Iowa Council of Foundations

Amy Nossaman, Treasurer/Board Member

Mahaska County Community Foundation

There are many ways to think about how the County Endowment Fund Program grants can make a strategic difference in your county and communities. Over time, your strategies should likely evolve, just as the needs in your community evolve. The grants being made 15 years ago in your communities are likely not the same grants you are making today because your community is not the same. Amy Nossaman, board member of the Mahaska County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, shares how their community foundation has changed its grantmaking over the years to meet current county needs with larger, strategic invesments through their City Challenge Grants.

In 2005, our board made the decision not to have funding limits. However, in the early years, we did a lot of partial funding in order to ‘spread the love.’ We were also hesitant to make grant awards beyond the $10-15,000 range. Each year, with more experience, we had a lot of conversation around full and partial funding:

• How much was enough for the project to go forward?;
• Do they really need this piece of equipment?; and mostly,
• Are we giving enough to make an impact?

In our 10th year (2015), the board discussed the impact and visibility of grant awards if we were to grow our endowment and build a family of funds under our umbrella. At that time, we developed the City Challenge Grant. This grant is only open to the 10 towns in Mahaska County. The applicant must be ‘The City of ____’ and they can request up to $25K which is about 1/4 of the available funds we have each year.

Additionally, we did not want a set match rate, but did want the city applicant to have ‘some skin in the game’ even if it is in-kind (salaries, machinery, etc). We also met with or had a phone conversation with the city councils/mayors/city clerks to make it clear that the application needed to be beneficial to the town residents. This meant that it was not for road repairs or renovations to the city hall. We wanted those visible projects that may be on the back burner because of funding.

Last year, our recipient was The City of Leighton. Leighton was one of the small towns who lost federal support for their post office. The City Council knew the importance of the post office to the remaining businesses and residents and decided to take ownership of the little building and absorb the payroll expense of a PT postmaster so that their residents would not have to drive the 15 miles to the Post Office in Oskaloosa. The grant helped them with tuckpointing, new windows and doors, upgrades to wiring and lighting, and a new floor, roof, and sidewalk.

Even though Leighton has less than 200 residents, the level of impact on those residents is very high. We learned impact is not always about the number of individuals served!

You can learn more about ways to strategically invest your CEFP grants in your community by viewing this webinar reviewing the ICoF Guide to Effective Grantmaking.

Kari McCann Boutell, President

Iowa Council of Foundations

As we look ahead to the Community Foundations Legislative Breakfast on March 24, I wanted to share some tools and resources with you to help prepare you for conversations with your legislators. As you know, the $6M in 2020 Endow Iowa Tax Credits have been allocated and tax credit certificates will be distributed to donors in May. That means the 2021 Endow Iowa Tax Credit wait list is already beginning to grow. We know this has created challenges in marketing the program and communicating with donors, especially this year while we await the approval of the FY21 state budget. We invite you to help us communicate with legislators the positive impact the program is having in your communities and counties. Here are some statistics you may wish to share:

• Since inception of Endow Iowa, Iowa community foundations have leveraged more than $287,569,800.29 in permanent endowment fund gifts through 38,927 donations.
• Last year alone, grants from Endow Iowa qualified endowment funds totaled $17.8 million.
• The Endow Iowa Tax Credits Program has helped to build more than 4,300 endowment funds that are permanent resources, building the capacity and strength of Iowa communities now and forever.

Endow Iowa is working. Be sure to thank your legislators for their past and current support of Endow Iowa. Please be sure to also communicate your appreciation for their support of the County Endowment Fund Program. The 15th year of grantmaking is taking place during this 2019-2020 funding cycle. Since 2004:

• 28,851 grants have been made; and
• $107 million has been invested in nonprofits and charitable causes across Iowa.

Additonally, participating CEFP counties now hold over $249 million in assets, which will support Iowans – forever. There are several ways you can demonstrate the impact these programs have had in your county and community:

• Attend a Town Hall meeting or Legislative Breakfast 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.

You can view the Spring 2020 Legislative Talking Points here.

You can view the 2020 Endow Iowa Fact Sheet here.

You can view the 2020 County Endowment Fund Program Fact Sheet here.

You can view the Iowa Community Foundations Fact Sheet here.

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.