DKG Mini Grant Program
Supporting projects that improve or enhance the quality of education.
Supporting projects that improve or enhance the quality of education.
Open to Early Childhood through grade 12 educators currently teaching in Boone or Winnebago Counties.
Open to Early Childhood through grade 12 educators currently teaching in Boone or Winnebago Counties.
The Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a group of key women educators from Boone and Winnebago Counties.
The Zeta Chapter has established the DKG Mini Grant Program with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois in order to make financial awards to qualified Early Childhood through Grade 12 Educators currently teaching in Boone and Winnebago Counties.
The DKG Mini Grant Program is funded by two endowments, the Blanche Martin Mini Grant Fund and the Lana P. Smith Memorial Fund, each established in memory of a woman educator who was also a Zeta Chapter member.
This year, the DKG Mini Grant Program will make at least nine $250 awards, six funded by the Blanche Martin Mini Grant Fund and three funded by the Lana P. Smith Memorial Fund. Criteria and guidelines for these grants may be found below. Only one application is necessary to apply for both mini grants.
To be eligible for funding, an applicant must:
- Be a qualified Early Childhood through Grade 12 educator
- Be currently teaching in Boone or Winnebago Counties
To be eligible for grants from the Lana P. Smith Memorial Fund, the applicant must also be female.
The mini-grants may be used to fund special classroom activities, purchase educational materials, attend workshops, or implement any other project that enhances or improves the quality of education. The project should:
- Improve and enhance a classroom’s academic program,
- Encourage creativity in students,
- Involve a broad range of students,
- Have the potential for being replicated, and
- Be implemented in the same academic year in which the grant is awarded.
To apply for the mini-grants, educators must complete an online application. Applications open November 24, 2025, and are available through CFNIL’s Web Portal. All applications must be submitted by January 12, 2026 by 5:00 p.m. Grant recipients will be notified by March 2026.
Grant recipients will be required to submit a final report within four months of grant approval. Past grant recipients will be excluded from future grant consideration if the final report has not been submitted for prior funding. Grant recipients will also be asked to prepare a brief presentation about their project to be presented at a Zeta Chapter meeting in May 2026 at Rockford University.
Questions regarding program guidelines and criteria should be emailed to Rachel Huetson, Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Zeta Chapter.
Questions regarding the online application should be directed to Lisa DeLang, Community Foundation of Northern Illinois at 779-210-8206.
Questions? Issues with your application? Contact Lisa!
