Best Grants for Charities in Illinois

The Thomas J Nelson Sr Scholarship, offered by the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, honors the legacy of Tom Nelson, a dedicated community member. This scholarship is available to graduating seniors or past graduates from Chelan, Douglas, or Okanogan counties, who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue higher education. Eligible students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 for four-year programs or 2.5 for community colleges and trade schools, reflecting Tom's commitment to educational support.

The Cody and Zach Skilled Trades Scholarship, offered by the Saginaw Community Foundation, supports graduates from Merrill High School and the Great Lakes Bay Region pursuing Career and Technical Education (CTE). With an emphasis on practical skills in various trades, this scholarship helps bridge the gap in financial assistance for students aiming for lucrative careers in fields like welding, carpentry, and more. Awards typically range from $500 to $4,000, promoting a skilled workforce in the community.

Who We Are

Saginaw County is home. It is a beautiful community you’d be foolish to underestimate. We may have our challenges, but seeing its cities, villages and townships continue to grow and flourish gives us a sense of satisfaction and pride like none other.

Back in 1984, The Saginaw Community Foundation was founded to enhance the quality of life in our county by providing leadership, education, and support for philanthropy. Today, we still continue this mission of supporting the needs of our community through targeted grants, investments, and scholarships.

In addition to our grantmaking and scholarship programs, the Foundation also offers donor advised funds, which allow donors to recommend charitable grants to organizations of their choice. We also manage several endowed funds, which provide ongoing support for specific causes or organizations.

Saginaw Community Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors composed of community leaders and volunteers. A staff of professionals oversee our day-to-day operations and work with donors and community organizations to identify and address community needs.

CTE Scholarships

Dreaming of a career in welding? Maybe managing your own auto mechanics garage fuels your thoughts or you would love to become an electrician. Perhaps studying to become a chef in a culinary arts program suits your tastes.

No matter what your career path may be, there is little doubt that in recent years interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) has grown. The increased need for workers skilled in the trades has resulted in larger numbers of students seeking out CTE programs.

Schools offering CTE encompass a wide variety of hands-on education, from HVAC to carpentry to cosmetology. In the past, financial assistance has been hard to come by for these areas of study, but that is no longer the case. Saginaw Community Foundation has several scholarship opportunities for those who have the desire to pursue CTE.

According to leading economists, not everyone needs a four-year degree. In fact, millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes.

For aspiring welders, electricians, carpenters, and other valued skilled trade workers, there is great opportunity to take advantage of tailored CTE programs. The demand is massive as an estimated 3 million trade jobs in the United States remain vacant.

Our CTE scholarship awards range between $500 – $4,000 typically.

Can-Amera Games Scholarship

The Can-Amera Games started in 1972 as an international goodwill sporting competition between Saginaw Township and Galt, Ontario. The games were centered on friendly competition in a variety of sports for youth ages 9-18. As the years progressed, the games expanded to include other townships in Saginaw County, as well as those communities, including Galt, that joined together to become the city of Cambridge, Ontario. The Can-Amera Games were the efforts of an all-volunteer organization that worked year-round to ensure that the games would be successful in meeting the purpose of this friendly international competition. Can-Amera Games ended in 2006 at the completion of the 35th annual event.

All past board members, volunteers, and athletes would like to honor a deserving high school senior who best represents the spirit of competition, sportsmanship, friendship and community involvement with the Can-Amera Scholarship as a way to symbolize the spirit and memory of the Can-Amera Games.

The Military Patient Relief Fund, launched by the National Breast Cancer Foundation in partnership with the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, provides financial assistance up to $1,000 for eligible military members diagnosed with breast cancer. This fund addresses barriers to care such as transportation, childcare, housing, food insecurity, and medical costs. Our mission is to ensure that no one faces breast cancer alone, offering support and hope to those in need.

The Pride Foundation Scholarship is designed to support LGBTQ+ students who demonstrate leadership in their communities and fields of study. Open to residents of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington, applicants must pursue post-secondary education in the 2025-2026 school year. The scholarship prioritizes those facing systemic barriers, including discrimination and financial need, ensuring resources reach LGBTQ+ students who need them most.

The Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois Scholarship offers financial assistance for tuition to high school seniors and healthcare professionals in oncology/hematology within Central and Southern Illinois. The scholarship supports educational pursuits and professional development in these fields. Applications are accepted monthly, with a deadline for 2025 set for December 1st. Eligible candidates must maintain a GPA of 3.0 and reside in specific counties, ensuring support for local talent in healthcare.

The Barbara Berger Clark Memorial Nursing Scholarship

The family of Barbara Berger Clark created this scholarship in her memory to support the next generation of nurses who share her commitment to public health and to serving their communities. Open to all nursing students, including those entering the field later in life or as a second career, this scholarship especially honors those who share Barbara’s commitment to public health nursing, prevention, and advancing health equity.

Number and Size of Awards

Number of recipients and individual total award amounts vary annually. Award paid in the Fall and divided equally between the Fall and Spring semesters. Award renewability varies and is dependent on the length of the recipient’s program of study. Minimum award size $5,000.

Allowed Use of Award

Awards may be used for tuition, fees, books, and other expenses associated with higher education.

The Israel Experience College Merit Scholarship Program, offered by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, provides $1,000 scholarships to high school and college students up to age 23. This program seeks to recognize emerging leaders who demonstrate commitment to the Jewish community, Israel, and exhibit leadership skills. Applicants must be residents or students in metropolitan Chicago and show evidence of community service. Participation in post-Israel communal activities is encouraged.

The Mark Mayden Scholarship, established in 2006 by the Community Foundation of Dickinson County, honors the legacy of Mark Mayden, a devoted supporter of agribusiness. This $700 scholarship aims to assist hardworking students from Dickinson County in pursuing technical or vocational education, fostering opportunities for future generations. By rewarding initiative and talent, the scholarship reflects Mark's belief in the transformative power of education and hard work, ensuring that deserving students have the support they need to succeed.

Armstrong County Community Foundation (The Community Foundation Serving the Heart of Western Pennsylvania)

In 1997 Merchants National Bank, an Armstrong County community bank, marked its 100th anniversary. The centennial celebration included a unique expression of gratitude to the community in the form of $100,000 to be used as a seed fund to initiate a community foundation for Armstrong County. The bank challenged the community to keep the principal balance of the endowed funds intact and spend only a portion of the interest earnings to ensure a lasting legacy.

The Armstrong County Community Foundation, a public nonprofit corporation,

• Gives grants, scholarships, and organizational support to address the needs of our community.
• Builds a permanent endowment to help our donors create a legacy through this endowment.
• Promotes informed philanthropy to increase and sustain charitable resources for the region.
• Provides leadership and builds partnerships to identify and solve community issues.

Dr. Samuel R. Black, Twila L. Black, and Samuel J. Black Medical Arts Scholarship

The Dr. Samuel R. Black, Twila L. Black, and Samuel J. Black Medical Arts Scholarship Fund was established to honor the life and work of Dr. Samuel R. Black. The scholarship is available to graduates of Armstrong County High Schools including Lenape Vo-tech who wish to pursue a career in the Medical Arts. The scholarship criteria includes students who are interested in veterinary medicine.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Program for Adult Care Excellence (PACE) aims to enhance adult care for cystic fibrosis patients by recruiting and training physicians. With an increasing life expectancy for CF patients, the program addresses the need for specialized adult caregivers. Physicians can apply for funding up to $38,435 per year for three years, enabling them to develop expertise in adult CF care. This initiative supports both the medical community and the CF population significantly.

Molly Efron Scholarship

To support a Monroe County female high school senior planning to attend a four-year college or university to study science, technology, engineering, or math.

Number and Size of Awards

Two awards of $1,000 each; paid in one lump sum.

Allowed Use of Award

Awards may be used for tuition, fees, books, and other expenses associated with higher education.

The Leadership Development Award for New In Practice Fellows, offered by the College of American Pathologists Foundation, provides funding for CAP members to attend the Engaged Leadership Academy. This workshop enhances communication and leadership skills essential for new pathologists in their first five years of practice. Participants can receive up to $500 to cover registration and related costs, fostering their professional growth and confidence in engaging with various stakeholders in the healthcare field.

Seeding Research, Networking, and Capacity Building at Minority-Serving Institutions

Introduction & Purpose

RWJF is committed to ensuring everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. To achieve this goal, we support research that examines the historical and systemic factors that cause health inequities. Some of those determinants are poverty, discrimination, and limited access to quality education, housing, safe environments, and healthcare. As attacks on data and academic freedom and ongoing funding cuts to federal health equity research and programs continue, philanthropy’s work to achieve fair and equitable health, including a more equitable research funding ecosystem, is more important than ever. While philanthropic support for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) has increased in recent years, there is more to be done to rectify historical disparities in funding. 

This call for proposals (CFP) provides support to health equity research centers at MSIs to strengthen research infrastructure and capacity-building. Capacity-building will help develop staff, skills, culture, resources, and systems that enable research to happen effectively. Specific work that RWJF may fund under this CFP includes specific skill or methodology training; faculty release time; support for research assistants, advisors, and project staffing; mentoring, professional development and collaboration, and more.

Through this CFP, RWJF will expand its efforts to transform deeply rooted beliefs about which data and research methods are valued, whose perspectives are prioritized, and which populations deserve resources. By supporting the infrastructure and capacity-building needs of MSIs, this opportunity strengthens their ability to generate critical evidence and to cultivate transformative, actionable solutions toward health equity. 

RWJF believes in health equity research that is grounded in systems thinking; supports and disseminates evidence identifying and implementing structural solutions to racial and health inequities. This CFP seeks mission-aligned institutions to participate in cohort-style peer learning to advance their ability to engage in health equity research and apply for competitive funding opportunities in the future.

Although no single philanthropy can fill the gap left by federal funding cuts, this CFP demonstrates strong support for research, historically underrepresented researchers, and research centers that are positioned to pave the way toward a future where health is not a privilege, but a right.

The D. Scott Cooper Nursing Foundation Scholarship, offered by the East Texas Communities Foundation, supports graduating seniors from high schools in Gregg, Rusk, or Smith Counties pursuing a nursing degree. This scholarship emphasizes financial need, requiring FAFSA documentation, and provides funding for one year. Established to foster educational pursuits, it reflects the Foundation's commitment to empowering young individuals to achieve their dreams in the field of nursing.

The Altrusa Club of Wenatchee Scholarship supports female graduates of Wenatchee Valley College pursuing further education. Funded by the Community Foundation of NCW, this scholarship aims to empower women through financial assistance based on need and academic merit. Eligible recipients must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 and demonstrate commitment to their educational goals. This initiative reflects the club's dedication to promoting women's education and ensuring their successful transition to higher learning institutions.

American Camp Association

The American Camp Association is a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 10,000 plus membership and our exceptional programs, we’re uniquely able to unleash the life-changing power of camp. Our work gives more children and adults the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else.

Character at Camp Grant Program

The purpose of this program is to provide financial support, training, and technical assistance for selected day and overnight camps in the U.S. who are interested in starting, enhancing, expanding, or celebrating character development programs or projects. By the end of the Character at Camp initiative, we anticipate camps in the US will represent one of the largest and most potent contexts for character development in the learning and development ecosystem.

Eligible organizations can apply for a Planning Grant, an Implementation Grant, or a Network Implementation Grant.

Planning Grants

Planning Grants are designed for organizations that need a year of planning, training, and capacity building before they can develop and implement a full character program or project.

The McKnight Brain Research Foundation Innovator Awards aim to support innovative research in cognitive aging and memory loss, offering two 3-year grants of $750,000 each. Targeted at early-career investigators, the program encourages high-risk, high-gain proposals that explore clinical translational research and the biological mechanisms of cognitive aging. By fostering emerging scientific leaders, the initiative seeks to advance transformative discoveries in this critical area of aging research, enhancing understanding and treatment of age-related cognitive decline.

American Camp Association

The American Camp Association is a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 10,000 plus membership and our exceptional programs, we’re uniquely able to unleash the life-changing power of camp. Our work gives more children and adults the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else.

Character at Camp Grant Program

The purpose of this program is to provide financial support, training, and technical assistance for selected day and overnight camps in the U.S. who are interested in starting, enhancing, expanding, or celebrating character development programs or projects. By the end of the Character at Camp initiative, we anticipate camps in the US will represent one of the largest and most potent contexts for character development in the learning and development ecosystem.

Eligible organizations can apply for a Planning Grant, an Implementation Grant, or a Network Implementation Grant.

Implementation Grants

Implementation Grants are designed for organizations that have a specific character program or project in mind and sufficient capacity to successfully implement that program or project starting in 2027. 

We welcome both individual and joint applications to the Implementation Grant Program.

Individual Applications 

Individual applications are for programs and projects that will be implemented by and for a single organization. Single organizations can propose programs and projects to be implemented across multiple sites — this would be considered an individual application as there is a single coordinating entity, and the small number of sites (less than six) operate more or less the same within this organization.

Joint Applications

Joint applications are for programs and projects that will be implemented by up to five organizations that will receive one grant award to implement programs and projects across each of the organizations. In this case, the organizations are either distinct and functionally independent from each other or are sites that operate more or less independently or with different programmatic foci from one another. One organization will submit the application and serve as the primary point of contact. Applicants submitting a joint application will be asked to identify the additional organizations in the application and to reflect budgetary allocations to these organizations

The Goble, Eldon and Frances Agriculture/Business Scholarship offers a $500 award to graduating seniors from Gage County, managed by the Beatrice Educational Foundation. Established in 1987, the foundation provides financial support to enhance educational opportunities in the Beatrice School District. Candidates are evaluated based on academic goals, achievements, and community involvement. Applications are available in the Student Services Office and online at www.beatricepublicschools.org, promoting academic excellence and civic engagement.

The Abbvie Parkinson’s Disease Grant aims to enhance the understanding and management of subcutaneous infusion therapies for advanced Parkinson’s disease. As these therapies become more prevalent, it is crucial for Movement Disorder Specialists and General Neurologists to develop confidence in identifying, mitigating, and managing infusion site events. This grant seeks to provide essential education and resources to support safe and effective treatment options for patients experiencing motor fluctuations.

The Thomas J. Sweeney Scholarship, established by the East Bay Community Foundation, honors labor leader Tom Sweeney. It awards $2,000 to graduating high school students accepted into college or university, and $1,000 to post-secondary students in undergraduate or graduate programs. Eligibility requires students to be members or dependents of IBEW Local 595 and maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher. This scholarship supports educational expenses, reflecting the Foundation's commitment to fostering academic success in the community.

American Camp Association

The American Camp Association is a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 10,000 plus membership and our exceptional programs, we’re uniquely able to unleash the life-changing power of camp. Our work gives more children and adults the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else.

Character at Camp Grant Program

The purpose of this program is to provide financial support, training, and technical assistance for selected day and overnight camps in the U.S. who are interested in starting, enhancing, expanding, or celebrating character development programs or projects. By the end of the Character at Camp initiative, we anticipate camps in the US will represent one of the largest and most potent contexts for character development in the learning and development ecosystem.

Eligible organizations can apply for a Planning Grant, an Implementation Grant, or a Network Implementation Grant.

Network Implementation Grants

Network Implentation Grants are designed for organizations that serve as the coordinating entity for 6+ camps that are eager to implement a character program or project with their on-site program teams. 

The Bob and Cheri Suttner Scholarship, administered by the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, supports residents from local school districts pursuing an electrical trade education. Established to promote careers in power line technology, this scholarship emphasizes the importance of skilled trades and aims to provide financial assistance for students attending technical colleges. It honors the legacy of Bob and Cheri Suttner, who dedicated their lives to the community and the electric utility profession.

The Tower Family Foundation Scholarship offers merit-based financial assistance to employees and dependents of NATE Member Companies, including those affected by severe injuries or disabilities. Valued up to $5,000 annually for full-time students, this scholarship supports tuition and related expenses. Eligible applicants must maintain a GPA of 2.5 and can renew their scholarships for up to four years. Applications are evaluated based on academic achievement and written essays.

The EDU Core Research (ECR) program by the National Science Foundation invites proposals for fundamental research that enhances STEM education. Focused on various research areas, including STEM learning and workforce development, it supports diverse educational activities for all age groups. The funding ranges from $500,000 to $2,500,000, with project durations of 3 to 5 years, emphasizing the importance of justifying funding levels in proposals to ensure alignment with research maturity.

The Christine A. Loetel Scholarship, offered by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, aims to support students with cerebral palsy or similar disabilities. Applicants must have a GPA of 2.5 or higher and demonstrate financial need through FAFSA-SAI. This renewable scholarship requires an essay and may involve an interview. By providing financial assistance, the scholarship fosters educational opportunities and enhances the quality of life for deserving students in the region.