Application Process

The 2026 Grant Cycle is now open. All applications must be submitted on or before Friday, February 27th, to be considered. We look forward to reviewing your submission!

General Application    Prior Grantees Application

*If you’d like to preview the grant application questions, you can do so here.

Our Focus

Invest For Kids seeks to foster a rich ecosystem of organizations that lift up Chicago’s most in-need youth from early childhood through college and career.

  • We provide grants to Chicago area nonprofits that serve youth in low-income circumstances.
  • 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 grantee, Invest For Kids’ awards play a significant role in helping the most promising organizations achieve their goals.
  • Our focus areas include education, mentoring, enrichment, college access and career readiness, health & physical fitness, and social services.

Criteria

Organizations are eligible for Invest For Kids’ grants if they meet all the following criteria:

  • Serve Chicago area youth in low-income circumstances
  • During the last fiscal year, maintained a budget between $1 million – $5 million
  • Have been in existence for at least 3 years
  • Qualify as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

*Prior grant recipients are welcome to apply again for funding after a one-year waiting period.
**Schools with a charter authorized by the Chicago Board of Education or the State of Illinois are eligible to apply, regardless of annual budget size.

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 thorough interviews with the organization’s leadership and, on occasion, site visits, followed by reference and fact checking to ultimately determine our annual recipients.
  • 2026 Invest for Kids Grantees will be announced in August 2026, and grant checks will be distributed in December 2026.

Questions

For questions regarding grants and applications, please contact Barbara Wolf, Director of Giving: barbara@ifkchicago.com.