Iowa West Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Iowa West Foundation supports economic development, education, healthy families, and place-making in 18 counties in Southwest Iowa and Eastern Nebraska.
IP TAKE: This is a casino-affiliated funder that awards big local grants through an accessible application process, especially in Pottawattamie County.
PROFILE: Established in 1994, the Iowa West Foundation (IWF) is a private charitable foundation based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It receives funds from the Iowa West Racing Association, which was created in 1984 when Iowa passed a law that required gaming licenses to be sponsored or held by a nonprofit organization. The Association holds the license for Horseshoe Casino and sponsors the Ameristar and Harrah’s casino riverboats. The Iowa West Foundation aims to “improve lives and strengthen communities for current and future generations,” and it does this by “providing leadership, creating partnerships, leveraging resources, and serving as a catalyst in identifying and supporting community needs.” IWF funds local efforts for economic development, education, healthy families, and place-making.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity, K-12 Education, Public Health and Access, and Community Development
The Iowa West Foundation funds economic development grants that support job readiness, entrepreneurship, new business development, and job creation. Education grants address needs for preschools, early child development, children’s mental health, summer school, and post-secondary readiness and access. IWF funds health efforts in Pottawattamie County to address family stability, hunger, emergency and transitional housing, adolescent health projects, child abuse, and mental health. Place-making grants fund programs for arts and culture, beautification, community infrastructure, environmental preservation, housing, recreation, and rural development. IWF provides program, capital, and general operating grants. It also pursues certain initiatives, supports capacity-building efforts, and considers multi-year requests.
Past local grantees include the City of Council Bluffs, the Rose Theater, Lauritzen Gardens, and Fontanelle Forest.
Important Grant Details
Grants range between about $5,000 and $2 million. Learn more about this funder’s local giving on the grant archive page of the funder’s website. Grantmaking focuses on Southwest Iowa and Eastern Nebraska. The counties in focus are Monona, Crawford, Carroll, Washington, Harrison, Shelby, Audubon, Douglas, Pottawattamie, Cass, Sarpy, Mills, Montgomery, Adams, Cass, Fremont, Page, and Taylor.
This foundation accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry from nonprofits, following the passing of an eligibility quiz, and it has three grant cycles per year. Letters of inquiry are typically due on the first of the months of November, March, and July. IWF makes grant award notifications in early-mid March, July, and November after those deadlines. Direct general questions to the staff at grantinfo@iowawestfoundation.org or 712-309-3000.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
