Principal Financial Group Foundation Inc.

Principal Financial Group Foundation Inc. operates as a relationship-driven, invite-only grantmaker anchored in a single overarching thesis: helping people pursue financial security. Led by Director Jo Christine Miles, the foundation views financial barriers as systemic challenges requiring access to resources, education, and financial tools — language that should inform every applicant's framing from the first outreach email onward.

The foundation targets public charities in communities where Principal Financial Group employees live and work. Des Moines, Iowa is the epicenter, but the portfolio extends to a global network of 140+ organizations across 25 countries and territories, making geography both the clearest entry point and an expansive potential canvas. Iowa-based nonprofits hold an advantage through proximity to the foundation's headquarters and staff at 711 High St., Des Moines.

First-time applicants must understand that there is no open application portal and no rolling deadline. The foundation runs one grant cycle every spring, and organizations must be invited to participate. The formal entry point is a brief outreach email — under 300 words — sent to foundation@principal.com, describing your work and offering a contact for further conversation. The foundation conducts its own proactive research, but this email pathway is explicitly sanctioned and encouraged.

The grantee portfolio reveals a preference for established organizations with programmatic track records. The 10-year Youth Learning and Engagement Initiative with the Des Moines Art Center, $35,000 to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, $30,000 to the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, $20,000 to Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa, and $1 million to Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund together demonstrate comfort operating at multiple scales — from local civic anchors to national intermediaries — provided mission alignment is clear and organizational finances are sound.

The 30% budget rule is the most operationally significant constraint applicants face: no grant request may exceed 30% of the applicant organization's annual operating budget. This screens out very small nonprofits seeking transformational single awards and encourages requests proportional to organizational capacity and stability.

Principal Financial Group Foundation has roughly doubled its annual grantmaking over the past five years. Total giving rose from $10.6M in FY2019 and $9.6M in FY2020, to $12.2M in FY2021, then jumped to $17.7M in FY2022 and $17.6M in FY2023. Grants paid on a cash basis followed a similar trajectory: $8.6M (FY2020), $10.4M (FY2021), $15.4M (FY2022), and $15.0M (FY2023). The gap between total giving and grants paid in each year reflects accrual timing and multi-year pledge payments rather than overhead, since officer compensation has remained modest — ranging from $84,923 to $112,000 annually across the period.

Foundation assets have held steady in the $189M–$218M range since FY2019. Net investment income generates $7.3M–$8.1M annually in recent years. The foundation drew down assets from a peak of $217.7M in FY2021 to $189.6M in FY2023 to fund its expanded giving, before recovering to $204M by FY2024 — indicating a deliberate decision to increase payout ratios rather than a passive asset shift.

Individual grant sizes span a wide range. Representative local community awards run $10,000–$50,000: $35,000 to Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, $30,000 to Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, $20,000 to Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa. National and international intermediaries have received $1 million awards (World Central Kitchen for restaurant-prepared meals, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund for small business counseling), while specialized global partners like Aidha received $75,000. A likely median community grant falls in the $15,000–$35,000 range.

By program area, financial security and inclusion is the dominant and fastest-growing category, followed by arts and culture, education, community development, disaster relief, and STEM. The foundation's IRS filings aggregate Iowa grants as 7 recipients totaling $83.9M across multiple years — a multi-year average relationship value of ~$12M per major recipient — underscoring that the foundation prizes depth of partnership over breadth of grantee count.

The table below compares Principal Financial Group Foundation to three peer corporate foundations in the financial services and Midwestern sectors.

Principal Financial Group Foundation stands out within this peer group for having one of the largest asset bases among mid-tier corporate foundations — $204M — while maintaining a strictly invite-only, relationship-based model more typical of private independent foundations than accessible corporate grantmakers. Nationwide Foundation and Wells Fargo operate with far higher payout rates relative to assets and offer more accessible application channels, making them better first-contact targets for organizations new to corporate philanthropy. Principal Foundation's concentrated single spring cycle, strong geographic affinity for Principal employee communities, and explicit youth-and-financial-security thesis create a narrower but deeply valuable opportunity for organizations willing to invest in relationship cultivation. The foundation's reach across 25 countries is an underappreciated differentiator that most domestic corporate foundation peers cannot match at comparable scale.

The most significant recent development came in December 2025, when Principal Foundation launched its inaugural Principal Financial Network Community Service Awards, distributing $205,000 across more than 15 nonprofit organizations. The program honored Principal Financial Network advisors — independent professionals in the Principal distribution system — who demonstrated exceptional community service through long-term volunteerism. This new awards channel creates a secondary pathway to foundation funding for nonprofits with existing relationships with Principal advisors, separate from the standard invite-only grant process.

In March 2025, Director Jo Christine Miles announced an expanded partnership with the Des Moines Art Center: a general operations grant extending free admission through 2025 and funding the MyVoice youth art mentorship program, embedded within a 10-year Youth Learning and Engagement Initiative. Miles stated that 'arts education is essential for our youth' — a quote that signals arts organizations serving young people remain central to the foundation's community strategy even as financial security dominates the portfolio.

In May 2023, Principal Foundation announced it had exceeded its two-year $30 million investment goal, reaching over 8 million people globally. Major awards during that period included a $1 million grant to World Central Kitchen and a $1 million grant to Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund for small business financial counseling services. The foundation also partnered with WeAreTeachers on a financial literacy initiative for U.S. K-12 educators. No senior leadership changes or organizational restructuring have been reported for 2025-2026. The foundation's goal to reach one million people with financial resources by 2030 remains an active strategic benchmark.

Entry point is email, not a portal. All grant programs are invite-only with no public application form. The only sanctioned first step is emailing foundation@principal.com with a brief organizational overview under 300 words, plus a contact person's name and email for a potential follow-up meeting. This email should never be generic — reference the specific financial security barrier your organization addresses and the demographic (ideally youth 15-30) you serve.

Geography is a qualifying filter, not just a preference. The foundation explicitly targets communities where Principal Financial Group employees live and work. Des Moines metro organizations hold the clearest advantage. Outside Iowa, consider whether your city hosts a Principal regional office or significant advisor network before investing in an outreach campaign.

Use the foundation's own vocabulary. Director Jo Christine Miles consistently uses phrases like 'financial wherewithal,' 'financial enablement,' and 'building people's wherewithal to pursue financial security.' Applications and outreach emails that mirror this language — rather than generic nonprofit-speak — demonstrate genuine philosophical alignment rather than surface-level grant-chasing.

The 30% budget cap is non-negotiable. Before drafting any request, divide your proposed ask by your organization's total annual operating budget. If the result exceeds 0.30, revise the request downward or structure a multi-year phased approach. Organizations with annual budgets under $100,000 should not request more than $30,000.

Timing around the spring cycle is strategic. The foundation runs one grant cycle annually in spring. Relationship-building outreach sent in September–November positions your organization for consideration before the internal review season. Avoid cold contact in January–March when spring cycle planning is likely already underway.

Long-term partnership framing wins. The Des Moines Art Center's 10-year initiative and the foundation's consistently high multi-year relationship values both signal that sustained partnerships are the preferred model. Frame initial proposals as the beginning of a long-term collaboration — include a brief multi-year vision even in early conversations — rather than positioning your ask as a one-time project grant.