Application Process
The application period for the 2023 Grant Cycle has closed. Recipients will be announced in the coming months.
Our Focus
Invest For Kids provides grants to Chicago area nonprofits that serve youth from under-resourced communities. We target smaller organizations with budgets between $1-5 million where we believe our grants can have the highest impact. With an average grant of $200,000 per beneficiary, Invest For Kids’ awards play a significant role in helping the most promising organizations achieve their goals. Our focus is on education, mentoring, enrichment, social services, healthcare, and scholarship funding.
Criteria
Organizations are eligible for Invest For Kids’ grants if they:
- Qualify as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
- Serve Chicago area youth from under-resourced communities
- Have been in existence for at least 3 years
- During the last fiscal year, maintained a budget between $1-5 million
Selection Process
Our diligence efforts are thorough and focused on gaining a comprehensive understanding of each applicant. We look for quality programming, strong leadership, a dedicated board, and measurable results.
Our process entails initial screening of applications to narrow the applicant pool. We then conduct on site visits and thorough interviews with the organizations’ leadership followed by reference and fact checking to ultimately determine our annual recipients. Since 2009, we have reviewed over 550 organizations and conducted over 135 due diligence meetings.
Apply
The 2023 Application Cycle has closed and grants will be announced on or before August 31st.
Questions
For questions regarding grants and applications, please contact Barbara Wolf, Director of Giving: barb@ifkchicago.com.