Field of Interest Funds

By establishing a Field of Interest Fund, you dedicate your gift to needs in an important area of community life that you define. The Evanston Community Foundation board then awards grants to community organizations and programs that are making a difference in the field you select. Your gift stays flexible to meet changing community needs.

You can make additional contributions at any time to the Field of Interest Fund you establish, as can others who share your interests. These endowed funds are permanent community funding resources.

Current Field of Interest Funds include:

• The Acorn Fund (2003) – to seed new projects and initiatives
• All Our Sons (2004) – to support boys in the development of the skills they need to become responsible young men in our community.
• Arts in Community Fund (2003) – to support the arts as a vital force in Evanston
• Balkcom Family Fund (2006) – to promote literacy and affordable housing
• Communityworks Fund (2003) – allows you to invest in the Foundation’s project to ensure that every Evanston child is ready for kindergarten. Gifts to this fund before August 2011 will be matched by the Grand Victoria Foundation.
• Cultural Diversity Initiative (2003) – to support early childcare projects and teacher training that encourage development of appreciation and understanding among racial and ethnic groups
• Faith Vilas Fund for Youth (1997) – a fund that supports grants for the benefit of youth
• Fund for Women and Girls (2003) – a fund that advances the potential of women and girls, empowering them for work and life
• Green Communities (2006) – to encourage environmental preservation and protection, resource conservation, and green building
• Leadership Fund (1993) – to support the Leadership Evanston program of ECF
• Leonard Fisher Fund for Nursing Education (2003)- to expand the knowledge and patient care skills that only a nurse can provide by supporting nurses' participation in continuing education conferences and training programs.
• Pearl and Sander Davis Fund for CommunityWorks (2003) – supports grantmaking within CommunityWorks