Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines

Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines

The Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines was founded in 1969 to pool and steward charitable assets for the central Iowa region. President Kristi Knous leads the foundation, with investment oversight chaired by Fred S. Hubbell. The foundation aggregates donations from local families, businesses, and donors like Kyle J. Krause and Fred Hubbell himself, who participate through vehicles such as the Catalyst Circle. Its wealth originates from decades of community endowment aggregation rather than a single family's fortune. The foundation's portfolio spans venture capital, buyouts, real estate, natural resources, and special situations. It operates across the liquidity spectrum, from seed-stage startups to expansion-stage companies. The investment committee has constructed a hybrid program that blends direct co-investments with fund-of-fund commitments. Geographic exposure centers on Iowa and the broader Midwest, supported by agricultural land holdings in the state and real estate assets including the foundation's own campus on Grand Avenue and a mixed-use property on Ingersoll Avenue. The foundation has also established a cryptocurrency donation program, signaling openness to digital assets as a giving channel. Total deployment is not publicly disclosed. The foundation maintains a professional network across the Council on Foundations, the Iowa Council of Foundations, and CF Insights. Its real assets include commercial properties in Des Moines, agricultural land in Polk County, and community infrastructure projects like murals and public art. Recent operational activity includes the launch of the Caitlin Clark Foundation Fund, a donor-advised philanthropic vehicle tied to the basketball star's community efforts. The foundation's structural differentiator lies in its dual mandate: it functions simultaneously as a conventional grantmaker and as an institutional allocator managing a multi-asset portfolio. This hybrid posture, combined with its 55-year history in a single metro area, creates an unusual concentration of local market intelligence — it can identify real estate opportunities, invest in regional businesses, and engage in philanthropic grantmaking using the same community relationships.