Our impact on the community

The Evanston Community Foundation is an organization of neighbors for neighbors. We look at Evanston as a distinctive hub for the North Shore of Chicago. We ask the people who live, work, and congregate here: What is good about this place? What could be better? And: What would it take to get there together? We listen hard - and dream big.

Since 1986, we have helped Evanston by creating endowment funds to meet current and future community needs, making grants, training community leaders, and by raising awareness of community challenges.

• We have built and manage some $10 million in more than 50 funds
• We have awarded more than $4.05 million in charitable payouts, $2.45 of which in competitive and strategic grantmaking
• We have convened citizens to discuss issues ranging from childcare to affordable housing to advocacy for women and girls and the role of the arts in community.
• We have conducted programs on fundraising, board development, family philanthropy, and changing tax laws — all to maximize and retain philanthropic resources in Evanston.
• We have emerged as a source of reliable information and expert guidance for the Evanston community
• We created Leadership Evanston to assist individuals who want to better understand the community and engage more effectively as citizen-leaders.  We currently have over 400 alumni of the program.

In the years since 2001, the Foundation has begun investing in a modest infrastructure (a small staff, space, and technology to strengthen services to applicants, grantees and donors),  ensuring the capacity to fulfill our mission in the community and extend the development of locally-based philanthropy on the North Shore.

The foundation is engaged in a long-term major initiative called Communityworks that aims to identify community priorities in the areas of early childhood care and education, workforce training and development, and land use and protection, provide new grant funds in these areas, and evaluate community progress towards objectives. Current emphasis on is supporting vulnerable families with children birth to 3, with the goal of having Every child ready for kindergarten, every youth ready for work.