The University of Iowa Libraries

Established in 1994, the Iowa Women´s Foundation (IWF) is a statewide, public, non-profit foundation managed by women. The IWF raises funds through contributions from individuals, organizations and corporations. The Foundation´s fundraising is based on the belief that everyone, regardless of their economic position in society, can be a philanthropist. The IWF awards grants to innovative programs that expand and improve the opportunities for women and girls in Iowa. The IWF is particularly interested in providing funding and technical assistance to programs that promote social, economic, political and cultural self-sufficiency for women and girls of diverse backgrounds in rural and urban Iowa. Previous grant recipients include: Domestic Abuses Resources of Mahaska County; Indian Youth of America, Sioux City; Metro Women´s Project, Cedar Rapids; and the Latina Outreach Project, Ottumwa.

The Iowa Women's Foundation records date from 1990 to 2003 and measure 10 linear inches. The records are arranged in five series: Administration,Committees, Financial, General information, and Grants.

The Administration series contains the foundation's by-laws, its mission statement, rosters, a list of its charter members and contributors, correspondence, press releases, copies of the foundation's newsletters and flyers, and brochures for workshops and benefits the IWF sponsored. Minutes and information from meetings at-large, executive committee meetings, regional planning sessions and some local committees are placed together in chronological order. The Administration series also contains the IWF's strategic plan for 1996 and annual summaries of the foundation's endeavors for 1994 through 1996.

The Committees series contains several committee reports written between 1994 and 1996. Most of these reports are copies of reports that were submitted to the executive committee and may also be found in themeetings folders of the Administration series. The Committee series also contains papers specific to the finance,planning and steering committees. These papers include some correspondence, project planning, and notes pertaining to each committee individually.

The Financial series consists of the treasurer's report for 1995, a detailed list of expenditures for the first fiscal year of operations (1994), and IWF budgetsfor 1997 and 1998. The financial series also contains brochures, flyers and detailed notes and information regarding fundraising projects and campaigns.

The General information series contains articles and collected materials regarding other women's foundations and funds in the United States. Additionally the general information series contains articles regarding women's philanthropy in the U.S. Also in the series is a packet of Iowa Sesquicentennial information.

The Grants series includes flyers and programs for the annual awards luncheons held bythe IWF, guidelines for applying for an IWF grant, and descriptions of IWF grant recipients from 1996-2001.

Access: The records are open for research.

Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.

Acquisition: The records (donor no. 373) were donated by the Iowa Women's Foundation in 1996 and subsequent years.

Preferred Citation: Iowa Women's Foundation records, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

Repository:	Iowa Women's Archives
Address:	100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5068
Curator:	Kären Mason
Email:	lib-women@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Corporate Names:
Iowa Women's Foundation

Dates:
1990-1999
2000-2009

Topics:
Women
Girls
Social service
Endowments
Women in nonprofit organizations
Women in public life
Fund raising

Occupations:
Philanthropists

Geographic Names:
Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Administrative records
Archives
Financial records

Browse:
Women's Clubs and Organizations