Crossroads Fund
OVERVIEW: The Crossroads Fund supports community-based organizations working to dismantle systems of racial, social, and economic oppression in the Chicago area.
IP TAKE: This transparent funder supports underrepresented groups and marginalized communities across the greater Chicago area. Its efforts to dismantle systemic oppression touch on almost any issue you can think of, and as long as your project serves marginalized communities and youth organizations and promotes racial, social, and economic justice in some way, you have a shot at funding. The fund’s informative funding criteria page should prove helpful for new grantseekers trying to navigate the Crossroads process for the first time.
Grantmaking is mainly limited to organizations operating in Chicago, so grantseekers from outside the Windy City will likely need to look elsewhere. The fund frequently awards multi-year grants, but offers some room for new grantees.
PROFILE: A group of 12 likeminded activists got together to found the Crossroads Fund in 1979 to support “[c]ommunity organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area.” Current grantmaking focuses on organizations working for social change, cross-issue organizing and the development of grassroots leadership. The foundation prioritizes applications from “historically marginalized communities” and conducts grantmaking to support LGBTQ causes, arts and culture, criminal justice, disability rights, the environment, community development, workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, women and girls and youth development.
Grants for Chicago
At this writing, the Crossroads Foundation accepts applications for four funding programs, which intersect with support for racial equity, human rights, criminal justice, the environment, community and economic development, as well as women and girls. Guidelines and due dates for each program are provided on individual program pages:
The Seed Fund provides start-up grants of up to $15,000 to new organizations working in the foundation’s areas of interest.
Technical assistance grants provide up to $5,000 to organizations for projects including technology upgrades, training, conferences and events.
The Critical Response Fund prioritizes existing Crossroads grantees and provides emergency grants of $3,000 – $5,000.
The Youth Fund for Social Change provides grants of up to $15,000 to youth groups working toward social justice in their communities.
The fund also operates programs that serve Crossroads grantees and other groups in Chicago.
The Capacity Building Initiative “provides high-quality, technical assistance to grantees so that their work towards social change aligns with their values and continues to build on a strong foundation.”
The Cultivate: Women of Color Leadership program is a yearlong program focused on leadership building and development.
To learn more about the types of organizations the Crossroads Fund supports, explore its list of past grantees.
Grants for LGBTQ
In the LGBTQ rights space, Crossroads “[h]as been an ally and supporter of a broad-based LGBTQ movement” for decades and continues to provide funding for new and emerging LGBTQ organizations in Chicago.
Past grantees include the 750 Club, which received funding for its work providing stable housing for queer youth, and the Transgender Oral History Project, which received a grant for its community project promoting diverse stories from within transgender and gender variant communities. To learn more about the types of LGBTQ organizations the Crossroads Fund supports, explore its list of past grantees.
Grants for Arts and Culture
While Crossroads does not have a unique program area dedicated to arts and cultural groups, it does make some smaller grants in this space across all of its established programs.
Past grantees include Circles and Cyphers, Warehouse Project & Gallery, Chicago Palestine Film Festival, alt_Chicago, and Free Write Arts & Literacy, a Chicago organization that focuses on “Co-designing creative spaces with incarcerated and criminalized youth as they become the authors of their own futures.”
Important Grant Details:
In recent years, Crossroads has made between $500,000 and $700,000 a year in grants. Grants are generally awarded in amounts of up to $100,000, with an average grant size of about $10,000. With only a few exceptions, grantmaking is limited to the greater Chicago area. Read over the funding criteria before applying via the online application system.
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