News & Blog

  • 2024 Annual Report

    April 23, 2025

    2024 was a significant year for the Great Outdoors Foundation and its partners. To celebrate, we've captured some of the year's highlights [...]

  • RELEASE: Conservation Acceleration Fund Leverages $28 Million Via 2024 Projects

    April 7, 2025

    DES MOINES, IA (Apr. 7, 2025) – The Great Outdoors Foundation (GOF) is pleased to announce that the Conservation Acceleration Fund (CAF), [...]

  • MidAmerican Energy Company Regional Fund Grantee Profile: City of Windsor Heights

    March 17, 2025

    On February 17, the Great Outdoors Foundation announced that the City of Windsor Heights was selected as a grantee of the MidAmerican Energy Company Regional Fund, [...]

  • Walnut creek rendering

    RELEASE: MidAmerican Energy Regional Fund Grant Awarded to City of Windsor Heights

    February 17, 2025

    DES MOINES, IA (Feb. 17, 2025) – The Great Outdoors Foundation is pleased to announce that the MidAmerican Energy Regional Fund, a $5 [...]

  • Business Record Logo

    Business Record: 5 Des Moines Projects Receive Best Development Awards

    January 23, 2025

    Five Des Moines projects received a 2024 Best Development Award from 1000 Friends of Iowa during a ceremony at the Capitol this [...]

  • KJAN: 2025 Best Development Award Winners Announced

    January 22, 2025

    1000 Friends of Iowa has announced the winners of the 2024 Best Development Awards during a ceremony. The announcement took place this [...]

  • Gazette: Conservation Advocates Find ‘Radical Collaboration’ Gets Things Done

    January 12, 2025

    These examples of “radical collaboration” have led The Great Outdoors Foundation to launch an online directory that allows farmers and landowners to [...]

  • Celebrating 30 Years of the Great Outdoors Foundation

    January 10, 2025

    This piece originally ran in the January/February issue of dsm Magazine. Q: What is your anniversary or milestone? A: This year, [...]

  • Gazette: Heartland Co-Op, CoBank Partner on a Five-Year Sustainability-Linked Loan

    January 9, 2025

    In addition to consulting with the Environmental Defense Fund, the sustainability-linked loan was also supported by the Great Outdoors Foundation. The Great [...]

  • 2024 Year in Review

    December 30, 2024

    The past year has yielded a number of successes for the Great Outdoors Foundation as we advance conservation through innovation, collaboration, [...]

  • The True Impact of Conservation

    November 25, 2024

    As a fundraising organization, it’s easy to assess our value in terms of dollars and cents, which of course, are vital to [...]

  • A Recap of the 2024 Wild Prairie Showdown

    October 17, 2024

    The Great Outdoors Foundation and ICON Water Trails partnered again to hold the fourth annual Wild Prairie Showdown. With four esteemed individuals [...]