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Pathfinders – Services Offered

The services offered by Pathfinders RC&D are utilized by small businesses, cities, and non-profits to create and maintain vital functions of their operations.

Pathfinders helps Iowa’s communities by offering services to community groups, local governments, small businesses, and individuals.  Our involvement with partners varies from project to project. Some partnerships span several years and include ongoing collaborative work toward a shared vision or goal.  Other times our interaction is shorter in duration involving a simple contractual relationship to create a specific product or accomplish a defined task.

Fiscal Management

Some of the many services offered by Pathfinders are bookkeeping and fiscal management for groups and organizations. We can help you with financial administration for projects and organizations. We can serve as your fiscal agent, which means managing the finances for your organization. This can be helpful for projects or entities that are smaller in scope or primarily run by volunteers.

Grant Administration

Through our grant administration services, Pathfinders can take care of the paperwork details. Administration fees vary depending on the amount of time needed.

Pathfinders have administered several different grants including:

  • CDBG (Community Development Block Grants)
  • federal grants
  • state grants
  • private foundation grants

Grant Writing

We help tell your project’s story so funders can understand your vision and provide the support you need. We meet with you to understand the scope of your project and then write a grant to the criteria of the funding source.  We can also help identify grant funds that might be available to support your project. Pathfinders have more than a decade of experience researching and writing grants. We also have access to grant libraries and subscriptions to networks that post when new grants become available. Since 2006, Pathfinders staff has secured more than 100 grants ranging from a few hundred dollars for smaller projects to $1 million.

Project Development

Pathfinders offers project development services to help individuals and groups be successful in their community initiatives. We work collaboratively with you to help take a project to the next level. Whether through:

  • project planning
  • facilitated brainstorming
  • filing for 501C3 status
  • organizational assessment
  • or something else….

We are here to help you make your project a success!

Small Business Loans

Loans are available to small and emerging businesses located in 13 southeast Iowa counties: Appanoose, Davis, Des Moines, Henry, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe,Van Buren, and Wapello.

Loan Features

No application fee*

4% Interest (subject to change)

Maximum 10-year term

$5,000—$20,000 available per loan

Goals/Priorities for Loans

Loans will be given for the creation, retention, and expansion of small private business enterprises based on one or more of the following priorities:

  • Natural resource-based enterprises
  • Value-added agriculture enterprises
  • Enterprises providing needed facilities and services to low income, underemployed or elderly
  • Small commercial or retail business

Strategic Planning

Pathfinders provides strategic planning services for groups or organizations.

We work collaboratively with you to develop a planning process appropriate for your organization/project and that meets your needs, goals, and capacity. We can help you:

  • develop a vision, mission, and goals
  • create action plans with strategies and time-lines for your group or business
  • collect and analyze data for any type of plan
  • write watershed management plans

Portfolio

Pathfinders RC&D sets yearly priorities but is first and foremost responsibility to the needs of the communities we serve. Take a look below at a selection of some of our past projects:

We love to put what we’ve learned to use and we also love to learn new things. If you have a project idea but aren’t sure it fits with our organization, please don’t hesitate to contact any of our staff and have a conversation!

If you would like to work with us or learn more about our services offered, please contact us.