Our mission is to educate, inform and engage residents throughout Western Iowa by supporting community journalism to ensure long-term access to accurate local news and investigative reporting.
 
 
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Overview

The Western Iowa Journalism Foundation (WIJF) believes that a robust and independent press is essential for a thriving democracy and is dedicated to supporting community-based news sources that provide professional journalism that informs, engages, and reflects the communities they serve. WIJF’s grant program is designed with this in mind.

For more detailed information, please download our comprehensive Grant Handbook. 

 

 

Guiding Principles

The Western Iowa Journalism Foundation (WIJF) is committed to being transparent, responsive, and collaborative in its grantmaking approach. 

WIJF’s grantmaking guiding principles are: 

  1. Promoting journalistic excellence: WIJF prioritizes projects that demonstrate a commitment to journalistic integrity, accuracy, and ethics. WIJF encourages innovative approaches to storytelling, investigative reporting, and community engagement. 

  2. Elevating underrepresented voices: WIJF values diversity, equity, and inclusion in newsrooms and news coverage. 

  3. Trust-based grantmaking: WIJF’s grant application process is transparent and WIJF’s grant making team is responsive to feedback. 

  4. Ensuring sustainability: WIJF seeks to support projects that demonstrate a commitment to long-term sustainability beyond the grant period. WIJF encourages grantees to explore diversified funding sources and revenue models. 

  5. Collaboration and knowledge sharing: WIJF values collaboration and encourages grantees to share knowledge and best practices with the broader journalism community. WIJF seeks opportunities to foster a network of collaboration among grantees. 

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Eligibility Criteria

WIJF grant funding is available to both non-profit and for-profit organizations, provided they are community-based news sources in western Iowa. Grantmaking does not include funding for:

  1. Individuals

  2. Endowments

  3. Organizations or projects that unlawfully discriminate with regard to employees, volunteers, delivery of programs or services, or clients served on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran.

  4. Any organization or project that is inconsistent with WIJF’s mission, vision, values, and strategic framework

  5. Any funding which does not directly support community journalism that ensures long-term access to accurate local news and investigative reporting throughout western Iowa

  6. Lobbying as defined by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), section 4945(d)(1)

  7. Activities supporting political candidates or voter registration drives, as defined in IRC section 4945(d)(2)

  8. Mere “pass-through” grants

 

 

Application

The Western Iowa Journalism Foundation offers grants to community-based news sources to support local news coverage and digital access that educates, informs, and connects residents throughout western Iowa. WIJF has worked to streamline and simplify the application process and make the selection criteria (found on page 7 of Grant Handbook) as transparent as possible.

An application for grant funding can be submitted at any time.
The application can be accessed here.

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Reporting Requirements

Detailed reporting on the part of grantees is essential to the continued success of WIJF’s grantmaking program. While grantees are invited to reach out to WIJF as frequently as possible with updates and questions, at minimum, WIJF requires narrative and financial interim reports after six months and a final report within 12 months after the date of the Grant Agreement. Failure to submit timely and complete interim reports as well as the final report could necessitate the partial or full refund of grant funds and/or disqualification from future grant applications, per the terms of the Grant Agreement. 

FAQ’s

  • A. Please submit grant applications online at https://www.westerniowajournalismfoundation.com/apply-for-funds

  • A. Grant applications are accepted on a rolling basis, unless otherwise indicated on WIJF’s website.

  • A. Proposed grant applications should clearly reflect WIJF’s mission statement. Project proposals should be detailed, project budgets clearly outlined and in line with your organization’s capacity, and clear evaluation methods and impact assessment strategies should be included.

  • A. While there is currently no cap to grant fund requests, please keep in mind your organization’s capacity to carry through projects for which grant funds are requested. Consider current staffing levels and workloads and their ability to sustain the project beyond the end of the Grant Term.

  • A. Grant projects should serve a documented community or internal need. WIJF offers grants to community-based news sources in western Iowa to support local news coverage and digital access.

  • A. At minimum, grantees are required to file narrative and financial reports within six months, as well as a final narrative and financial report within twelve months. Blank versions of these documents are attached at the end of this handbook.

  • A. Becky Vonnahme at director@westerniowajournalismfoundation.com

  • A. In addition to the grant application, WIJF may request all grant-seeking organizations’ articles of incorporation, bylaws, and most current biennial report. WIJF may investigate applicants’ financials, including recent tax returns, business and bank statements, and current and projected budgets. For a full breakdown of required documents according to applicant type, please see Grant Application and Evaluation in section III of this handbook. In addition, WIJF will conduct a website and social media review of all applicants.

  • A. If you would like to submit a letter of inquiry prior to submitting a grant application to assess whether your organization's project aligns with WIJF funding priorities, please email Becky Vonnahme (director@westerniowajournalismfoundation.com).

  • A. Grant recipients are chosen based on how well the intended project fits within WIJF’s mission statement, the recipient organization’s capacity to carry through the project, the project’s soundness and proposed budget, and the project’s potential impact to meet a community or internal need. The grant prospect decision matrix used to score these categories is attached at the end of this handbook.