Evanston Community Foundation Home Page
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 funds
  
unrestricted funds
  
field of interest funds
  
donor-advised funds
  
donor-designated funds
  
organizational endowments
  
climate action fund
  
Burnham Society
  

Funds

A broad range of fund types addresses the full array of community needs and opportunities to improve life in our community. Funds may be established by individuals, groups or organizations. A fund can be established with a single gift, or built with multiple contributions. Funds can be anonymous, named for the donor, or titled to highlight the fund's particular purpose.

Board-Directed Unrestricted Funds or General Support Funds pool gifts of all sizes to meet large needs, increasing the Foundation's capacity to respond to our community's most pressing concerns, today and tomorrow, even as those needs change over time. Unrestricted Foundation funds are typically endowed, but can also be unendowed or current-use funds.

Board-Directed Field of Interest Funds focus grant-making in a particular field of interest while granting the Foundation flexibility to use your gift to address specific needs as they evolve over time. Donors specify a field of interest when setting up a fund; grant distributions are determined annually by the Foundation board within its competitive grants program.

Donor-Advised Funds allow you to make one gift to the Foundation and recommend specific smaller grants from the fund according to your interests and timetable. This simple, powerful and highly personal approach to giving allows you to work with the Foundation's professional staff to identify issues and make grant recommendations. Awards are issued to grantees in the name of the fund (or anonymously if you prefer).

Donor-Designated Funds allow you to support the work of a specific nonprofit organization you designate, including scholarship funds.

Organizational Endowment Funds  are funds established by a nonprofit organization as a simple and efficient way to build an endowment and tap into the resources of the Foundation's investment management expertise.

Funds for Foundation Initiatives are typically unendowed funds developed to support a unique community initiative or project.