Iowa Tourism Grants

Application deadline is 4:00 p.m. on
Friday, September 29, 2023

Complete the entire application.

Incomplete applications are ineligible for funding.

Make sure to save your application often as your internet browser can timeout and you will lose your progress. Do not refresh the webpage while working as your progress will be lost.

Questions do not have the required field marked in order to allow applicants to look through the full application. Double-check to make sure all questions and uploads have been provided before the application deadline.

Contact Lora Friest with questions: lora.friest@iowaeda.com or 515.348.6254

Program Overview

The Iowa Tourism Grant (ITG) program promotes tourism in Iowa by funding tourism-related marketing initiatives, events and meetings that benefit both local economies and the state's economy. Applications are available annually, and preference will be given to those that support the overall marketing plan of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) in terms of its target audiences and messaging.

 

IEDA/Iowa Tourism Office Marketing Plan

When people from other states see Iowa on TV or online, they want to visit. When they visit, they are more likely to stay. This is why IEDA’s visitor and talent attraction strategies fit hand in glove through its This is Iowa initiative.

IEDA’s marketing is helping Iowa address one of its major challenges: population. Slow population growth has not kept pace with a wave of retiring Baby Boomers. The state must attract more people – visitors and residents – from other states.

This is Iowa was built on a significant research study, with two key findings:

1. Most people simply don’t know enough about the state to form an accurate opinion.
2. Tourism is critical: two-thirds of U.S. adults say they have seriously considered moving somewhere after visiting.

Following a pandemic-fueled pause in out-of-state marketing, IEDA leveraged a one-time infusion of federal COVID-19 recovery funds in FY2022 to take its marketing to places it had never been, including:

• Introducing Iowa to the nation for the first time through a national television ad that gave viewers a glimpse of Iowa’s beauty and lifestyle.
• A tourism campaign that showcases the state from an entirely fresh perspective – that of a drone camera – and sets Iowa’s tourism efforts apart from others.
• Investing in more everyday marketing tools that Iowa needs to stay competitive, including a refreshed digital presence and an inventory of photography and video that brings Iowa to life for prospective visitors.

Results show the investment is paying off: About one-quarter of U.S. travelers and one-third of U.S. job seekers saw Iowa advertising in the first half of 2022, according to a survey. Of those, 80% of travelers and 83% of job seekers said the advertising made them more likely to consider Iowa.

 

IEDA/Iowa Tourism Office Target Audiences

Primary Target: Adults in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Secondary Target: Adults in Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Texas with ties to Iowa.

Tertiary Target: Adults living in-state.

Research shows that people within different age groups have different priorities and different media consumption preferences. Consideration of these priorities and consumption preferences has been proven to increase marketing success.

• Young adults (Gen Z and Millennials ages 22-29) are looking to start and/or grow a career and gain new experiences. They are tech inate, use multiple screens, communicate with text and images.
• Young families (Millennials and Gen X ages 30-39) want to make family memories and discover a work/life balance. They enjoy traditional media but access it differently (e.g., podcasts, Hulu)
• Middle-aged adults (Gen X and Boomers ages 40-55) with disposable income who may recommend Iowa to younger generations are most likely to use Facebook as their go-to social media outlet.

 

IEDA/Iowa Tourism Office Messaging

• Affordability of travel and cost of living/doing business
• Economic viability of communities and careers
• Natural beauty for visiting and quality of life
• Culture and lifestyle from art to festivals, breweries and restaurants

 

Read an overview of IEDA’s marketing plan here.

Eligibility

Applicants must be a tourism-related entity based in Iowa. This includes nonprofits, for-profits, cities, counties and regional government and planning entities.

Applicants may submit one application per funding cycle. The same project cannot receive funding from the ITG program two years in a row.

Funding

Minimum grant request:  $2,500

Maximum grant request:  $10,000

• All funds requested must be whole numbers between $2,500 to $10,000 and be in increments of $100. (i.e. $2,500; $2,600; $2,700; etc.)

Application Requirements

Each application must contain the following:

• Applicant name, address, email, phone number, contact person and federal identification number
• Description of how the application supports IEDA’s marketing plan
• Selection of the primary focus of the project
  • Advertising (i.e., purchasing spots for radio, TV, billboard, newspaper, social media, etc.)
  • Print production (i.e., signage, postcards, print advertisements, etc.)
  • Multimedia production (i.e., video, podcasts, animation graphics, etc.)
  • Event or meeting
• Selection of the IEDA Target Audience(s) the project aligns with
• Selection of the IEDA message the project aligns with
• Documentation that the grant request is consistent with the cost of implementing the project, which includes up to date vendor quotes, bids, advertising rate sheets and invoices (must total at least the grant amount request plus the cash match)
• Written documentation establishing the amount and source of the required 25 percent cash match
• Completed Minority Impact Statement Form and W9 (both found on the ITG website)
• Description of the plan to recognize IEDA/Iowa Tourism Office for its investment in the project (Travel Iowa credit language and logos are at traveliowa.com/logos)
• Applicants that are an event, attraction, restaurant or lodging facility must have an updated listing on traveliowa.com. If you are a new listing or event, you will need to wait until the launch of the new traveliowa.com in September.

 

Eligible Expenses

All project expenses (grant request plus cash match) must directly relate to the implementation of a tourism-related marketing initiative, event or meeting and be incurred within the calendar year (January 2024 – December 2024). Examples of eligible expenses include:

• Costs associated with executing marketing tactics and strategies, including planning, design and production of advertising, print materials, digital tools and exhibits for consumer-focused tradeshows
• Payments to speakers or entertainers, venue rental and equipment rental for tourism-related educational events or meetings

Any expense that doesn’t directly relate to the project is ineligible for funding. Examples include:

• Staff salaries and wages
• Vertical infrastructure
• Equipment and software
• Postage
• Marketing programs already subsidized by the Iowa Tourism Office
• All travel, meal and lodging costs of staff and contractors
• Alcoholic beverages
• Solicitation efforts
• Lobbying fees
• Projects that receive funding from the Regional Sports Authority District or Meet in Iowa programs
• Prizes given to participants or attendees

Scoring Criteria

Eligible applications receive a score between zero and 100 points:

• Project Information - 20 points
• Economic Impact & Ability to Promote Tourism Industry Growth - 20 points
• Innovation - 20 points
• Need - 15 points
• Sustainability - 10 points
• Budget - 10 points
• Collaboration - 5 points

Complete the entire application. Incomplete applications are ineligible for funding.

By clicking Save/Submit you will receive an email of your application. The email will provide a link to return to your application to make edits. You may make edits until the application deadline.

Applications will be scored based on the following criteria. Please refer to guidelines for information that should be included under each criteria.

Complete the entire application. Incomplete applications are ineligible for funding.

By clicking Save/Submit you will receive an email of your submission of the application. The email will provide a link for you to be able to come back to your application to make edits. You will have until the application deadline to make edits.

Complete the entire application. Incomplete applications are ineligible for funding.

In the budget table below, list all eligible expenses that are part of the grant request. Add additional lines as necessary. Only include expenses that will be paid with grant funds and the cash match. In the "Request" column please ONLY PLACE WHOLE DOLLAR AMOUNTS AND IN INCREMENTS OF $100. This may mean you will need to round up based on the quote you received.

 

By clicking Save/Submit you will receive an email of your submission of the application. The email will provide a link for you to be able to come back to your application to make edits. You will have until the application deadline to make edits.

Complete the entire application. Incomplete applications are ineligible for funding.

You will need to download both forms from the Iowa Tourism Grant's webpage. Complete the forms and save them as PDFs to upload to this portion of the application.

By clicking Submit you will receive an email of your submission of the application. The email will provide a link for you to be able to come back to your application to make edits. You will have until the application deadline to make edits.