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

The Iowa Council of Foundations connected us with the opportunity to present at Upswell Chicago, the annual summit organized by Independent Sector that brings together community organizers, philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, government officials, corporate responsibility professionals, and more – basically anyone working to make America a place where all can thrive. With over 1,500 people in attendance, the gathering offered many different ways to engage and learn, including pop-up “spark” conversations, in-depth workshops, inspiring keynote presentations, panel discussions, neighborhood tours, and much more.

The most noteworthy accomplishment I observed at the gathering was the diversity of voices they were able to bring to the table. People from all backgrounds, different sized organizations, and change-makers from all corners of the nation came together to share ideas about making philanthropy and community development work more meaningful and equitable for everyone. There was a big focus on “missing voices” and giving power to people who have been historically under-represented in philanthropic decision-making. I participated in some excellent sessions about racial equity strategies in philanthropy and building a culture of equity at our philanthropic organizations. These sessions provided wonderful opportunities for me to network with colleagues from across the country and benefit from their experiences and wisdom.

My session titled, “Building Rural & Urban Partnerships for a Stronger America” was organized by Paul Daugherty, President & CEO of Philanthropy West Virginia. My co-presenters were Brian Fogle, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, and Carolyn Saxton, President of the Legacy Foundation. All of our organizations have developed innovative ways to use deep, meaningful community engagement which gives rural residents a stronger voice in philanthropy.

Brian Fogle discussed the partnership his foundation has with the Missouri Health Foundation that created a new approach for rural grantmaking in Missouri and led to greater rural reach and impact. Carolyn Saxton discussed her organization’s On the Table project that connects different corners of her Indiana County to break bread and engage in conversation about ways to improve our communities. I introduced the community engagement tools the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque uses through Community Heart & Soul to reconnect people with what they love most about their small towns and how to translate those personal and emotional connections into a blueprint that serves as the foundation for future community decisions.

Workshop attendees from across the country had some insightful follow-up questions and we had a lively conversation about bridging the perceived “urban/rural divide.” We dove deeper on ways that we can regain control of the narrative (often controlled by the coastal media) about life in rural regions and tell positive stories about quality of life and rural vitality. We also discussed specific tools we all had used to get missing voices to the table and give them power in making decisions about the future of their rural communities.

The next Upswell convening will be held in Pittsburgh in October, 2020. There are some fellowships and other funding opportunities available, so I would encourage you to explore attending the next gathering and see what kinds of ideas and inspiration you can bring back to your Iowa communities. If you’d like to learn more about my experiences in Chicago, please contact me.

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

It’s hard to believe we are already nearing the end of 2019. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and celebrate the successes we have enjoyed as a network. As you know, this year marked the 15th Anniversary of the County Endowment Fund Program. We celebrated with tailored advertising across the state, a specialized press release during Community Foundations Week, and this video to highlight the imporant ways the program has invested in Iowa communities and grown endowed funds across the state. As we celebrated this success at Connect, we also encouraged participating counties to think even bigger as we move into the next chapter of this program. Be sure to review these slides from Stacy Van Gorp’s session.

We also hosted several trainings and events throughout the year to strengthen and support the network including:

• Two Planned Giving workshops (one in Dubuque and one in Des Moines);
• Community Foundations Boot Camp in partnership with Indiana Philanthropy Alliance;
• multiple Peer-Learning Calls and Webinars; and
• the 2019 Connect Community Foundations Conference.

We also enjoyed our ongoing conversations and partnership with two community foundation networks, the CEO Network and the Affiliate Liaisons Network. These networks allow peers to share ideas and resources with each other and also provide us an opportunity to learn from the network. Thanks to those of you who continue to engage in these meetings throughout the year. We look forward to continued partneship in the year ahead!

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!