Welcome to your daily briefing on nonprofit developments in Iowa. Today we're covering 6 key stories including updates on iowa nonprofit headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
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Iowa American Water announced the launch of the American Water Charitable Foundation's 2026 Water and Environment Grant Program.
Iowa nonprofits focused on water stewardship, environmental conservation, or community sustainability may secure funding through this corporate grant opportunity.
The Iowa Grants Guide is a searchable database maintained by LAWINRC that catalogs more than 500 funders based in Iowa or with an Iowa connection, with filters to search by funder name or advanced criteria.
Iowa nonprofit professionals can quickly identify relevant funding opportunities without spending hours researching potential donors across disconnected sources.
The Iowa Department of Education maintains a listing of competitive grants and funding opportunities specifically for education partners, not individual students.
IA nonprofit professionals supporting educational initiatives can identify new revenue streams to sustain and expand their programs serving schools and learners.
Reach professionals in this market
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Donor-restricted gifts must be tracked separately and used only for the restricted purpose; using them for general operations — even with intent to "pay back" later — is a fiduciary breach and an audit finding. The most-common fact pattern: cash-flow shortage in operations, restricted-grant balance available, transfer "borrowed" with no formal repayment plan.
State attorneys general have authority over restricted-gift compliance and have pursued individual board members and executives. Auditors are required to disclose restricted-fund violations in the management letter.
The IRS-recommended COI policy requires (1) annual disclosure by all directors and key employees, (2) a process for review of any disclosed conflict, (3) recusal procedures, and (4) documentation in board minutes. Policies that have only the disclosure form without the review and recusal process do not satisfy the recommendation.
A weak COI policy is a Schedule L disclosure waiting to happen, and Schedule L disclosures correlate with future IRS examination selection.
The streamlined Form 1023-EZ is available only to organizations meeting specific limits on projected revenue, assets, and activity types. Filing 1023-EZ when ineligible produces a determination that is technically valid but vulnerable to retroactive revocation if discovered. The full 1023 is harder to file but harder to challenge.
Loss of exemption is retroactive to the original determination, exposing the organization to back-tax liability. The eligibility checklist is the only protection.
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