Fort Dodge CF: County Endowment Funding Grant

Fort Dodge CF: County Endowment Funding Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: United Way And Community Foundation Of Greater Fort Dodge
Last Updated: March 17, 2026

Summary

The Fort Dodge Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, enhances community well-being through the County Endowment Funding Grant. By fostering partnerships and providing grants to local organizations, it addresses pressing community needs and promotes charitable causes. The Foundation emphasizes economic vitality, recreational development, and community betterment, ensuring that funds are allocated efficiently to improve the quality of life for citizens in Fort Dodge and surrounding areas. This initiative exemplifies their commitment to philanthropic engagement and sustainable community growth.

Overview

About Us The Fort Dodge Community Foundation is an independent, 501(c)3 public charity that enables people with philanthropic interests to support causes they care about in Fort Dodge, Webster County, and North Central Iowa. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation creates long-term assets and makes grants to better our community and improve its quality of life. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation develops lasting legacies for community-minded citizens through funds that are designed to support the charitable goals of donors. From these funds, grants are made in support of a wide range of charitable causes and non-profit organizations that address a broad scope of current and long-term community needs and community betterment opportunities. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation is a unique philanthropic organization. In July 2007, the United Way of Greater Fort Dodge and the Community Foundation of Fort Dodge and North Central Iowa merged into one philanthropic organization. Merging the two organizations provided the opportunity to leverage administrative resources and reduce duplication in philanthropy. This collaborative model is the first of its kind in the nation and offers our community and region a "one-stop-shop," for community-based charitable giving. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation makes a constant effort to stay ahead of emerging issues in our community and county. We work in partnership with civic, business, nonprofit and government leaders to identify and address important community needs and opportunities that will enhance the quality of life in our community and region. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation meets the National Standards established by the Council on Foundations for U.S. Community Foundations, which are philanthropy’s most rigorous standards. Community foundations that meet these standards have demonstrated that they abide by the highest legal, ethical and effective operating practices, financial oversight, transparency and accountability. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation works hard to earn the trust and respect of our community so it can effectively serve as the entity in Fort Dodge/Webster County for community-based philanthropic giving. We encourage citizens to invest in their community through the annual United Way community campaign and by establishing endowment and donor advised funds for the purpose of investing in the future vitality, growth and development of our community. County Endowment Funding Grant The Fort Dodge Community Foundation is an independent 501(c) (3) public charity that enables people with philanthropic interests to develop lasting legacies through funds that support causes, programs and organizations in their community that they care about, easily and effectively. Serving Fort Dodge, Webster County and Northwest-Central Iowa, the Fort Dodge Community Foundation makes grants from these funds to a wide-range of charitable causes and non-profit organizations to address a wide-range of current and future community needs. As an advocate and catalyst for charitable giving, the Fort Dodge Community Foundation develops charitable resources to support important community programs, services, projects and nonprofit organizations to advance the public good, foster economic prosperity and improve the quality of life of all citizens, families and youth. The Fort Dodge Community Foundation serves as an asset development organization that provides positive and proactive leadership and significant resources to help the Fort Dodge community and region become a place where people will want to live, work, recreate, and raise their families. These grants are provided to charitable organizations to support projects that are considered charitable and are focused on improving quality of life in Iowa communities. The County Endowment Fund is a state-funded program that provides financial assistance to a large number of Community Foundations or Community Affiliate Organizations around the state to support projects that are considered charitable and are focused on improving quality of life in Iowa communities. The dollars distributed in this program come from state's gaming tax revenues and are available on a yearly basis. Qualified community foundations that meet national standards for community foundations or a community affiliate organization that has affiliated with such a foundation administer these funds for their counties. As a vehicle for community-based philanthropy, the Foundation is dedicated to using its chartable resources in the most efficient and effective ways by making grants back to our community and county that address four key principles: Enriching the quality of life of all citizens, family and youth; Supporting the common good; Enhancing economic vitality; Advancing community betterment.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Qualified charities generally include organizations described in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code which are identified as 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organizations.To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes, and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. Charitable organizations include 501(c)(3) nonprofits, churches, hospitals, schools, governmental agencies. These organizations serve a public purpose for the benefit of the community.The Foundation is committed to the principles of good grant-making and due diligence that includes, but is not limited to, the following:Grants are only made for charitable purposes. Grants are only made to organizations that are in good financial health and well managed, and grants are only made for projects that are well conceived and likely to be successful. Grants are used by each grantee for the appropriate purposes as approved by the Foundation's Board of Directors.

Ineligibility

No benefits shall acrue from any grant to any staff member or staff member's family. Further, no benefit from any grant shall acrue any advisor, volunteer or donor who is involved in the grant review or recommendation of a grant. The Foundation will not consider grants to entities that are not qualified as charitable organizations or projects. The Foundation will not consider grants to individuals. The Foundation will not consider grants to organizations if any of the funds are used for a political campaign, or to support attempts to influence legislation of any governmental body other than through making available the results of non-partisan analysis, study and research.