Trusted Voices: Giving to Meet the Moment

Together, we can do more to support the organizations providing essential services to our neighbors. At the Trust, we are mobilizing responsive grants to organizations that need more resources to meet critical needs in this moment and working with partners to understand the potential impact on Chicago nonprofits if they lose federal funding. 

Below we offer a few suggestions on how to maximize the impact of your giving when our nonprofit partners are facing a period of financial uncertainty. Please also reach out to your Trust Philanthropic Advisor with any questions about your giving.

1. Connect with the nonprofits you support – A simple first step is to reach out to the organizations and ask what they need the most at this time. You may also want to consider giving unrestricted funding or a multiyear gift that will enable organizations to plan more effectively.
2. Support Advocacy and Community Organizing – While direct services are critical to meeting people’s immediate needs, advocacy and community organizing efforts can help shift policies and practices at both the local and national level.
3. Join with fellow donors in giving through pooled funds – Through pooled giving, the gifts of many donors are combined to make an even greater impact. Below are two current opportunities  at the Trust:

Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative (IFC)

IFC supports organizations serving immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers with a focus on three areas: urgent needs, legal assistance, and advocacy and organizing to advance immigrant rights and justice.

Initially launched in 2012 in response to the creation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), over the years IFC has evolved its funding to meet the needs and interests of immigrant communities throughout the Chicago region and the state. Due to the generosity of donors, IFC has awarded nearly $24 million in grants to immigrant-focused nonprofits across the state.

IFC is currently mobilizing in response to changes in long-standing immigration policies, which affect not only those who have come here in search of a better life but also our broader Chicago community from both a humanitarian and economic perspective.

A contribution to IFC will allow grant funding to nonprofit partners working to support  immigrant and refugee communities in the region.

Contributions to IFC can be made through check, credit card, appreciated securities or your donor advised fund. Please contact IFC’s manager, Alice Cottingham, for additional information.

Unity Fund

The Chicago Community Trust’s Unity Fund gathers contributions from donors to support nonprofit organizations providing emergency food, clothing, housing, healthcare, legal services, and more to individuals and families. Since its founding in 2008, the fund has made more than $20 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofits that serve Chicagoans.

Unity Fund is designed to pivot to meet the most critical  needs. The fund is currently making grants to essential service organizations to help fill some of the anticipated funding gaps. A planned grant funding cycle in June will specifically address food insecurity.

A contribution to Unity Fund will provide more timely support to our neighbors.

Contributions to Unity Fund can be made through check, credit card, appreciated securities, your donor advised fund or an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution. For more information on Unity Fund, please contact Adele Nandan, director of donor engagement, at anandan@cct.org.

To give now, visit www.cct.org/give.