Grant Overview

Our grants are not just checks, not just points on a map.

Our grants are lifelines, connecting individual donors with individual men, women, children, families striving for a better life. These connections stretch across history, so that a visionary donor of yesterday is providing food, shelter or health care for a Chicagoan today.

What We Fund

The Trust awards competitive grants for general operating support, as well as responsive grants to address specific community needs or opportunities. As these responsive grant opportunities arise, RFPs will be created and shared here.

In addition to our own competitive grants, we also house many special initiatives that retain their unique identity through independent grant making.

What is open right now?

There are currently no grant programs accepting applications.

If you are a Chicago-area nonprofit, the best way to stay informed is to create an account in GrantCentral, where you can receive notifications as any future grant opportunities relevant to your work become available.

• GO Grants

  Launched in 2016, the General Operating Grants (GO Grants) program streamlined the funding process for our nonprofit partners. Instead of funding a specific program with defined outcomes, this pilot program provided renewable support to help sustain the nonprofits addressing chronic needs or providing critical services in our community.

  As the three-year pilot program sunsets, all 200 of our participating partner organizations are receiving an additional year of exit funding in 2019. Exit funding grants are half the amount of the grants each organizations received throughout the pilot. This additional support is designed not only to express our continuing appreciation, but to provide resilience and continuity during the time of transition ahead.

  After a comprehensive review of our strategic priorities, the Trust’s board and staff have developed a new strategic vision to guide our work for the next 10 years. New grant making programs will be developed during 2019, and shared here once funding opportunities become available.

• Partnerships and Initiatives

  The Trust has created many special affiliated funds and working partnerships, in order to creatively and collaboratively tackle issues of special concern. Find out about the grants offered by:

  African American Legacy

  Arts Work Fund

  Asian Giving Circle

  Get IN Chicago

  LGBT Community Fund

  Nuestro Futuro

  Food:Land:Opportunity

  Pillars Fund

  Springboard Foundation

  The Community Foundation for McHenry County

  The Community Foundation of Will County

  The Lake County Community Foundation

  Young Leaders Fund

• Fellowships and Scholarships

  These specific funding opportunities help to support individuals in their development as professionals and as leaders for our region.

  The McHenry County Community Foundation

  The Searle Scholars Program

  The Monash/Scott Scholarship Medical Student Scholarship Program

• Sponsorships

  The Trust has a small budget dedicated to sponsoring nonprofit conferences and similar programs with an educational focus. Find complete details of our sponsorship opportunities and how to apply

Who is Eligible?

The Trust awards grants to organizations whose work is consistent with our mission and our current priorities.

• Eligibility Requirements

  The Trust funds nonprofit agencies with evidence of tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that are not classified as private foundations. The Trust also accepts applications from agencies that have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor.

  Each grant opportunity will have its own additional criteria for funding.

  As a community foundation, the Trust’s grants are awarded to programs that benefit residents of the Chicago region. Only a few specific partnerships or initiatives may award grants to projects extend beyond our region.

• Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

  The mission of The Chicago Community Trust is to improve the lives of the people in metropolitan Chicago. We believe that the diversity of our community is a fundamental strength of our region. Our mission is best fulfilled when we embrace diversity as a value and a practice.

  We maintain that achieving diversity requires an enduring commitment to inclusion that must find full expression in our organizational culture, values, norms and behaviors.

  Throughout our work, we will support diversity in all of its forms, encompassing but not limited to age, disability status, economic circumstance, ethnicity, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation.

  Leading by example we aspire to make diversity a core and abiding strength of the nonprofit sector.

  The Trust believes that the board and staff composition of grant recipients should reflect the diversity and demographics of the community being served, and include diversity among its leadership at the board and senior staff levels to ensure the diverse perspectives needed at these decision-making levels.

  Specifically, we require all grant applicants either to adopt the Trust’s Diversity Statement, above, or to have a similar policy adopted by their boards. In addition, the Trust asks that applicants provide demographic data on board and staff as well as clients/beneficiaries. Applicants are encouraged to provide a rationale or action plan to address lack of diversity in their organization. In aggregate form these data provide an important profile of minority inclusion in the nonprofit sector.

Apply

Learn how to connect with funding that meets your needs.

• GrantCentral

  We post all open funding opportunities in GrantCentral, the online grants management system. By creating an account, you can research available grants, and sign up to receive alerts for future grants as well as events and other opportunities. Create an account now to get started.

• Partnerships and Initiatives

  You can apply for almost all of the Trust’s funding opportunities right in GrantCentral. Please see the initiative’s own website to apply for grants from:

  Pillars Fund

  Springboard Foundation

• Fellowships and Scholarships

  For the Searle Scholars Program, apply through the program’s website at searlescholars.net

  For the Monash/Scott Scholarship Medical Student Scholarship Program, please contact National Medical Fellowships for application details.

  For the McHenry County Community Foundation, apply through the Foundation website.

Working in Partnership

The Trust strives to provide outstanding service to grant recipients, working in collaboration throughout the duration of their funding, and beyond.

• Reporting and Renewal

  Grant recipients are required to complete final reports that reflect on their progress towards the outcomes targeted in the grant proposal. Through these reports, both the Trust staff and the organization are able to gather valuable feedback and knowledge that can inform future work. We do not share this information with any other organization or funder.

  For all grants originating in GrantCentral, reports can be completed right in GrantCentral.

  African American Legacy grants: use this AAL grant report template.

  Nuestro Futuro grants: use this NF grant report template.

• Publicizing Your Grant

  When news of your grant from The Chicago Community Trust is publicized, the benefits are widespread. Your organization receives attention and acclaim for the important work you do, which can spark the interest of other supporters. In addition, the recognition of the Trust and our donors can inspire more charitable giving in Chicago.

  If you’d like to publicize your grant from the Trust, please contact us for the right language to use to describe the grant. If you’d like to include the Trust’s logo, we can provide that too.

  When you contact us, we will ask for your grant ID number. Our grants come from many different funds, with different language used to acknowledge each grant based on its source, and your grant ID number will help us supply you with the right publicity tools.

  Once you’ve drafted a communication about the grant, it must be reviewed and approved by The Chicago Community Trust at least five business days before distribution.

  For all these publicity needs, please contact Elizabeth Weber at eweber@cct.org.

• Help and Contact

  For questions about the Trust’s grant making, take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions.

  For assistance with your grant proposal, please contact grants@cct.org.

  If you need help while working in GrantCentral, you’ll find resources in the Help section at the upper right of the screen, as well as a Contact Us button on every page to get your questions answered.

• About Donor Advised Grants

  The Trust serves many generous individuals, families and corporations who manage their charitable giving through donor advised funds. Grants from these funds are made at the donors’ recommendation, supporting their own philanthropic causes. There is no application process, and donor advised funds are not open to requests for funding.

Upon submission, all requests for funding, including proposals and any supporting materials, become the sole property of The Chicago Community Trust and will not be returned. The Chicago Community Trust reserves the right to reject any request for funding without explanation.