How to Apply - Grand Victoria Foundation

How To Apply

Grand Victoria Foundation is at the forefront of catalyzing racial justice and equity in Illinois, focusing our efforts on empowering and uplifting Black communities and other communities of color towards collective liberation. Our grants are now directed towards three critical areas: Building Community Power, Amplifying Black Voices, and Leadership Growth & Organization Development. If your organization's work is dedicated to making a significant impact within these realms, we invite you to explore this section for detailed information on our grantmaking guidelines and the application process.

Rapid Response grant applications are no longer being accepted for the remainder of the year. Please check back in January 2025.

Eligibility

To be considered for funding, an organization must be registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity or be partnered with a fiscal sponsor or fiscal agent that meets this requirement. We support organizations in Illinois whose work is a strong fit with our theory of action and grant programs.

We fund organizations that demonstrate high quality and high impact, good governance, management, and fiscal health.

Where We Fund

The Foundation funds organizations throughout Illinois. We look for efforts that have an impact at county, regional or statewide levels.

How We Fund

In the past decade, there has been a groundswell of research that shows long-term nonprofit success is closely tied to obtaining general operating support, multi-year grant support, and access to capacity-building resources. All three are the cornerstone of Grand Victoria’s approach to grantee partnership.

What the Foundation Does Not Fund

The Foundation does not provide funding for the following:

Individuals
Direct Service
Political campaigns
Religious purposes
Governmental entities

Application Process

Our application process starts with the submission of a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). All new applicants or previous applicants with new ideas should submit an LOI. Returning grantees seeking renewal funding will be contacted by a member of our team prior to their grant term end date to discuss proposal submission.

Letters of Inquiry for all program areas are accepted on a rolling basis and may be submitted throughout the year.

Prior to submitting an LOI, we recommend that you visit the What We Fund page for an overview of our program areas. If you believe your work aligns with our funding priorities and your organization meets our eligibility requirements, please visit the grant portal link below to submit an LOI, where you will summarize your request and what you plan to accomplish. To submit a Letter of Inquiry, click the link below.

Submit Letter of Inquiry

Preparing Your Letter

The LOI narrative should be two pages or less, in 12-point type on your organization’s letterhead, and signed by a member of your staff who has the authority to accept and manage a grant. When preparing your LOI, please address the following points:

For General Operating Requests:

Provide a brief description of your organization
State the amount you plan to request from Grand Victoria Foundation
Describe how you envision your work fitting with the Foundation’s program areas and priority approaches
Describe how your organization understands and works toward systems change, equity, and improving conditions for Illinois residents
Describe how you plan to strengthen your organization as a result of funding

For Project Requests:

Provide a brief description of your organization
State the amount you plan to request from Grand Victoria Foundation
Describe how you envision the project fitting with the Foundation’s program areas and priority approaches
Describe how this project will influence systems change, equity, and improve conditions for Illinois residents
Highlight the high-level goals and timing of the project

Supplemental Financial Information

In addition to your LOI narrative, you will be asked to submit the following financial information:

Organizations applying for general operating support should submit an organizational budget for the current year that reflects both revenues and expenses
Organizations applying for project support should submit a project-specific budget detailing expected revenues and expenses for the entire project as well as a breakdown of how Grand Victoria Foundation funds will be spent. They should also submit an organizational budget for the current year that reflects both revenues and expenses

Once submitted, please allow our staff up to 30 days to respond to your LOI request. If you do not receive a response within that time, please contact our Manager of Grants & Program Administration at (312) 609-0200 to confirm that your application was received.

Grant Proposal

Upon review of your LOI, staff will determine if a full proposal will be invited. Please note that the Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. Organizations that are invited to submit a full proposal will receive a formal invitation via email with instructions.

Upon submission of a proposal, the Foundation undertakes a thorough review process that may take up to 90 days or longer.

After Grant Approval

If an invited proposal is approved for a grant, grantees will be required to submit a report after each year of the funding cycle. Reporting deadlines and details will be indicated in the grant agreement. Reports must be submitted online by logging into the Foundation’s Grant Portal using your existing user name and password.

Final reports must be received and approved by the Foundation prior to the review of any subsequent requests for funding. When submitting a request for renewal funding, organizations will be required to submit their final report at the time of proposal submission. The report should detail all activities that have occurred in the grant period to date and provide a description of the projected activities for the remaining months covered by the grant.

General FAQ’s

Is Grand Victoria Foundation a corporate foundation?

We are a private foundation incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization to grant money to charitable causes in Illinois. Funding for private foundations typically come from a single individual, a family, or a corporation, which in our case is Grand Victoria Casino

How is Grand Victoria Foundation affiliated with Grand Victoria Casino?

The Foundation was established in 1996 under an agreement with Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois. The agreement provides for an annual contribution to the Foundation equal to 12.5% of the Casino’s annual net operating income.

Who do I contact for more information?

For information on a specific program area, please contact our program staff member listed on each grant program page
For information on grant funding, application process, or assistance with the Grant Portal, please contact Jeanna Rathell at (312) 609-0200 or [email protected]
For general information about the Foundation, please contact us at (312) 609-0200 or [email protected]
Visit our Team page to reach out to individual staff members

Grant Funding & Application FAQs

What does Grand Victoria Foundation typically support?

Through our funding, we aim to change and improve conditions that persistently hold problems in place. This includes work to improve policies or practices, ensure fair access to resources in our areas of interest; change old narratives to promote new ideas; and shift power dynamics to achieve equitable outcomes that reduce disparities among groups and communities.

General operating, project and multi-year grants are available for organizations that meet our eligibility requirements and are engaged in activities consistent with the Foundation’s priorities.

The Foundation does not provide grants for the following:

Individuals
Direct Services (with the exception of the Elgin Program)
Political campaigns
Religious purposes
Governmental entities

What geographic areas does the Foundation fund?

The Foundation funds organizations throughout the state of Illinois. We look for efforts that have impact at county, regional or statewide levels. We do not support organizations that solely serve or impact the city of Chicago.

We are a new organization. Can we apply for funding?

We welcome requests from 501(c)(3) organizations that meet our eligibility requirements and are engaged in activities consistent with our priorities. In general, we give priority to organizations with an established track record. This includes organizations that act as fiscal agents or sponsors for other organizations or projects.

I submitted a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). When do I find out if my application was approved?

Once submitted, please allow our staff up to 30 days to respond to your LOI request. If you do not receive a response within that time, please contact our Manager of Grants and Program Administration at (312) 609-0200 to confirm that your application was received.

Does the Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?

Unfortunately, we do not accept unsolicited proposals and only consider proposals that have been invited

Technical FAQ’s

How do I begin the application process?

If you have read the guidelines and think there is a good fit, please complete our online application which includes a Letter of Inquiry in which you summarize what you plan to accomplish. LOIs can be submitted by completing an application in our Grant Portal. If your organization does not have an account, please click Create an Account. You will be prompted to create an account by submitting your email address, and then an activation link will be sent to you.

If I am having trouble completing my application online, what should I do?

You are able to save your application and come back to it later. To continue working on an in-progress application, please login to the Grant Portal using the username and password you used to create your account.

The application will not submit if required questions are not answered. Required questions are noted by a red asterisk before the question. Please check that you are using Internet Explorer to access your account and submit your application. Other browsers are not supported and you may experience issues with the portal.

Please contact us if your problem persists. We encourage you to begin your application in the online system as early as possible so we have time to offer you full support.