Whether you donate to an existing endowment or create your own, be assured that your passion is our purpose.
Support for charitable activities that benefit the people and places of northern Illinois. Over $1.4M is distributed each year through the Community Grants Program alone!
90+ Unique Scholarships, nearly $300K in awards, just ONE Application! Application open December 1 - February 1.
In Youth We Trust Adult/Nonprofit Grants Open Now
Organizations serving youth in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, or Winnebago Counties are invited to apply for In Youth We Trust grants! The application is open until 5:00 p.m. on November 19.
2021 CFNIL Scholarship Report
The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois (CFNIL) is pleased to announce its 2021 scholarship recipients: 175 scholarships worth up to $335,874 to local students. The scholarships will support the post-secondary educational aspirations of 140 local students from 28 high schools.
“We’re focused on endowment because we’re long term thinkers. Some of the seeds we plant are not going to come up for eight years, so it was not a struggle for us to imagine that we should start planning now for what the needs might be in ten or twenty years.” -- Bernie Buchholz, Friends of Nachusa Grasslands, which established an Agency Endowment Fund with CFNIL in 2014