.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} The Iowa Environmental Council prides itself on providing service to its member organizations that they couldn’t perform on their own.

“We are the policy arm of 75 organizations,” said Susan Heathcote, water program director for the IEC. “And we bring together people from a very diverse background to work toward a common goal: to protect Iowa’s natural environment. It’s hard for a lot of our member organizations because they are mostly volunteers.”

Founded in 1994, the organization was formed as a way to ensure that environmental, energy and public health considerations were integral to the public policy decisions made in Iowa. It currently has 550 individual members and 75 member organizations representing around 80,000 people, Heathcote said.

“We provide a lot of expertise in a lot of areas,” said Linda Kinman, IEC’s board president. “We’ve built connections and partnerships through the years that help us work towards our goals.”

Mary Riggs Gelb, the organization’s executive director, said education is a huge part of what the IEC does.

“We help people understand what the issues are,” she said. “That is big.”

Heathcote said it takes a lot of resources to make sure research is done, facts are straight and everything is in order to make a presentation to the state. Its current annual budget is $400,000, with 60 percent of funding going into programs.

“We try to make them understand the cost of not doing something is greater than the upfront cost of doing it,” she said.

The IEC currently has five full-time and three part-time employees, as well as occasional contract workers for special issues. The organization recently hired Barbra Jotzke to act as development director in order to create a stable base of income.

“More funding means a broader scope of programs,” said Lynn Laws, communications director for the IEC.

There are issues the IEC has been working on for its entire existence, Heathcote said, showing that its staff looks at issues with an eye toward the big picture.

“We understand that real change comes slowly,” she said. “We’re in it for the long haul. We have the ability to compromise to get things done, knowing there is always room to come back to an issue. Public policy happens in steps.”

Jotzke said the organization is known and respected across the state, and if people want their money to have a positive impact on the environment, giving to the IEC is a safe bet.