A statewide organization created to help nonprofits across Iowa collaborate, network and advocate held its official launch Thursday.

The Iowa Nonprofit Alliance held a press conference in the morning at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines, followed by a statewide virtual launch on Zoom in the afternoon.

The afternoon session included comments from several of the organization’s board members speaking about the importance of nonprofits in Iowa having a unified, statewide voice.

Until Thursday, Iowa was one of just seven states not to have a statewide nonprofit organization, members of the alliance’s board said.

During the afternoon session, it was shared that there are 26,000 nonprofits registered in the state, employing about 11% of Iowa’s workforce, or about 150,000 people.

Julianne Gassman, the board’s chair and director and professor of the office of community engagement at the University of Northern Iowa, said the sector generates more than $20 billion in revenue each year, most of which is recycled back into their communities.

Iowans give about $7.2 billion to charity each year, and Iowa ranks No. 4 in the country for the number of people who volunteer annually, equaling about $1.3 billion in labor each year, Gassman said.

Emily Shields, a member of the Iowa Nonprofit Alliance’s board of directors and executive director of Community Colleges of Iowa, said her goal is for no nonprofit leader to have to struggle to find support.

“When you start at a nonprofit job, when you’re struggling, you know who your community is that you can find and go to support you and advocate with you,” she said during the afternoon session.

Shields said the idea of creating a statewide nonprofit organization dates back to 2004. Since then many groups and organizations have come together to create those opportunities, she said.

Things gradually came together in 2017 with focus groups at the Iowa Nonprofit Summit, and in 2019 funding was obtained to do a feasibility study, which involved discussions with more than 200 nonprofit professionals and asked questions about what a statewide nonprofit organization would do.

Over the past few years, a consultant was hired, a board was launched and the group got its nonprofit status.

Shields said the alliance now needs nonprofits to join and help shape the organization’s future.

“I hope you’ll think about joining and more importantly, helping shape this because we have spent a lot of time figuring out what this is, and we’re not there yet,” she said to those listening in on the call. “We’re at a launch and we’re at where it’s going to start, but what it becomes is really going to be up to all of you.”

Board member Ras Smith, director of community impact at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, said the Iowa Nonprofit Alliance “empowers nonprofits to educate lawmakers about Iowa’s nonprofit sector and our significant contributions to the economy and also building a strong community.”

“I truly believe a statewide collective helps amplify the voice of those who are doing the work to prop up our communities every day,” said Smith, a former state lawmaker. “We know this is key to having equity in policy, equity in services and a quality of life across the state for all Iowans.”

The Iowa Nonprofit Alliance received support from Alliant Energy and Delta Dental of Iowa.

Over the next few months, the alliance will hold training and information sessions, including a series looking at strategic planning for nonprofits and the role of a board chair. There will also be opportunities for networking and resource sharing.

Matt Unger, a member of the alliance’s board and CEO of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said the launch of the alliance was the end of one road and the beginning of another.

“The alliance is going to be as strong as the membership is,” he said. “This was built for the entire sector and it will not be as successful if your voices and your organizations are not a part of the road going forward.

“We cannot do this unless we all come together,” Unger said. “The alliance was not created to be a few voices. It was created to be all our voices across the sector, across the entire state, and all the subsectors of the nonprofit sector.”