Impact Grants

The Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine administers the Impact Grant program to support nonprofit organizations, schools, and government units working to enhance the quality of life in Muscatine County, Iowa. The program emphasizes funding initiatives with clear community benefits, measurable outcomes, and collaborative approaches, aiming to drive strategic advancement across key focus areas within the county. Applicants must serve populations or communities within Muscatine County but cannot be individuals or for-profit businesses directly applying for funding. A total of $196,988.27 is available through the 2025 Impact Granting cycle, with funds drawn from various designated and memorial funds. Each Impact Grant has a cap of $10,000 per program, and final reports are required within ten months of receiving the grant. The grantmaking encompasses several targeted funds, including the Mary Jo & Richard H. Stanley Human Conditions Support Fund, which allocates $50,000 for projects improving human conditions, and the County Endowment Re-Granting Program, offering $117,888.27 for diverse community initiatives aligned with arts, education, human service, culture, environment, heritage, and health. Other available funds include the Ray Hockersmith Fund for Disabled Children ($4,900), the Hilda E. Collitz Fund for Homeless ($7,300), the Karen and Greg Harper Endowment Fund ($1,500), the Joe W. and Betty L. Rauch Memorial Endowment Fund ($4,400), the George G. Millett Memorial Fund ($6,400), and the West Liberty Community Fund ($4,600), each with specific goals and regional priorities. These funds support a wide variety of projects from homelessness prevention to mental disability services, youth priorities, animal welfare, and live performance arts. The evaluation criteria for grant applications include five metrics: Community Benefit, Strategic Advancement, Measurable Impact, Collaboration, and Feasibility, each scored on a scale from 1 to 10. Based on the cumulative score, funding awards are determined proportionally, with full funding awarded to proposals scoring 90 percent or higher, and no funding granted for those scoring below 30 percent. Funding is distributed until all allocated resources are exhausted. Eligible applicants must demonstrate the capacity to execute and sustain their proposed projects. Applications must align with the stated focus areas of the respective funds and should detail the specific impact on Muscatine County residents. Notably, individual persons and for-profit businesses are not eligible to apply directly. For further inquiries or application support, interested parties should contact Rebecca Harden-Jones at programsmanager@givinggreater.org or call 563-264-3863.