Search Through Christian County Grants for Nonprofits in Illinois

Making community possible

At U.S. Bank, we are dedicated to supporting our communities through responsive and humbled actions focused on addressing racial and economic inequities and creating lasting change in our communities. Through our Community Possible Grant Program, we are partnering with organizations that focus on economic and workforce advancement, safe and affordable housing and communities connected through arts and culture.

The U.S. Bank Foundation is committed to making Community Possible through Work, Home and Play. We advance this work through collaborative grant making to bring equitable and lasting change through our focus on sustainable, high-impact funding with 501c3 nonprofit partners.

How we partner with nonprofits

We focus on collaborative grantmaking and sustainable, high-impact funding with 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners. We partner with organizations that support:

• Economic and workforce advancement
• Safe and affordable housing
• Community arts and culture

Our strategy

Our community affairs and foundation team work closely with U.S. Bank regional leadership, business resource groups and our National Community Advisory Committee to ensure that prevailing needs are addressed in all the communities we serve.

To make the most meaningful impact, we prioritize organizations that:

• Focus on economic development issues related to work, home and play
• Address more than one of the grant pillars (work, home and play)
• Are based in and serve designated U.S. Bank communities
• Advance diversity, equity and inclusion

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

Background

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders. Our goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

Our application process is designed to be open and accessible, and we accept applications year round from across our priority geographies and sectors. Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with: 

Capacity

• The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through dedicated hands-on Board service and specialist capacity-building resources for fundraising, board and organizational development, leadership, financial support, and scaling strategy,

Capital

• DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, and

Community

• DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating connections and community. 

What We Fund

DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches.

What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?

Early stage: Organizations who are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means: 

• Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field, 
• You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
• Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).

Venture funding: In the case of for profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.  

Community Grants

State Farm is committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are committed to auto and home safety programs and activities that help people manage the risks of everyday life.
• We invest in education, economic empowerment and community development projects, programs and services that help people realize their dreams.
• We help maintain the vibrancy of our communities by assisting nonprofits that support community revitalization.

Good Neighbor Citizenship company grants focus on safety, community development and education.

Focus Areas

Safety Grants

We strive to keep our customers and communities safe. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Auto safety — improving driver, passenger, vehicle or roadway safety
• Home safety — shielding homes from fires, crime or natural disasters
• Disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Disaster recovery

Community Development

We support nonprofits that invest and develop stronger neighborhoods. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Affordable housing — home construction and repair
• Commercial/small business development
• Job training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Financial literacy
• Sustainable housing and transportation
• Food insecurity

Education

Our education funding is directed toward initiatives that support the following programs:

• Higher education
• K-12 academic performance
• K-12 STEM
• Pathways for college and career success

Mission

The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—culture, education, health and social service—and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Whether providing a scholarship to a deserving student, supporting a rural health clinic or bringing artists into schools so children can see firsthand the beauty of the arts, the Foundations’ focus is consistent: to help those in need, those underserved and those underrepresented in society. Since the Foundations were formed in the 1940s, the scale and capabilities of the grant making have changed, but the mission has not.

Culture Grant

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Culture

In the recent past, 25% of total funding has been allocated to Culture. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 60% of the funding in Culture.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted toward new grantees.

Types of Support

Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation only accepts unsolicited proposals for specific areas within the education, family economic stability and childhood health sectors in select countries where we work, namely the United States, India and South Africa.

As a guideline, the foundation does not fund more than 25% of a project’s budget or more than 10% of an organization’s total annual operating expenses.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has always recognized the power of providing grants to partner organizations that we knew were already working hard to improve the lives of urban children living in poverty. By aligning with organizations that are already making a difference, we continue to make an immediate impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Foundation priorities:

We fund social enterprises that directly serve or impact children or youth from urban low-income communities in the areas of education, health, and family economic stability (including livelihoods and financial inclusion). These social enterprises may be structured as for-profit or nonprofit entities.

Partnerships

We collaborate with a range of organizations focused on creating opportunities for children and families living in urban poverty, with a deep emphasis on measuring impact. Our funding advances projects already making an impact in education, health, and family economic stability. Through these enduring and long-standing partnerships, we create lasting change together.

Mission

Driven by a philanthropic calling to support marginalized communities throughout the world, the Semnani Family Foundation partners with on-the-ground organizations and leverages its resources in a cost-effective and efficient manner that delivers the maximum benefit.

History

Guided by his grandmother Maliheh’s example and teachings, Khosrow Semnani and his wife Ghazaleh established the Semnani Family Foundation in 1993. The foundation’s first grant was issued through CARE International to an orphanage in Romania that cared for newborns affected by HIV. Over the last few decades, the foundation has continued to build upon its mission to empower the disaffected, partnering with a variety of organizations in different countries who can make the greatest impact.

In addition to its global influence, the Semnani Family Foundation established roots within the state of Utah with the founding of Maliheh Free Clinic in 2005 to provide free healthcare to thousands of uninsured people in the Salt Lake City area.

Where We Work

The Semnani Family Foundation focuses primarily on promoting health, education, and disaster relief for marginalized communities all around the world. Driven by a clear mission to adapt and serve at the global level, we have leveraged our resources to make a meaningful impact in the following countries so far:

• Afghanistan
• Bosnia
• Colombia
• England
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Guatemala
• India
• Iran
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Romania
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Tonga
• Uganda
• United States
• Yemen

At the heart of the Foundation lies a fervent commitment to human welfare, always prioritizing health and the needs of society’s most vulnerable.

The Sidney Stern Memorial Trust is devoted solely to the funding of charitable, scientific, medical and educational organizations.

The Board endeavors to support soundly-managed charitable organizations that give service with a broad scope, have a substantial effect on their target populations, and contribute materially to the general welfare. The Board does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

We have strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country that are working to advance economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. Our focus areas include basic needs like food and housing, workforce development and education, and community development. In addition to our philanthropic investments, we also encourage our employees to make a difference by offering robust employee giving and volunteering programs, including the opportunity to direct funds to organizations they support through volunteer efforts, and a matching gifts program that doubles their individual giving to causes they care about. Last year, we invested $350 million in the communities we serve, and employees contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours and directed $65 million through individual giving and matching gifts to support nonprofits.Through our regional U.S. sponsorships, we support the economic, social and cultural life of the places we live and work. We provide an extensive program of arts and sports sponsorships to help maintain vibrant, healthy communities.Sponsorships supporting communitiesBank of America welcomes your sponsorship proposal for opportunities that make our communities a better place to live and work. We are particularly interested in providing support to address needs vital to the health of our communities through a focus on:

• preserving neighborhoods;
• educating the workforce for 21st century jobs;
• addressing critical needs such as hunger and emergency shelter;
• arts and culture;
• the environment; and
• diversity and inclusion programs.

Grants are made at the Foundation’s discretion based on our current funding strategies focused on housing, jobs and hunger. 

Helping Build Better Futures

Our mission is to deliver great value to our customers every day. For over four decades, our deep commitment to the principles of providing value and caring for others has helped define our culture. It extends beyond the walls of our stores, distribution centers, and offices, and into our local communities around the world. The intersection of these principles defines our global community mission:

Deliver great value to our communities by helping vulnerable families and children access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

Our Social Impact Areas

We bring our community relations mission to life around the world by focusing our giving on four social impact areas where we believe we can have the most impact and are critical to helping families and children succeed and thrive.

Basic Needs

We are passionate about supporting nonprofit organizations that help fill critical basic needs such as a warm meal, clean clothing, and a safe place to sleep for vulnerable families.

Education & Training

Our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success for children, teens, and young adults.

Patient Care & Research

We support organizations that deliver services to families and children facing health challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

Empowering Women

We support programs that provide services ranging from help for those fleeing domestic violence, to others that offer education, training, and job placement resources.

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

San Antonio Area Foundation

We Are San Antonio's Community Foundation We are in the business of building community.

We help people make meaningful gifts to improve the quality of life today and for generations to come.

We provide a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving so your contributions can have an everlasting impact on the community. We contribute through grants and scholarships fueled by you, helping nonprofits further and strengthen their mission, and providing leadership for key community issues.

Since 1964, the Area Foundation has distributed millions in grants and scholarships to educate youth, preserve the environment, protect animals, fund research and provide services that enhance the quality of life for people living in and around San Antonio.

Carvajal Educational Fund

Course of Study: Available for all areas of study

Geographic: USA

Enrolment Status: Full-time

Degree Level: Associate or Bachelor's Degree

Renewable: Yes

Renewal Term: 3 additional years

Funding Type: Tuition, Fees, Books

Total Scholarship Awards: 1 student

Non-Enforcement Programs

This funding opportunity houses most of the non-enforcement programs. Please see the specifications for each program explained below. Please note that applications are not limited to these programs.

• Child Passenger Safety Resource Center (CPSRC)
• DUI Court Program
• Impaired Driving Prevention Program (IDP)
• Injury Prevention Program (IP)
• Law Enforcement Liaison Program (LEL)
• Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor (TSRP)

This grant is administered by the Bureau of Safety Programs and Engineering (BSPE) within the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). IDOT serves as the federally-required State Highway Safety Office for the state of Illinois.

Funding amount: $8,000,000.00

Child Passenger Safety Resource Center (CPSRC)

To aid local communities in reducing the death and injury rates on Illinois roads, BSPE established the Child Passenger Safety Resource Centers (CPSRC). The CPSRCs are designed to conduct public information and education campaigns focusing on child passenger safety (CPS) and other highway safety issues. They serve as regional resources providing education, training, and support in promoting CPS programs. The CPSRC program shall also focus on the Strategic Highway Safety Plan priorities areas for their region.

Five (5) CPSRCs are planned to be funded in Illinois and will be staffed by a Child Passenger Safety Liaison. Each CPSRC covers a specific region in the state and coordinates and supports, CPS training, CPS seat distribution, and traffic safety initiatives within that region.

The five regions are:

• Chicago
  • City of Chicago
• Cook and Collar Counties
  • Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Kendall, Grundy, Will, Kankakee, Iroquois
• Northwest
  • Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, Boone, DeKalb, Rock Island, Carrol, Jo Daviess, Winnebago, Stephenson, Henry, Bureau, Stark, Marshall, Putnam, LaSalle, Mercer, Henderson, Warren, Knox, Livingston, Ford
• Central
  • Hancock, McDonough, Adams, Schuyler, Brown, Pike, Fulton, Cass, Morgan, Scott, Mason, Menard, Sangamon, Christian, Logan, Tazewell, McLean, DeWitt, Macon, Piatt, Moultrie, Shelby, Champaign, Douglas, Coles, Vermillion, Edgar, Peoria, Woodford, Macoupin, and Montgomery
• Southern
  • Calhoun, Green, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Fayette, Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Saint Clair, Monroe, Randolph, Clinton, Washington, Marion, Jefferson, Clay, Wayne, Richland, Lawrence, Edwards, Wabash, Perry, Jackson, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Cumberland, and Clark.

Project Goal

To create a coordinated effort to address CPS and other local highway safety issues within the designated region through outreach and education.

Requirements of CPSRC

• Serve as a regional point of contact for CPS programs, trainings, and community events. Additional emphasis areas would be heat stroke/overheating awareness, pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, older driver, teen, alcohol, drugged, and distracted driving programs;
• Promote and educate the public regarding the risks of leaving a child or unattended passenger in a vehicle.
• Participate in the development CPS continuing education unit (CEU) opportunities with CPSRCs from all five regions.
• Offer, promote, and teach a minimum of five (5) standardized CPS certification courses and two (2) renewal courses in the region. The CPSRC's Child Passenger Safety Liaison must be the lead on at least 50% of the classes taught in their region.
• CPS courses funded by IDOT should be listed as “open to the public” unless prior approval is granted by IDOT. Reimbursement of technician certification fees are only allowed for Illinois residents.
• Provide public information, educational materials, and technical tools designed to foster community level approaches to highway safety issues, specifically: proper car seat usage, seat belt usage, Illinois’ Seat Belt Law and Child Passenger Safety Protection Act.
• Participate in Statewide CPS Week/Seat Check Saturday promotions and conduct a minimum of one (1) car seat check event during that time.
• Grantees must utilize the electronic car seat check form – www.carseatcheckform.org – to track all car seat checks using IDOT funds including seats that are given to local agencies.
• Distribution of car seats to individuals needing financial assistance.
• Must be able to ensure car seats are being issued to individuals in need. Established need process must be submitted to IDOT with the application.
• Assist local agencies with setting up a minimum of two (2) car seat checks a month.
• Assist local agencies with teen safety fairs, traffic safety presentations and other community events, preferably with focus in communities that are overrepresented and underserved.
• Provide education to the public about child passenger safety and general traffic safety by staffing informational booths at community events.
• Use data-driven approaches to evaluate and address local highway safety issues.
• Participate in local traffic safety networks of law enforcement and local organizations dedicated to highway safety.
• If requested, assist IDOT with the annual statewide seat belt survey.
• If requested, assist with and IDOT motorcycle helmet survey.
• If a CPSRC would like to facilitate training outside of its regional boundaries, the CPSRC must contact the CPSRC that covers that area and discuss a collaborative effort.
• Create meaningful public participation and engagement to ensure diverse views are heard and considered.

What We Do

The community foundation is like the community’s charitable savings account. We pool resources from community members, invest them and then use them to make grants for the betterment of the entire community. We exist to serve donors, nonprofit organizations and the community as a whole. Donors to ACCF enjoy tax advantages not available to private foundation donors. They also receive professional services without hiring staff. Nonprofit organizations receive grants from community foundations to support their programs and projects. Many nonprofits also establish their own endowment funds with the foundation as a means of investing for the future. We’re also engaged as a community leader. We help set the vision for Ashland County while ensuring charitable gifts are used effectively to meet the community’s present needs and to build a brighter future.

Ashland County Wildlife Conservation League David McClure Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship is to assist graduating seniors of any Ashland County high school as well as students attending the Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center, Genesis Christian Academy and home-schooled students who plan to major in a Wildlife related field, have a GPA of 3.0 or above and have been accepted to an accredited two or four-year college/university, trade or tech school, or vocational program.   

What We Do

The community foundation is like the community’s charitable savings account. We pool resources from community members, invest them and then use them to make grants for the betterment of the entire community. We exist to serve donors, nonprofit organizations and the community as a whole. Donors to ACCF enjoy tax advantages not available to private foundation donors. They also receive professional services without hiring staff. Nonprofit organizations receive grants from community foundations to support their programs and projects. Many nonprofits also establish their own endowment funds with the foundation as a means of investing for the future. We’re also engaged as a community leader. We help set the vision for Ashland County while ensuring charitable gifts are used effectively to meet the community’s present needs and to build a brighter future.

Bill and Cay Harris Scholarship

The Bill and Cay Harris Scholarship was initiated in 2010 by many friends of Bill and Cay. In 2010, Bill completed sixteen years of service in the Ohio General Assembly, representing Ashland County and surrounding counties as State Representative, as Senator, and as President of the Ohio Senate from 2005 to 2010. Previously, Bill was CEO of Bill Harris Dealerships, a successful family business now operated by his three sons. Bill, a decorated Major in the United States Marine Corps, served 23 years in the military and is a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Mary Catherine (Cay) has prayerfully supported Bill’s political career in Columbus. Her community involvement includes a career with the Department of Job and Family Services and volunteering with the Ashland Symphony. Cay’s other interests include the Ashland Garden Club and Precepts Bible Study. Bill and Cay are members of Grace Brethren Church of Ashland. They continue to reside in Ashland, and are parents of 11 adult children, 16 grandchildren, and a growing family of great-grandchildren. The Bill and Cay Harris Scholarship will be awarded to graduating students exemplifying Christian service and leadership qualities. 

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

Community Ties Giving Program

As part of the Community Ties Giving Program, Local Grants help us achieve our mission by providing small and medium-sized grants within our priority cause areas to local organizations spread widely across Union Pacific's footprint.

Funding Priorities & Objectives

Throughout its existence, the success of Union Pacific's business has been inextricably linked to the economic and community wellbeing of cities and towns across the nation. We take pride in the role we have played in helping communities thrive and believe the impact we can have on local communities is greatest when it is authentic to our history and reflective of the diverse company we are today.

As such, we have carefully aligned our Local Grants cause areas to our company's unique heritage, strengths, and assets. Specifically, we prioritize funding for direct services and efforts that build the capacity of organizations focused on the following causes within our local operating communities. Within each focus area, we aim to support programs and organizations working to advance the diversity, equity and inclusion of underrepresented populations within the local context and issue areas addressed. Find more information about our commitment to DEI in our FAQs.

Safety

In order for communities to thrive, all residents must feel safe. Just as the safety of our employees and community members is paramount to how we operate, Union Pacific is committed to helping communities prevent and prepare for incidents and emergencies, and helping residents get home safely at the end of each day. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to: 

• Encourage safe behaviors and prevent incidents through education and awareness, particularly projects which focus on rail, driver, bike, and pedestrian safety, and ensure outreach efforts reach underserved populations.
• Eliminate risks and improve safe and equitable access to community spaces through infrastructure improvements, such as signage, proper lighting, and public trail improvements.
• Prepare and equip residents and emergency responders* to effectively respond to incidents and emergencies if or when they occur.
  • *Union Pacific supports publicly funded emergency responders through a variety of corporate programs; only independent nonprofit, 501(c)(3) emergency response organizations, such as volunteer departments, are eligible for funding through this grant program
• Prevent crime and violent incidents and support survivors of domestic violence through efforts that address the root causes of these issues and seek to mitigate their occurrence.
• Build the capacity of safety-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Workforce Development

For more than 160 years, Union Pacific has helped stimulate economic growth in cities and towns throughout the nation by training and providing employment to millions of workers. More than ever, we are committed to helping underrepresented residents in our communities achieve family-supporting careers like those offered by Union Pacific. As such, we prioritize funding for programs that seek to:

• Put youth on the right track by creating awareness of and pathways toward employment opportunities; building foundational skills, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); establishing necessary technical skills and life skills; and providing mentorship and positive role models for the future.
• Raise awareness of, educate and prepare young adults for middle skills jobs like those Union Pacific offers, for instance through community colleges, vocational and career training programs, workforce readiness initiatives, and programs that assist with job placement and/or on-the-job experience.
  • Programs that develop proficiency in areas relevant to Union Pacific operations such as welding, electrical work, machine operations, and civil and electrical engineering are given priority.
• "Up-skill" the existing workforce by providing training and resources that enable them to reach the next level of their career.
  • Programs that develop proficiency in areas of relevance to Union Pacific operations are given priority.
• Resolve barriers to employment such as transportation, childcare, acquiring necessary equipment for work, and second chance employment programs.
• Build the capacity of workforce development-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Community Vitality

Union Pacific Railroad is committed to establishing vibrant, healthy and inclusive communities for employees, customers and residents to work, visit and call home. Just as the railroad opened avenues for economic development and opportunity more than 160 years ago, we maintain this tradition by cultivating unique cultural and recreational experiences and equipping community members with opportunities to live healthy, vital lives. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to:

• Create, sustain or expand artistic and cultural experiences offered to a broad and diverse audience (e.g., museums, theaters, zoos, cultural and local heritage, visual and performing arts, etc.)
• Provide recreational opportunities that foster wellbeing, enrichment and/or an appreciation for our natural environment (e.g., parks, libraries, senior centers, recreation centers, learning centers, etc.).
• Revive neighborhoods and main street areas, especially in historically underinvested neighborhoods, to improve livability, promote commerce and attract more residents, businesses and visitors to town.
• Ensure residents’ basic needs are met and barriers are overcome (e.g., safe shelter and homelessness prevention, hunger relief, mental health and community health needs, etc.).
• Offer youth development and educational opportunities to ensure young people can thrive into healthy and productive community members (e.g., mentoring, leadership development, tutoring, services for youth in foster care, etc.).
• Build the capacity of community vitality-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience. 

Environmental Sustainability

The future of our business, communities and planet depends on bold, collective action to reduce and slow the impacts of climate change while building a more sustainable economy for the next generation. Union Pacific is taking deliberate steps to reduce our environmental impact and helping our partners improve their own. Extending this commitment to our community investments, we seek to support leading environmental nonprofits and community-based organizations to advance the health of our environment. As such, we prioritize funding for projects and programs that seek to:

• Preserve and restore nature, including programs focused on natural habitats, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
• Protect and enhance water, soil and air quality through innovative and proactive solutions such as water conservation, carbon sequestration and emission reduction programs.
• Reduce waste through initiatives focused on promoting recycling and circularity throughout the community, including recycling and composting programs and other efforts that reduce waste.
• Develop environmental stewards through youth programs focused on fostering environmental appreciation, responsibility, and leadership.
• Advance a sustainable economy by helping communities accelerate their transition to environmental jobs and renewable energy, as well as helping nonprofits and small businesses build their own capacity to operate more sustainably.
• Promote environmental justice through initiatives that ensure access to clean air, water, and land and protect underserved populations from disproportionate and adverse environmental effects.
• Build the capacity of sustainability-focused organizations to integrate practices that improve upon the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of the organization. This can take the form of internal capacity building or the creation/expansion of culturally relevant programming and services that seek to impact a broad and diverse audience.

Grant Program Overview

The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln accepts grant applications for several programs and charitable funds throughout the year. The Community Foundation encourages nonprofit organizations in Sangamon, Cass, Christian, Logan, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, and Morgan counties to apply for funding from our competitive grantmaking funds when eligible.

Junior League of Springfield Capacity Building Fund

Through the Junior League of Springfield Capacity Building grant program, the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln provides capacity building grants (up to $1,500) to small nonprofits in Central Illinois to help staff and board members access training and professional development aimed at improving their management, governance and leadership.

Issue: Professional Development for Nonprofits

Area: Sangamon, Montgomery and Christian counties

Capacity building grants are strategic investments in people and organizations to be used to defray the cost of attending programs targeted at improving the management, governance and leadership of the applicant organization. Grants can be used to send staff or board members to a specific workshop or conference or to engage a consultant to provide customized training to one or more organizations.

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln accepts grant applications for several programs and charitable funds throughout the year. The Community Foundation encourages nonprofit organizations in Sangamon, Cass, Christian, Logan, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, and Morgan counties to apply for funding from our competitive grantmaking funds when eligible.

Community Grants Program

Issue: Any Charitable Focus

Area: Sangamon, Cass, Christian, Logan, Macoupin, Menard, Morgan, and Montgomery counties

The Community Grants Program is the local grantmaking program at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln. The Program accepts funding requests for any charitable focus area in Cass, Christian, Logan, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan and Sangamon County.

This program was initiated to expose donor-advised funds to funding opportunities of which they may not otherwise be aware. Donors review the grant requests submitted by nonprofit organizations through this program, potentially partner with each other, and make decisions on funding.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

About Us

Old places are where our lives, memories, and stories began. They connect us to the past, anchor us to the present, and lead us into the future. These places inspire us to create a stronger nation, because they belong to all of us.

For more than 70 years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has led the movement to save America’s historic places. A privately funded nonprofit organization, we work to save America's historic sites; tell the full American story; build stronger communities; and invest in preservation's future.

Preserving Black Churches

Preserving Black Churches is a project of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Annual grants from Preserving Black Churches are intended to preserve historic Black houses of worship—either with active congregations and non-active congregations—and advance ongoing preservation activities while strengthening capacity for historic congregations, and preservation and community organizations to steward, manage, and better utilize their historic structures.

Funding Categories

Applicants may apply for one of five categories:

• Capital Project
  • Funding will be given for the restoration, rehabilitation, stabilization, preservation of historic buildings, parsonages, annex and educational buildings attached or directly adjacent to the historic Black church, including bricks-and-mortar construction and planning costs.
• Endowment and Financial Sustainability
  • Active Black Churches fundraising to increase existing or establish new preservation endowments for historic Black church buildings, with active congregations, to support activities such as cyclical maintenance of the building and grounds, insurance services, and other activities related to the perpetual stewardship of the structure.
• Organizational Capacity and Operations
  • Creation of new full-time staff, or part time staff to full-time positions which directly support the preservation and stewardship of historic Black church structures and advances preservation priorities:
    • Preservation planning, project management, construction management, interpretation, etc. Clergy and religions ministry staff positions are ineligible.
  • Funds can be used to support salaries and benefits for grant-supported staff.
• Programming and Interpretation
  • Designing and implementing innovative interpretive programs.
  • Designing and implementing new art and culturally based programming.
  • Collaborating with artists, creatives, and scholars to create and/or re-imagine interpretation and public programming that elevates the significance of the historic Black church, legacy, and contributions to the community, and that advances new approaches to storytelling and public education
• Project Planning
  • Obtaining the services of consultants with expertise in the areas such as preservation architecture and planning, landscape architecture, cemetery conservation, business development, engineering and environmental studies, legal issues, fundraising, organizational development, education, and trainings, etc. to develop plans for implementation by organization.
  • Development of viable business plans for preservation organizations, pre-development planning activities, feasibility studies for market-driven revitalization projects, preservation plans, engineering and environmental studies, property condition assessment reports with cost analysis, historic structures reports, etc.
  • Development of planning documents, guides, and assessment studies for historic Black cemeteries is eligible, but the cemeteries must be owned by and contiguously connected to a historic Black church.
  • Obtaining the services of consultants to complete nominations for historical designation of historic Black Churches leading to listing on the National Register of Historic Places, designation as National Historic Landmarks and/or local landmarks.

Funding

Grants from Preserving Black Churches will range from $50,000 to $500,000.

Our Mission

The Hansen Family Foundation provides opportunities to domestic, international, secular, and non-secular organizations that support the American way of life, which is defined by the principles of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Causes

Children

The Hansen Family Foundation supports causes dedicated to helping children both home as well as abroad. Learn More

Education

The Hansen Family Foundation believes that a decent education should be made available to everyone, young or old, the world over. Learn More

Animals

The Hansen Family Foundation believes in helping those who cannot speak on their own behalf. Learn More

Environmental

The Hansen Family Foundation is dedicated to preserving the world we all share. Learn More

Humanitarian

The Hansen Family Foundation views the plight of our fellow man as an opportunity to actively engage and effect change. Learn More

Arts & Culture

The Hansen Family Foundation supports all forms of artistic and cultural endeavors. Learn More