Community Arts and Humanities

The Community Arts & Humanities Fund of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois enhances the quality of life in the Northern Illinois region by providing funding for arts programming.

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Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, an applicant must:

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We Look For

The Community Arts & Humanities Fund of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois looks for projects that:

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Grant Cycle

The deadlines for submitting all applications are January 15th and July 15th of each year. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, proposals are due on the next business day.  Grants under $10,000 are typically awarded in mid April for the January grant cycle and mid October for the July grant cycle.  Grants of $10,000 and over are typically awarded in June for the January grant cycle and in December for the July grant cycle. 

Carefully consider the funding cycle that allows you to receive funds prior to the start of your program. Grant applications for summer programs should apply to the July grant cycle the year before the program begins.

Only one proposal per organization per grant program will be considered during the Community Foundation's fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th).

Exceptions to this rule:

• You are invited by a Grants Committee to resubmit an application in the following grant cycle.
• Organizations participating in a collaborative may apply once a year as a member of the collaborative, and once as itself or as part of a second collaborative.

Grant Committees are comprised of Community Foundation Trustees and Community Advisors. The Community Foundation's Board of Trustees approves all grant awards.

All grant recipients are required to submit an online final report upon completion of the project for which the grant was made. This report must include the outcomes achieved by the project and a detailed budget explaining how the funds were used. The report may also include an oral presentation or other components as deemed necessary by the Community Foundation.

Final reports are due within one year of grant approval. You may access the final report by clicking here. Past grant recipients will be excluded from future grant consideration if a final report has not been completed for prior funding. If an organization submits an additional application while a Community Foundation funded project is still in progress, an interim letter must be completed and returned by the grant cycle deadline. (Do not use the online final report form for this.)

Grants are made for one year only; should circumstances allow, a multi-year commitment may be considered.

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Exclusions

Grants are not made from the Community Arts & Humanities Fund for the following:

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Online Application

Please Note:  As the Community Foundation strives for complete accuracy in its grant programs, we reserve the right to update grant application forms 60 days before the deadline.  Only applications started within 60 days of deadline will be accepted.  While you may browse the online application at any time, you are reminded to check your calendar before you begin filling out any grant application.

To start a new application, click New Application.

To access an application that you chose to save and finish later, click Saved Application.

Please Note: Your computer must use one of the following commonly used internet browsers and have cookies enabled in order to access the online application.

• Internet Explorer version 5.5 SP-2 or higher
• Netscape 6.2.2 or higher
• Netscape Communicator 4.76 or higher
• Internet Explorer 5.1.4 for Mac OS X

Budget Worksheet:  For your convenience, we are providing a budget worksheet that you can download by clicking the link below.  You may find it easier to complete this worksheet in paper form before entering the information into the online form.

Budget Worksheet

If you have questions, please contact Linda Sandquist, Program Officer at (815) 962-2110 ext 12 or lsandquist@cfnil.org.