Iowa Council of Foundations

Karla Twedt-Ball, SVP Programs & Community Investment

Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

Editor’s note: This post is excerpted from a Guest Editorial in The Gazette on June 2, 2018. Karla Twedt-Ball has led disaster preparedness initiatives at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation since the 2008 flood.

As we [Linn County and specifically, Cedar Rapids] approach the 10 year anniversary of the 2008 flood, we reflect on what we have learned about disaster preparedness and emergency response over the past decade.

First, and foremost, we have learned there are critical components to effective disaster response. We know that many of our community’s nonprofit organizations serve as much-needed immediate responders. Providing them with access to the funding and support they need to stay operational is essential. These nonprofits ensure our neighbors, and especially vulnerable populations, are clothed, sheltered and fed when the unthinkable happens.

We have also learned that it is crucial for all communities in the county have a plan, be connected, and be aware of coordinated efforts. In Linn County, Linn Area Partners in Disaster (LAP-AID), a coalition of organizations that seeks to increase resilience and minimize the impact of emergencies and disasters, facilitates preparedness and response.

Nonprofit organizations and disaster networks are also significant during small-scale disasters — low attention events that have a substantial impact on individuals and businesses, but are not declared disasters and therefore do not receive government aid.

When disaster strikes, no matter the size or scale, communities need to act fast. We know it is essential for emergency services and community resources to be able to address the needs of citizens immediately following a disaster, but what is less known is that the ability to raise funds to recover financially is also time sensitive. Research by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy demonstrates that most charitable donations following a disaster are made within the first few days. Communities that have developed a fundraising plan in advance of a disaster have an advantage over those that have not.

The Connect Community Foundations Conference will feature a panel discussion on this topic with Karla and other members of the PREPP (Prepardness, Resiliency, Emergency Partnership) Cohort as well as Nancy Beers, Director, Midwest Recovery Fund from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

To access the editorial in its entirety, click here.

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

This year we are celebrating 15 years of the Endow Iowa Tax Credit. As you know, Endow Iowa and the County Endowment Fund Program were designed to help encourage philanthropy across the state and capture a percentage of the Transfer of Wealth. In 2016, Iowa received updated Transfer of Wealth data to better understand opportunities in each county in the state. Be sure to review the Iowa TOW Executive Summary and the newly released National TOW Executive Summary. We have also built a Transfer of Wealth Toolkit which can be accessed on the Iowa Community Foundations Initiative password-protected section of the ICoF website here. (Email admin@iowacounciloffoundations.org if you cannot remember your login credentials). I also wanted to highlight a couple specific examples of how to use the data with your donors and community partners.

Idea #1 Create a Video: The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque made a series of Transfer of Wealth Videos to highlight the specific TOW data for each county they serve. You can view the Clayton County Foundation for the Future video here. In addition, the Washington County Community Foundation in Indiana created this video as a teaching tool for their board and community.

Idea #2 Create a PowerPoint: This PowerPoint Template from the TOW Toolkit can help you create a customized presentation to use with donors, your board or advisory committee or at community presentations. The Wayne County Community Foundation used the template to create a presentation for their 20th Anniversary Celebration in February.

Idea #3 Create Consistent Messages: In Kansas, their community foundations have focused their messaging around TOW on capturing 5% of the transfer for the future of their communities. You can learn more about their Keep 5 Kansas Campaign here. You might consider a similar approach when talking with donors about their planned giving.

Please let me know if there is any way our office can be helpful in your implementation of these or other ideas.

Jason Neises, Community Development Coordinator, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque

There’s something special about living in rural Iowa, but how well do we tell our stories about life in small towns? Do we have a good understanding of the value of this lifestyle? How do we attract and retain new residents who share these values? On May 16, over 70 community leaders gathered at the Edgewood Locker Event Center to work together on finding some answers.

Last year, the Clayton County Foundation for the Future did some informal research about the hopes and dreams rural residents had for their community. One of the recurring themes was to attract and retain new and returning residents. The affiliates team at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque decided to convene a regional meeting around that topic to get a variety of community leaders engaged in developing some strategies. We wanted to explore why people had returned to their hometowns after living elsewhere and better understand what communities could do to encourage and support these new and returning residents to establish their lives in small towns.

We invited Ben Winchester, Research Fellow at University of Minnesota Extension, to present about the research he’s done about rural vitality. He has discovered that many of our rural communities are actually seeing a brain “gain” (not the “drain” that we often lament) when people return to raise their families in their hometowns. Ben is convinced that rural communities need to craft their own narrative about the high quality of life and benefits of living in small towns. As we’ve seen in the national media, if we don’t tell our story other people will, which has led to a prevailing narrative about our “dying” rural communities. Rather than complaining that we live in the “middle of nowhere,” we need to map out our assets and amenities and start talking about how we actually live in the “middle of EVERYWHERE” and have good access to jobs, schools, health care, dining, cultural attractions, outdoor recreation, shopping, and other elements that contribute to a high quality of life.

We also convened a panel discussion with rural residents who moved back to their hometown after living elsewhere, or consciously chose to move into a rural community. Each person had a different reason for moving back, including: proximity to family; cost of living; simpler and slower pace; natural beauty; and safety. Not only was it good to hear their motivations for moving back, but we were inspired by their commitment to increasing the quality of life in their communities to make it easier for other people to choose a life back in their hometown.

Another panel included representatives from agencies that provide resources for communities that need to change their narrative or improve quality of life in ways that would allow and encourage movement into small towns.

• I presented about the Community Heart & Soul program that helps small towns focus on what matters most to their residents and craft a blueprint for the future around these deeply-held values.
• Karla Organist introduced us to the Institute for Decision Making – Business & Community Services at the University of Northern Iowa which delivers tailored and innovative planning, technical assistance, applied research, and training to small towns throughout Iowa.
• Chuck Connerly gave an overview of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities which matches University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students with urban and rural communities to complete projects that enhance the sustainability of Iowa’s communities, while transforming teaching and learning at the university.
• Lora Friest from the Northeast Iowa RC&D spoke about ways they recognize opportunities and provide leadership to make Northeast Iowa a vibrant, place-based model for the nation and work with partners from throughout the region to explore economic development opportunities while at the same time protecting and enhancing natural resources.

Throughout the day summit participants worked in small groups to brainstorm ideas they’d like to try in their hometowns. It was wonderful to see the creativity and collaboration from community leaders as they shared ideas and began to apply their learning to dream up innovative ways to keep their small towns vital and thriving. Everyone walked away with new connections to like-minded leaders who could be partners as we work to create a more positive narrative for our region. This discussion will help us use the philanthropic resources in our counties to support initiatives that increase the quality of life and livability in our rural communities.

To learn more about what we discovered at the summit, please contact me.

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The Iowa Council of Foundations is pleased to announce that Ben Winchester, Research Fellow at University of Minnesota Extension will be our opening keynote at the 2018 Connect Community Foundations Conference in Johnston on September 18.

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

Last week I attended the Grantmakers for Effective Organizaitons (GEO) national conference in San Francisco. The convening brought together over 950 people to discuss ways grantmakers can be more effective and impactful in their work. During graduate school I had the opportunity to work for GEO for for two summers as a Summer Associate. As I listened to reflections at the conference as part of GEO’s 20th Anniversary celebration, I couldn’t help but notice one thing that sets GEO apart from other national organizations: GEO continues to double down on what the grantmaking practices they believe (and what nonprofits have affirmed) are important.

GEO can be credited for significant shifts in the philanthropic field as it relates to the types of funding and supports grantmakers are providing grantees. A few GEO hallmarks include:

• Capacity Building – When grantmakers support capacity building, nonprofits can build their skills and expertise to tackle important issues.
• Collaboration – When grantmakers build productive partnerships (and support nonprofits to do so) we see real change.
• Flexible, Reliable Funding –  When we give flexible, long-term funding, nonprofits worry less about their own survival and focus more on responding to shifts in their environment and creating real results for the communities they serve.
• Learning and Evaluation – When we adopt a learning mindset focused on continuously improving, we can use evaluation to focus on what we can learn from the data, push ourselves to experiment and deliberately look at failures as opportunities to grow.

• Strengthening Relationships – When we build trust with and tap the knowledge of nonprofit and community leaders, we arrive at better solutions.

I encourage you to take a look at your grant guidelines and see how many of the GEO values are reflected in your work. Through our unrestricted grant programs and County Endowment Fund Program annual grantmaking, Iowa Community Foundations have the opportunity to practice these principles and provide nonprofits with the right kinds of supports. When nonprofits are equipped with what they need, our communities are strengthened.

Click here to learn more about the 2018 GEO National Conference and GEO’s work!

Mary Freiborg, President 

Okoboji Community Foundation

In 2017, the Okoboji Community Foundation, an Affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, received an ICoF Capacity Building Grant to assist in funding their Emerging Leaders program.  This program was designed to identify and help build the next generation of leaders in the Okoboji area.  Mary explains how the program was developed and what they gained and learned in her notes below.

The Okoboji Foundations Emerging Leaders/Endowment Growth project had two purposes:

• Identify and engage Emerging Leaders (ages 25-40) who can bring ideas to build their peers’ interest in serving nonprofits in our Lakes Community.
• Expand visibility, value recognition and holdings of new and/or existing nonprofit endowment funds in the Okoboji Foundation Family of Funds under Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines.

A core group of 25 Emerging Leaders (ages 25-40) participated in seven events/activities facilitated by Okoboji Foundation to gather their perspective about the future of nonprofits in our community.  Co-mentoring was used, bringing Emerging Leaders into board member and donor events for greater engagement with the targeted age group.

Engagement Activities Included: 

• Emerging Leaders Initial Networking
• Emerging Leaders Follow-up Survey
• GiveOkoboji.com Culinary Event
• Annual Investors Meeting
• Legacy Society Reception
• Board Basics Training
• Lakes Nonprofit Summit

Understandably Emerging Leaders are in the age range (25-40) of most demanding time and cash-flow crunch with careers, personal relationships and families.  Through our facilitated networking and follow-up survey, we found this group is passionate about the small town feel and unique natural resources of our Lakes Community, but conversely ranked Uber and Target as amenities they would like available here.

Our Emerging Leaders follow-up survey shows their Top 3 priorities for future Okoboji Foundation Grants:

1. 1. Center for Youth & Children
   2. Outdoor Experience & Recreation
   3. Lake Quality & Environment

We learned from this project that gathering input from Emerging Leaders through continuing social interaction produced ongoing expense without agreed upon action related to nonprofit involvement.  We will continue co-mentoring by inviting Emerging Leaders to attend existing Okoboji Foundation functions. There is a new Lakes Young Professionals group being formed specifically for socializing without direct ties to support of community nonprofits. We will interact with their organizer offering survey results and presentations/interaction as desired.