Evanston Community Foundation announces first-ever Operating Grants Program
Today, the Evanston Community Foundation announced the launch of its Operating Grants Program, offering up to $25K in funding for organizations that are anticipating difficulty in paying rent, mortgage, other occupancy costs, or making payroll in April and May 2020.
The first deadline for the first round application is today, April 16th, with a second round planned for May. Grants will be awarded by April 27. Click here for more information on the Operating Grants.
ECF is offering operating grants for the first time in order to help nonprofits weather the challenges of lost earned and fundraising revenue during the crisis.
“Part of our mission is to sustain a thriving nonprofit community. These operating grants are providing Evanston organizations with the support they need now to withstand the significant financial burdens of this pandemic,” Monique Jones, ECF's president and CEO.
The Operating Grants will support nonprofit organizations endangered due to the pandemic. They will focus on organizations that are at high risk of closure due to the inability to meet financial obligations, or of widespread staff reductions likely to impair the organization’s ability to carry out its mission, either during the pandemic or after it subsides.
ECF has also announced the fourth round of its strategic Evanston Community Rapid Response grants, which will support the Farmworkers Landscapers Advocacy Project (FLAP) and Evanston Cradle to Career to provide support to undocumented families, and to Gyros Planet Evanston, 1903 Church Street, which is helping to address food insecurity in Evanston's Latinx community. The fifth-ward restaurant is owned by husband and wife Pablo Sanchez and Erika Sanchez.
Another grant being distributed is a collaborative effort to provide Chromebooks to students whose homes either do not have a device or where there are three or more sharing a single device.
