The Woods Fund Chicago is pleased to announce its 2023 Core Grantmaking Program.
Donor Name: Woods Fund Chicago
State: Illinois
City: Chicago
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/09/2023
Details:
Grant Priorities
- Community Organizing: The Community Organizing program area seeks to support organizations that bring people together with a collective vision to reclaim, build and wield their power to take collective action in order to advance racial equity and/or racial justice in the metropolitan Chicago area. Community organizing enables democracy at the grassroots level to re-imagine and transform systems. They support organizations that:
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
- They prioritize supporting organizations that work within, and with, communities of color and marginalized populations
- Utilize a political framework for organizing efforts
- Racial equity lens (required)
- Center race in their organizing framework
- Have an understanding of disparities and the reasons they exist
- Look at structural root causes of problems
- Name race explicitly when talking about problems
- Propose redistribution as a primary solution
- Racial justice lens (preferred)
- Understand and acknowledges the historical centrality of race in the US
- Create a shared affirmative vision of a fair and inclusive society
- Focus explicitly on building civic, cultural, and political power by those most impacted
- Propose a broader based set of solutions that includes, but is not limited to, equity
- Emphasize transformative solutions that impact multiple systems
- Racial equity lens (required)
- Have 51% people of color on the executive leadership of the organization and its Board of Directors
- They prioritize BIPOC-led and BIPOC-centered/BIPOC-serving organizations
- Demonstrate elements of community organizing
- Impacted individuals are involved in the organization’s decision-making process and participate in collective action to advance campaign/work
- Have a process (informal or formal) to develop the leadership of those impacted by the issue that the organization is working towards dismantling
- Articulate a strategy for systems change and involved tactics
- Addresses changes in policies, practices, structures, and/or systems
- Demonstrates a critique of, and challenges, institutions of power
- Builds strategic partnerships with other organizations, including coalitions & coalition building
- Size of organization
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Grassroots – < $1M
- Small – $1M – $3M
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
- Public Policy Advocacy: The Public Policy Advocacy program area seeks to support organizations that influence public discourse and policy decisions to advance racial equity and/or racial justice. Public policy advocacy is comprised of a continuum of activities that aim to inform decisions within the public sector and may include the following: educating the public and policymakers; influencing legislation, referendum, budgeting, and rule-making; monitoring policy implementation; and taking legal actions. They support organizations that:
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
- They prioritize supporting organizations that work within, and with, communities of color and marginalized populations
- Center a racial equity lens (required)
- Have an understanding of disparities and the reasons they exist
- Look at structural root causes of problems
- Name race explicitly when talking about problems
- Propose redistribution as a primary solution
- Center a racial justice lens (preferred)
- Understand and acknowledge the historical centrality of race in the US
- Create a shared affirmative vision of a fair and inclusive society
- Focus explicitly on building civic, cultural, and political power by those most impacted
- Propose a broader based set of solutions that includes, but is not limited to, equity
- Emphasize transformative solutions that impact multiple systems
- Have 51% people of color on the executive leadership of the organization and its Board of Directors
- They prioritize supporting BIPOC-led and BIPOC-centered/BIPOC-serving organizations
- Partner with community groups to advance campaigns and legislation
- Partner with community groups so that impacted individuals are included in the design, advancement & implementation of a policy
- Support community groups to understand and engage in the legislative process (trainings, resources, tools) o Mutually develop clarity of roles between organizations
- Participate in strategic partnerships and/or collaborations, including coalition & coalition-building
- Size of organization
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Grassroots – < $1M
- Small – $1M – $3M
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
- Integrated Approach – Community Organizing and Public Policy Advocacy: The Integrated Approach program area leverages the power of community organizing and public policy advocacy strategies. This program area seeks to support community-based organizations that employ both strategies to advance racial equity and/or racial justice. They support organizations that:
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
- They prioritize supporting organizations that work within, and with, communities of color and marginalized populations
- Have 51% people of color on the organization’s executive leadership and Board of Directors
- They prioritize supporting BIPOC-led and BIPOC-centered/BIPOC-serving organizations
- Prioritize and engage people most impacted by structural racism and economic injustice to lead the process of defining problems and developing solutions
- Are community-based and building an informed power base
- Participate in coalition building to achieve greater impact
- Have demonstrated an ability to effectively influence policymakers and the policymaking process
- Size of organization
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Grassroots – < $1M
- Small – $1M – $5M
- They prioritize supporting small and grassroots organizations
- Operate within metropolitan Chicago (city proper with some consideration of other cities in Cook County)
Ineligibility Criteria
- Organizations outside of the Chicago metropolitan area (Chicago city proper and its surrounding suburbs)
- Business or economic development projects
- Capital campaigns, capital projects, capital acquisitions, housing construction/rehabilitation
- Endowments
- Health care institutions, including, but not limited to, hospitals and clinics
- Organizations that provide direct services
- Medical and scientific research
- K-12 and post-secondary education scholarships
- Religious programs
- Leadership development or fellowship programs.
For more information, visit Woods Fund Chicago.
