About Otto Schoitz Foundation
The Otto Schoitz Foundation concentrates its giving in the Waterloo/Cedar Valley region, funding a small number of local organizations with large, often multi-year or repeat grants. Its support prioritizes direct human services—particularly domestic violence/survivor services, community health and behavioral health access, affordable housing, and faith-based community development—frequently providing capital and operating support to strengthen facilities and program delivery. Grants tend to be sizable and strategic, aimed at building organizational capacity and infrastructure rather than one-off events.
Focus Areas
Domestic violence and survivor services (Waterloo/Cedar Valley)Community health clinics and integrated behavioral health (clinic capital and CCBHC expansion)Affordable homeownership and housing rehabilitation (Habitat for Humanity projects)Faith-based community development and emergency assistance (House of Hope–style organizations)Local higher-education capital for workforce and community college infrastructure
Giving Approach
Concentrated, large grants to a small set of local grantees with several repeat recipients; mix of capital, operating, and programmatic support aimed at organizational capacity and infrastructure rather than broad national funding.
About Otto Schoitz Foundation
A defining feature of the Otto Schoitz Foundation is its sustained backing for local human-services organizations in Waterloo and the Cedar Valley, including repeated support for Friends of the Family, House of Hope, and community health providers. The foundation’s recent giving shows a clear preference for organizations that deliver direct services and strengthen local infrastructure, often through operating, capital, and programmatic support in the same relationship. That pattern points to a funder interested in both immediate service delivery and the facilities or systems those services depend on. Across its recent grants, the foundation has supported domestic violence and survivor services, community health and behavioral health access, housing stability, and community development. Some grants are tied to facility improvements, while others support ongoing programming or general organizational needs. The result is a portfolio centered on essential local institutions rather than a wide spread of short-term projects. Its recent grantees also show repeat engagement with the same nonprofits over multiple years, including Friends of the Family, Peoples Community Health Clinic, Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, and Christian Community Development dba House of Hope. That repetition suggests ongoing relationships with organizations that play a central role in Cedar Valley services.
What Otto Schoitz Foundation Funds
Domestic violence and survivor services are a clear priority. In 2024, the foundation gave $736,110 to Friends of the Family for programmatic support, then added $572,923 in 2025 for the same purpose; it also backed Cedar Valley Friends of the Family with $75,000 in operating support in 2025. Community health and behavioral health access is another strong line of giving. Peoples Community Health Clinic received $375,000 in 2023, $375,000 in 2024, and $250,000 in 2025, all for capital support. Elevate CCBHC also received capital support, including $487,500 in 2023 and $162,500 in 2024. Housing and community stability appear through Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, which received programmatic support in 2024 and 2025. The foundation also funded broader community-serving institutions such as Successlink, which received $236,615 in 2023 for programmatic and operating support and $90,000 in 2025 for operating support.
How Otto Schoitz Foundation Gives
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$4M
Total Assets
$74.4M
Total Revenue
$1.2M
Total Expenses
$4.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $12K and $50K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$12K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local3 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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