Skokie Community Foundation Grant Program

The Skokie Community Foundation (SCF) grant program aims to invest in organizations and projects that significantly benefit Skokie residents and strengthen the community, extending impact beyond the grant period. This aligns with SCF's broader mission to foster a supportive, engaged, and dynamic community in Skokie through meaningful giving, collaboration, and community programming. The foundation's strategic priority is to create lasting positive change by supporting initiatives that address identified needs within the community and demonstrate a clear path to impact. The target beneficiaries are primarily Skokie residents, with a specific focus on projects where the majority of those benefiting reside in Skokie. The program's impact goals include strengthening the community, breaking down barriers, building relationships, and working towards unity and mutual respect and understanding within Skokie's diverse population. SCF supports projects that contribute to population and systems-level change, seeking to advance equity through collaborative efforts. SCF places particular priority on proposals that utilize a Collective Impact model, which involves a network of community members, organizations, and institutions learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions. Another key focus is on initiatives that bring about unity in diversity. The program also prioritizes proposals that directly address clearly identified needs of Skokie residents. Grant funding typically ranges from $1,000 to $10,000, with an average grant size of $5,000, and is for a one-year period from January 1 through December 31, 2025. Expected outcomes and measurable results are crucial for SCF. Proposals are evaluated based on whether they address a significant concern or opportunity, demonstrate collaboration between organizations, clarify the roles and responsibilities of co-applicants, address participant recruitment from Skokie, have an appropriate budget, and include a sufficient evaluation plan to track progress and determine success. The foundation's theory of change emphasizes that by funding collaborative, community-focused projects with clear objectives and evaluation metrics, they can achieve sustainable positive change and strengthen the fabric of the Skokie community.