McCormick Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is a huge player in Chicago philanthropy, giving millions of dollars to local causes each year. Its areas of grantmaking are community development, community justice, democracy, education and veterans causes.
IP TAKE: This funder works toward equity and opportunity for all residents of Chicago and its surrounding areas, and it has funded a broad range of organizations whose programs align with their causes. McCormick accepts proposals for funding at any time.
PROFILE: Established in 1955 by the longtime Chicago Tribune publisher and editor, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States, with over $1 billion in assets. The foundation works in Chicago and the state of Illinois to “assist communities, to strengthen democracy, and help ensure that all families and children have the opportunities they need to flourish.” McCormick's grantmaking initiatives are community development, community justice, democracy, education and veterans causes.
Operating only in Chicago, the communities program focuses on economic opportunity through collaborations with nonprofits and community leaders. Recently the program has prioritized Chicago’s Little Village and Englewood neighborhoods. The community justice program, meanwhile, aims to reduce violence and simultaneously reform criminal justice. The initiative has worked toward steering youth away from engagement with violence, reducing incarceration and improving outcomes for the formerly incarcerated.
McCormick’s democracy democracy program aims to “inform and engage” citizens through three sub-initiatives that focus on journalism, youth and public institutions. In the area of journalism, the foundation supports responsible and “information rich” practices that support area residents of all races and ethnicities. The youth sub-program works in the areas of civics and journalism education. The foundation’s democracy program also works with public institutions toward transparency and accountability and prioritizes elections, the 2020 Census, immigration and polcymaking.
In education, McCormick prioritizes the first eight years of life and works extensively in the areas of early childhood education and services, kindergarten readiness and literacy. Funding prioritizes Chicago’s most vulnerable children.
Veterans funding prioritizes men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Grants have gone to organizations that work in veterans employment, behavioral health and service coordination programs.
In addition to these named funding programs, the McCormick Foundation sustains the museums, parks, gardens and golf course at the founder's Cantigny Park estate in suburban Wheaton, Illinois. This 500-acre farm was owned by Robert McCormick, and he arranged for it to become a public park in his will.
Foundation grants tend to range from $10,000 to $500,000, with an average grants size of about $50,000. While most grants support organizations in Chicago, funding supports projects and organizations in other parts of Illinois, as well. Past grantees include Enlace Chicago, the Chicago Community Trust, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Metropolitan Family Services.
The foundation welcomes funding requests from nonprofits that work within its core priority areas. Grantseekers can reach out to the foundation with general questions at 312-445-5000 or info@mccormichfoundation.org.
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