Opportunity Overview
The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines is accepting Fall 2026 Letters of Intent for its Leadership Grant Program, funded through the Better Together Fund. Leadership Grants are intended to catalyze systems change or significantly influence community outcomes in Greater Des Moines. The Foundation identifies Advancing Community Health and Resilience as one of the program’s four grantmaking priorities, alongside housing and transportation, inclusive economic and workforce development, and a thriving and inclusive community.
Funding and Deadline
The Fall 2026 Letter of Intent is due October 1, 2026 at Noon. Finalists are expected to be notified around October 15, with finalist applications due November 6 at Noon, presentations November 18, and award notifications December 9. The controlling public materials state the clock times but do not publish a time zone, so Atlas does not infer one.
The Foundation does not publish a fixed request ceiling in the current Leadership Grant guidance. It states that prospective applicants should discuss the potential grant amount during the required pre-LOI conversation and notes that Leadership Grant investments have typically exceeded $100,000. That historical statement is not an applicant cap or guaranteed award amount.
Eligibility and Fit
The program is presented as a competitive grant program for nonprofit organizations serving Greater Des Moines. Potential applicants must explore project alignment with the Community Foundation’s Community Impact Team before submitting an LOI. Strong requests are expected to align with the Foundation’s grantmaking priorities and community plans, explain why the organization is uniquely positioned to address the issue, demonstrate potential for systems change or significant community outcomes, and describe anticipated outcomes, collaborations, partnerships, and inclusive engagement.
Ineligible projects identified in the current guidance include ongoing annual operating and program expenses, capital infrastructure projects that lack strong alignment with grantmaking priorities, and sectarian religious programs promoting a particular faith. The current public guidance does not state a mandatory applicant match or cost-share requirement.
Application Process
Before filing an LOI, a potential applicant is required to schedule and complete a Leadership Grant alignment conversation with the Community Impact Team. The Foundation encourages applicants to share a draft LOI before the deadline for feedback. The LOI is narrative-style and is submitted through the Foundation’s LOI Submission Form. Requested organizational and project information includes the organization’s Tax ID, mission, annual operating budget, executive or lead staff contact, project title and timeline, total project budget, requested amount, and grant contact information.
Atlas Assessment
Atlas Opportunity Score: 82/100. The explicit Community Health and Resilience priority makes this a relevant Greater Des Moines funding pathway for qualifying nonprofit healthcare, behavioral health, community health, maternal or pediatric health, school-health, and related organizations proposing a systems-level initiative rather than routine operating support.
N9+ Fit Score: 55/100 conditional. The program is not an equipment grant and the public guidance does not establish clinical technology allowability. A potential role for the Nonagon N9+ device and platform would need to be secondary to a legitimate systems-change or community-health initiative and should not be assumed until the Foundation confirms project and cost eligibility.
Dr. Miltie direct applicant fit: not established. The program is presented for nonprofit organizations, and current public guidance does not establish a direct for-profit applicant path for Dr. Miltie, LLC.
Outreach Posture
Publication does not authorize cold outreach. The official guidance publishes an October 1 deadline at Noon but does not state a time zone. Atlas therefore will not initiate new applicant outreach unless the exact deadline time zone is independently verified with the controlling source and all other contact, eligibility, and deduplication gates are satisfied.
Official Sources
Controlling sources are the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines Grantmaking page and the Foundation’s 2026 Leadership Grant Program guidelines. The guidelines list December 9 for awardee notification, while the current grantmaking page says approximately December 10; Atlas treats the program guidelines as controlling unless the Foundation issues an amendment. Last verified September 24, 2026.