Iowa Council of Foundations

Kari McCann Boutell, President, Iowa Council of Foundations

Last Tuesday I joined 25 Grade Level Reading (GLR) Leaders from across Iowa at the Capitol for our lunchtime GLR Day on the Hill. We used this fact sheet to help tell the story of 12 Iowa communities that are working to support third grade reading efforts across the state. As I watched clerks and pages collect slices of pizza for their respective legislators, I stood wondering “is this really the best way to make sure our voice is heard?” I am not sure it was and we are already planning for other ways to share our important work next session; however, I do think it is the  combination of each of our efforts that make a difference in public policy work.

As we prepare for our Community Foundation Legislative Breakfast later this month, know that you can be actively engaged in advocacy efforts before, during and after the event to make sure your voice is heard. Here are some ideas:

• Attend a Town Hall meeting or Legislative Breakfast in your community when your legislators are in your community.
• Write an Op-Ed in your local newspaper explaining how the County Endowment Fund and Endow Iowa programs have benefited your communities and county. Let me know if you’d like ICoF to guest author!
• Visit the Capitol for face-to-face interactions. 10-15 minutes can be the best way to communicate with your representatives.
• Make a call to your representatives. This can be an effective way to be engaged around issues that are important to you professionally as well as personally.

However you choose to advocate, please engage. Your local voice, perspective and opinions are important to our state and federal legislators. As we seek to protect and preserve policy that helps philanthropy do its best work in Iowa and around the country, we are asking you, our valued partners and members, to join us.

Nicole Brua-Behrens, Executive Director, Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation

For those of us working to change our communities for the better, meeting with state and national legislators is so important!  I know this, yet it is one of those activities that makes me break out in a cold sweat.  I recently discovered that preparation and a “posse” makes the task bearable, even enjoyable!

Last October, Representative Guy Vander Linden accepted an invitation to meet with a small group including two Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation board members, Kari McCann Boutell, President of Iowa Council of Foundations and me.  The goal of the meeting was to discuss the impact of the state’s Endow Iowa Tax Credit program on our little slice of heaven-Poweshiek County.   My nerves where calmed during the meeting because Representative Vander Linden was very engaged and asked great questions, but also because the posse was there around the table supporting one another.  Kari provided state level historical and current information about the program, the foundation board members described why they support endowed funds, and I rounded out the conversation with examples of endowments and how they affect Poweshiek County communities, making them better places to live for all ages.  We provided data and anecdotal information and answered questions.  The meeting lasted no more than an hour and Representative Vander Linden thanked the group and reiterated the importance of speaking with legislators face to face-really making a connection and providing information about the impact of their decisions at the local level.

Your organization needs you to connect with those who will affect funding and legislators need you to tell them how the programs and funding impact our counties and communities.  If you are planning a visit with a legislator to talk about a community foundation issue I would recommend reaching out to Kari McCann Boutell for coaching and guidance and gathering together a few board members or community members to reiterate your message. Creating your own posse will ease your fears and also make the meeting more worthwhile for your legislator.

Kari McCann Boutell, President, Iowa Council of Foundations

Happy new year! Many of us are making resolutions and setting personal goals for 2017. Now is also a good time to begin laying plans and setting goals for your affiliate and community foundations as well. One thing I do each year is create a calendar with important activities for my staff and one for my board. This helps give us a look at our activities for the full year and makes things manageable by breaking them down into monthly tasks.

If you don’t already use a tool like this, it is easy to create your own. I will help you get started by sharing some important dates and activities that ICoF has planned for you in 2017!

January: Capacity Building Grant Webinar (17th)
February: Capacity Building Grant Idea Submissions Due (17th); Peer-Learning Call (15th)
March: Community Foundations Legislative Breakfast (28th); Peer-Learning Call (15th)
April: Capacity Building Grant Proposals Due (1st)
May: CF Boot Camp (15-16, West Des Moines and 18-19, Cedar Rapids)
June: Capacity Building Grants Awarded; Peer-Learning Call
July: CF Assets Reports Due
August: County Endowment Fund Reports Due (15th); Peer-Learning Call
September: CONNECT Conference (13th)
October: Idea Implementation Grant Proposals Due; Capacity Building Grant Applications Due (1st); Peer-Learning Call
November: Idea Implementation Grants Awarded; Capacity Building Grants Due (15th); Peer-Learning Call
December: Endow Iowa Resolutions and Accreditation Notifications Due (Host and standalone CFs only)

Ellie Horst, Former Intern, Iowa Council of Foundations

Internships can bring a wide variety of experiences, but I doubt many students are blessed to have the experience that I have had at my internship with the Iowa Council of Foundations (ICoF). My name is Ellie Horst, and I am a senior at Loras College and have interned for ICoF this past semester. I met Kari McCann Boutell (President, ICoF) while interning at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, a member of ICoF. I had a great experience at the Foundation as well. My experience with Kari seemed to fit so perfectly into the frame I have for my future career in the nonprofit sector.

Throughout my short time interning with Kari, she showed me how to treat each project as a way to gain new information and learn about the bigger picture of the organization and field while completing a task. I have had the pleasure of completing a few small projects for ICoF that have not only taught me hard skills on navigating and maintaining software and databases, but this work has also taught me to be curious; to dig deeper and reflect on why the project is necessary, what bigger picture items it can help accomplish, and to find deeper learning outcomes and objectives.

For example, researching webinar and video conferencing tools not only helped me learn about the softwares themselves, which I may need in the future, but also taught me how to compare and budget different resources, what information can and should be shared through video or screen-sharing technologies, and the most effective ways in which to get member participation. Since my internship at ICoF I have actually used the same webinar service we selected for ICoF to host my own webinar on planning orientations for incoming classes at Loras, and multiple times for Loras College Dance Marathon, an organization I am a part of.

My work at ICoF means so much more than the technical skills I learned, however. It has been an incredible blessing for me; it helped to prepare me for graduate school in Philanthropic Studies and has helped me to foster the passion that I have for foundation work in the nonprofit field. I have learned so much more than I could have imagined in such a short amount of time, and I genuinely appreciate this opportunity. I look forward to keeping informed about ICoF’s events and programming, and I will be sure to take the information I have learned here with me as I go. Thank you to Kari and the ICoF Board for your support and the opportunity to intern with ICoF and foster my passion!

Kari McCann Boutell, President, Iowa Council of Foundations

October was a busy month for Iowa Community Foundations! Many of you attended the Annual Connect Conference on October 5th. As you know, the next day we learned the 2016 Endow Iowa Tax Credits were depleted. This is the earliest point in a given year that the tax credits have been used. Community Foundations have been asked to adjust their messaging for the remaining days of 2016.

A group of representatives from the Iowa Community Foundations Initiative met with Governor Branstad on October 17 to discuss the Endow Iowa Tax Credit program. This year, we will be asking for a $2 million increase in the program, so we do not continue to run out of credits and amass a large number of carryover gifts/credits from year to year. We used this Endow Iowa Fact Sheet for our conversation with the Governor and invite you to use it with your board members and local legislators as well.

In addition, the Iowa Council of Foundations has recently launched a new project to collect data to help us articulate the value and benefit of the Endow Iowa and County Endowment Fund programs. We will be sure to share information with everyone once the project is complete.

We have scheduled our Community Foundations Legislative Breakfast for March 28, 2017 from 7:30 – 9:00 am at in the Capitol Rotunda. Please mark your calendars! We hope you can join us to help demonstrate the positive impact this program makes throughout Iowa. We will share additional information with you as we move closer. Thank you for your continued partnership and advocacy for this important legislative program.