OVERVIEW: The Principal Financial makes grants in the areas of work and opportunity, housing and education. This corporate funder supports many local chapters of the United Way and prioritizes the greater Des Moines area of Iowa.
IP TAKE: This corporate funder supports financial education and vocational training programs offered by regional chapters of the United Way. Other areas of grantmaking interest include affordable housing, transitional housing, education and arts and culture organizations in the Des Moines area.
This funder does not accept unsolicited grant applications, but organizations working in the foundation’s areas of interest, especially those operating in the greater Des Moines area, may contact Mandi McReynolds, Principal Financial’s ESG director, for additional information about grantmaking opportunities.
PROFILE: Established in 1988, the Principal Financial Foundation is the charitable arm of Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 insurance and investment firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. The foundation operates by “targeting our contributions toward entities that have the greatest impact on our employees and marketers, customers, shareholders and businesses” and makes grants supporting work and opportunity, housing, education and the greater Des Moines area. More than half of this foundation’s philanthropy goes to programs run by regional chapters of the United Way. Principal Financial’s corporate website offers scant information about its grantmaking, limiting information about the foundation’s specific priorities.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
The Principal Financial Foundation does not outline specific goals for its economic opportunity funding. In recent years, it has supported financial counseling and vocational education programs run by chapters of the United Way in Des Moines, Iowa; Alexandria, Virginia; Los Angeles, California and Naples, Florida. Other work and opportunity grantees include financial counseling and vocational programs run by Iowa’s Beacon of Life, an organization that works with recovering addicts, and Children and Families of Iowa, which offers a variety of services to at-risk families and maintains offices throughout the state.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
The foundation’s housing grants mainly go to chapters of the United Way, but organizations that work in affordable and transitional housing in the Des Moines area have also received grants in recent years. These include the Polk County Housing Trust, Hawthorne Hill Housing and shelters run by Youth Homes of Mid-America, which offers transitional housing and independent living programs to troubled youth in the state of Iowa.
Grants for Education
The Principal Financial Foundation’s main education recipient is Iowa State University, which has received ongoing support in recent years. The foundation has also given to Drake University and out-of-school learning programs in the Des Moines area including the Science Center of Iowa and local chapters of Boys and Girls Clubs.
Other Grantmaking:
Principal Financial supports several cultural organizations in the Des Moines area. Past grantees include the Des Moines Art Center, the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, the Des Moines Symphony, Ballet Theater of Des Moines, the Blank Park Zoo and Living History Farms of Urbandale, Iowa.
Important Grant Details:
Over the past several years, this funder has made an average of about $10 million in grants a year. Grants have been as high as $700,000, but the average grant size is about $10,000. More than half of all grants go to regional chapters of the United Way, and the greater Des Moines area is a clear geographic priority. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.
This foundation runs three yearly grant cycles, with application due dates on the 15th of March, June and September. Application is by invitation only. The foundation’s point of contact, Mandi McReynolds, can be reached via email or telephone at 515-247-7227.
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