State Department Resources
For Iowans seeking opportunities to help fund creative projects, build organizational capacity or develop local assets, this list of resources includes grant programs from a variety of departments associated with the State of Iowa.
Arts & Culture
Art Project Grants
Art Project Grants create opportunities for the arts to flourish in Iowa by investing in projects that are accessible to Iowans and positively impact the vitality of the arts in Iowa.
Arts Build Communities Grant
The Arts Build Communities Grant program supports an arts project that addresses a civic challenge facing your community.
Creative Places Project Grant
The Creative Places Project Grant supports small, collaborative projects in communities that are using creative placemaking as a job creation, talent attraction and retention, and/or tourism strategy.
Cultural Capacity Building Grant
The Cultural Capacity Building Grant program provides general operating support for nonprofit arts and culture organizations with budgets under $150,000.
Greenlight Grant
The Greenlight Grant program offers funds to support home-grown Iowa film and digital media productions that benefit Iowans and small businesses in the state.
Rural Innovation Grant
The Rural Innovation Grant program supports creative, non-traditional ideas that focus on current issues and challenges faced by rural communities associated with the themes of community investment, growth and connection. This program is a result of the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative’s 2018 Recommendations.
School Arts Experience Grant
The School Arts Experience Grant program provides support for fine arts activities, performances and educational content that expand learning opportunities for Iowa K-12 students.
Historic Fabric
Main Street Iowa
The Main Street Iowa program improves the social and economic well-being of Iowa's communities by helping communities capitalize on the unique identity, assets and character of their historic commercial district.
Historical Resource Development Program
The Historical Resource Development Program provides funding for documentary collections, historic preservation and museums. This program helps preserve, conserve, interpret, enhance and educate the public about Iowa’s historical assets.
National Trust Preservation Funds
National Trust Preservation Funds are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by providing funds for preservation projects.
Housing Options
Housing Tax Credit Program
The Housing Tax Credit Program encourages property owners to invest in the development of rental housing for individuals and families with fixed or limited incomes.
Rural Housing Assessment Grant
The Rural Housing Assessment Grant program supports the use of publicly available, online information through the “Profile of Iowa” tool and rural community efforts to interpret publicly available hard data to implement changes through development codes, local ordinances and housing incentives specific to individual community needs. This program is a result of the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative’s 2018 Recommendations.
Natural Environment
Resource Enhancement and Protection
The Resource Enhancement and Protection program improves the quality of life for all Iowans with better soil and water quality, added outdoor recreation opportunities, sustained economic development, enhanced knowledge and understanding of our ecological and environmental assets and historic preservation.
Land and Water Conservation Fund
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a federally funded grant program that matches up to 50% of the cost for outdoor recreation and land acquisition. This grant is available for Iowa's cities and counties where it provides the chance for communities to increase their outdoor recreation resources.
Derelict Building Grant Program
The Derelict Building Grant Program provides cash-match funding to rural communities for removal of environmental hazards posed by abandoned commercial and public buildings. Funding targets asbestos inspections, abatements, deconstruction, and renovation activities.
Recreational Trails Program
The Recreational Trails Program provides funds to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail use.
Tourism
Destination Iowa
The Destination Iowa program creates and invests in attractions that aim to raise Iowa’s profile, welcome out-of-state travelers and increase visitor spending while accelerating tourism’s recovery. It's also designed to spur local economies and help recruit new members of Iowa’s workforce.
Iowa Tourism Grant Program
The Iowa Tourism Grant Program promotes tourism in Iowa by funding tourism-related marketing initiatives and meetings, events and professional development efforts that benefit both local economies around the state and the state's economy.
Community Attraction and Tourism Fund
The Community Attraction and Tourism Fund provides assistance for projects that create recreational, cultural, entertainment and educational attractions to increase tourism.
Architecture
Country School Grant Program
Country School Grants assist in the preservation and maintenance of one-room or two-room country schools in Iowa. In addition to preservation efforts, grant funds may be used for historical interpretation or educational activities relating to the school.
State and Federal Historic Tax Incentives
Tax incentive programs are available to encourage the reuse of historic properties, while retaining historic character-defining features.