The Transfer Innovation Impact Model (TIIM) initiative creates a learning community for grant recipients to participate in opportunities to share data and best practices to learn from each other in pursuit of improving student outcomes.
Donor Name: The Chicago Community Trust
State: Illinois
County: Cook County (IL), DuPage County (IL), Kane County (IL), Lake County (IL), McHenry County (IL), Will County (IL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/06/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
TIIM is led and supported in part by Bridges to Brighter Futures, a collaboration between the Kinship Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust funded through the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust.
The TIIM RFP invites organizations to apply for a one-year planning grant to develop and advance a transfer model that dramatically improves the bachelor’s degree completion of Chicago community college students. This model will be driven by innovation, research, reporting, and supporting partnerships to create intentional learning communities.
Successful partnership models will:
- Uncover and address the needs of specific populations of Chicago students, including the most underserved populations and underinvested neighborhoods.
- Collect and share data to understand barriers on individual campuses and demonstrate the effects of interventions over time.
- Create bold, innovative practices that have the potential to improve outcomes for students.
Goals and Outcomes
The goal of the Transfer Innovation Impact Model (TIIM) initiative is to identify and promote strategies that improve bachelor’s degree completion within two to three years of transfer from community college programs for students who traditionally have had lower rates of completion including Black, Latine and low-income students in Chicago.
Successful applicants will be part of a multiyear grantmaking engagement to innovate the transfer pathway through the following outcomes:
- Increase enrollment and persistence
- of transfer students enrolled
- of transfer students retained for year 2
- Increased graduation through transfer pathway with minimum time to degree
- of transfer students graduated with bachelor’s degrees in 2 years
- of transfer students graduated with bachelor’s degree in 3 years
- Average of transfer credits accepted per student (including electives)
- Average of transfer credits accepted toward major/degree (non-elective credits).
Funding Information
This grantmaking opportunity will occur in two phases. In Phase 1, the TIIM initiative will award a minimum of five one-year planning grants of $300,000 each. Successful Phase 1 grant applicants will be invited to submit an Implementation application during the planning grant phase. TIIM Phase 2 Implementation grants of up to $1,700,000 over three years will be awarded to support the plans created during the planning process. The number of implementation grants awarded will be dependent on funds raised.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for a grant award, an applicant must be:
- A nonprofit organization with evidence that it (a) has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Code; (b) is fiscally sponsored by a Section 501(c)(3) organization; (c) or is a governmental unit within the meaning of Section 170(c)(1) of the Code;
- Described in Section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Code, other than a “disqualified supporting organization” within the meaning of Section 4966(d)(4) of the Code;
- Located within the following Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties);
- Partnering with a community college located in Cook County;
- Partnering with a community-based or nonprofit student support organization.
For more information, visit The Chicago Community Trust.
