back best practices and trends that impact the work of our Community Foundation.

Here are three themes I noticed at the Conference:

‘If you’ve seen one seen one community foundation you’ve seen one community’ may not be as true as we think it is. Deborah Ellwood from CFLeads challenged this idea as her organization is conducting new research on the field. While each of us lift up different priorities for our community, there are many similarities in the way we operate and function. We need to continue to learn from one another and embrace the best practices offered by others in the field.

Community leadership is and will continue to be the emerging third leg of our community foundation stool. Many more community foundations, including those with smaller asset sizes, are thinking hard about how they can leverage their capital to lead in the community. Kristi Knous, President of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, participated on a plenary panel on this topic. She shared her perspective on how the charitable giving marketplace is more crowded now than ever before with commercial donor advised fund providers and that our leadership in the community differentiates us from those commercial providers.

Closely connected to community leadership was dialogue on investments of community foundation assets and if they could be used to not only provide a financial return, but measurable community impact. Impact investing is a tool being deployed by several community foundations to support initiatives in their community they may not otherwise be able to through traditional grantmaking support. LOCUS Impact Investing, the Aspen Institute and Network Kansas are all doing interesting work to support community foundations as they explore what this investment strategy means to their work.

The National Conference for Growing Community Foundations was a terrific experience and was well worth the investment of our time.

 

Jerry Burke, Bev Rahe

Foundation for the Future of Delaware County

After more than 10 years of grant making, the board of Foundation for the Future of Delaware County (FFDC) started talking about ways we could make a bigger impact with our grantmaking.  We reviewed our application questions, review process and reporting against the guidelines in the Iowa Council of Foundation’s  brochure, “Guide to Effective Grantmaking.” We found our grant application revisions over the years met the guidelines and we were getting the information needed to make an informed grant decision. Grant reports were being reviewed and some site visits made each year.

Having updated the board with some new members, it was time to hold a strategic planning meeting to discuss how to balance a changing community and doing good through purposeful grantmaking and not just responding to the applications received. Our next step was a strategic planning meeting.  As an affiliate of the Greater Community Foundation of Dubuque, they helped us hold a strategic planning session in September 2018.

We needed to answer the questions of why, what, who, when and how as we discussed prioritizing our grantmaking. To help with our planning session, a survey was done with the attendees before the strategic planning session revealed 4 areas of interest: K-12, Workforce, Economic Development, and Mental Health.

Discussion pointed out that our priority should be on people and pick one of the areas to prioritize. We felt “Strengthening Families” was something that would cover all areas until we had time to invite speakers in to tell us more. Therefore, our message for the 2019 grant cycle would prioritize families.

Further board discussion determined mental health, many times referred to as brain health was the area the board really wanted to concentrate on, but needed more information. Two subsequent meetings were held.  The first with an ER doctor and the county sheriff to discuss mental health issues in the county. The second meeting was with representatives from the West Delaware and Maquoketa Valley school districts and the mental health issues associated with the student population.

As a result, in 2019 grants were awarded to both schools to help in their development of desired programs to help students.

The 2020 grant cycle will again emphasize “Strengthening Families” with emphases on brain health issues with further communications with the schools on how we can assist.

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

We look forward to seeing many of you in two weeks at the Connect Community Foundations Conference on Setpember 17. If you haven’t registered, you can do so and view the agenda here. You will see on the agenda that we will be celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the County Endwoment Fund Program throughout the day. We hope this will give you an opportunity to reflect on the good work the program has made possible over the last 15 years, but also create time for you to strategize and vision for the next 15 years!

You will hear from several of your community foundation peers during CF Snaptshot Live as we focus on impact the program has made in communities and counties throughout Iowa. The stories will focus on the two goals of the program:

1. Creating and growing permanent endowment funds in each county that does not hold a state-issued gaming license; and
2. Re-distributing a percentage of funds annually throughout those counties through competitive grantmaking processes.

Our goal is for you to return home with ideas you can implement to help grow your endowments and to make your grantmaking processes and strategies event stronger for the next chapter of the County Endowment Fund Program. Again this year, if two or more people from your community foundation or affiliate participate, you will be eligible to apply for Idea Implementation Grant Funding (up to $1,500 per organization) to make these goals a reality. We hope you will take advantage of this great opportunity.

If you have any questions about the coference, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@iowacounciloffoundations.org or 515-989-1188. We look forward to seeing you there!

Julie Hitchins, Executive Director

Community Foundation of Marshall County

On July 19, 2018 the community of Marshalltown was devastated by an EF3 tornado that plowed through their town.  In the days that followed the tornado, the Community Foundation of Marshall County worked quickly to establish a fund to accept donations to assist the community in the recovery and rebuilding process.  Now, a year later, Julie Hitchins, Executive Director of the Foundation, shares how the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund is helping the community restore itself, and what they have learned as an organization this past year about how to best respond to a disaster in your community.

I joined the Community Foundation of Marshall County almost six months after the tornado.  When I started, the disaster grant making process was in full swing: grant guidelines, grant cycle timelines, application, and the grant agreement were all being developed.   A grant review committee was formed which was made up of nine community members who have grant making experience and/or are associated with another tornado recovery organization.  To best serve our community, we are utilizing a letter of intent process with an invitation to complete a grant application that is concluded with an in-person interview with the grantee organization.

Our first funding cycle concluded on May 2^nd with $100,000 grant awards to the City of Marshalltown for the renovation of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Habitat for Humanity of Iowa for their Marshalltown Hammers Back project.  We are currently in our second funding cycle with grant award announcements planned for September 3^rd.  Following the September grants, we will have one more funding cycle in 2019.

There is a lot to learn as you go through a disaster grant making process.  I’ve compiled a list of what I believe are some of the most important things I’ve learned since beginning this work:

1. Quickly establish a fund: You need to establish your fund quickly after the disaster to capture donors and accept online donations.  We have had over 240 donors from 26 states donate more than $800,000.  Most of the donations were made soon after the tornado, but interestingly two of our largest donations came in the 1^st quarter of 2019.
2. Continue to tell your story: Thanks to an ICoF Idea Implementation Grant we received after last year’s Connect Conference, we were able to engage Wild Key Creative to assist us with fund marketing which included social media templates, a flyer and a marketing plan.  One of our strategies is to continually tell our story.  We have received donations recently due to the fact they heard about the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund on the radio, read it in the newspaper or saw it on social media.
3. Host Foundation expertise: Utilize the expertise at your Host Foundation to assist you on this new journey.  We were very fortunate to have the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines at our side.  They have given great guidance, provided resources and helped us tell our story by including the Rebuild Marshalltown Fund in their annual report.
4. Collaborate: It is extremely important that you communicate (formally in meetings and informally) with tornado recovery organizations to assure there is not duplication of efforts.  It is important to define each funds’ role, collaborate, and update the recovery efforts.  We also structured our grant review committee to include individuals from other organizations engaged in recovery efforts.
5. Marathon: It’s a marathon (maybe a super marathon) not a sprint when it comes to disaster recovery grant making.  The Veterans Memorial Coliseum was “shovel” ready before the tornado and rebuilding is part of Habitat’s mission.  In the second funding cycle we are seeing some requests for repairs, but we know there are many projects that are still in the planning phase and not ready for application.  We believe this fund will exist for up to ten years.
6. Donor Stewardship: One of our marketing strategies was to continue to communicate with donors and share how their donations are helping Marshalltown rebuild.  It is our hope that seeing the grant making results will spur more donations.  Below is an excerpt from the anniversary letter that was mailed to all donors:

“One year later, July 19 at 4:40 p.m., Marshalltown residents gathered in front of the beloved Marshall County Courthouse for the first anniversary of the EF3 tornado that ripped through the heart of our community. We celebrated the miracle that no lives were lost during those frightful 23 minutes. There was silence as we reflected on the events of the past year, followed by the ringing of church bells and the collective cheer, ‘Marshalltown Strong!’”

#MarshalltownStrong

 

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

In September, counties participating in the County Endowment Fund Program will receive the annual distribution. 25% will be invested into County Endowment Funds and the remaining 75% will be directed to grantmaking by local affiliate advisory boards. The grantmaking allocation has the potential each year to do so much good in counties across Iowa. As you prepare to allocate those dollars, we wanted to share some resources and tips we have compiled over the years for you to consider.

Guide to Effective Grantmaking: Last year we released this publication which is a compilation of best practices collected from national research, regional community foundation partners and Iowa community foundation leaders. The guide details the Why, What, Who, When and How of grantmaking – specifically designed for County Endowment Fund Program participants. We hope you will take time to review this guide as you refresh the following documents for your grantmaking programs this year:

• Grant Guidelines
• Grant Applications
• Site Visit Protocols
• Scoring Rubrics and Grant Review Process Documents
• Report Forms and Evaluation Processes

Templates and Samples: A reminder that our office has several templates and sample documents that we have collected from other community foundations. Please send us a note if you would like to see samples of how other community foundations are doing their work. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel when there is so much knowledge within our network. If you ask for something that we don’t have, we can send a colleague inquiry to all Iowa community foundations and collect responses on your behalf.

10 Ways to Strategically Invest Your County Endowment Fund Dollars: This webinar recording offers 10 ideas for ways to utilize your CEFP grantmaking dollars for good in your communities. This might be a helpful resource as you prepare to revise your grant guidelines and priorities for the year. Consider how you can use dollars in proactive and responsive ways to support your county’s needs. You might consider using the webinar as a training tool with your committee in advance of your annual grantmaking process. 

As we prepare for the 15th year of the County Endowment Fund Program, we invite you to pause and reflect on the strengths of your local work and acknowledge areas for improvement as we move into this next chapter of the CEFP program!