FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Foundation
Our official name is Polk Bros. Foundation. Please note that Bros. is intentionally abbreviated, and includes a period.
The stores (Polk Bros) and the park at Navy Pier (Polk Bros Park) are also both intentionally abbreviated, but do not include a period. Reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions you may have.
Polk Bros. Foundation is committed to making Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Polk Bros. Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to making Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Guided by three interconnected goals – Closing the Life Expectancy Gap, Building Community Wealth Across Generations, and Fostering Participatory, Multiracial Democracy – the Foundation invests in community-rooted efforts that shift the conditions holding inequity in place. Founded in 1988, Polk Bros. Foundation is one of the largest funders of Chicago nonprofits and a long-standing cross-sector partner, typically granting about $25 million each year and managing assets of roughly $450 million.
You can reach us for general inquiries at [email protected] or 312.527.4684. Polk Bros. Foundation’s offices are located at 20 West Kinzie Street, Suite 1110, Chicago, IL 60654-5815.
The best way to stay informed is to subscribe to our newsletter and follow Polk Bros. Foundation on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky.
We share updates about our work, funding opportunities and other Foundation news through these channels.
About Our Goals
The best place to start is by learning about our three goals. There, you’ll find an overview page about our goals and links to individual goal pages which describe the change we hope to help advance in Chicago and provides more detail about where and how we believe progress can happen.
To help organizations understand how their work may align with our goals, we have identified:
- Priority areas that describe where we believe the Foundation’s investment can help advance each goal
- Approaches that describe the ways we fund organizations to contribute to that change
- Outcomes that describe the results we hope our grantmaking can help support
We have intentionally focused on being clear about the outcomes we hope our grantmaking will support while welcoming organizations to propose how their work and expertise can help achieve those outcomes. We recognize that organizations addressing the challenges many Chicagoans face often have the deepest knowledge about the strategies, relationships and approaches needed to create change.
We encourage applications from organizations whose efforts contribute to multiple goals and work across multiple priority areas and approaches. Your organization does not need to fit within a single category.
For generations, Polk Bros. Foundation has supported organizations addressing some of Chicago’s most pressing challenges. As we looked toward the future, we asked ourselves how the Foundation and our resources could best contribute to lasting change. We believe that meeting immediate needs remains essential, but that lasting progress also requires addressing the conditions that create inequities in our city in the first place. Our goals, priority areas and approaches reflect that belief.
Our goals were shaped by research, community listening, conversations with nonprofit leaders and our own history as a grantmaker. These goals reflect areas where we believe our resources can make a meaningful contribution toward a more equitable Chicago while remaining responsive to community priorities and strengths.
We encourage applications from organizations whose efforts contribute to multiple goals and work across multiple priority areas and approaches. Your organization does not need to fit within a single category. When applying, identify the goal or goals that best reflect the outcomes your work is designed to advance and explain those connections in your application.
Yes, we recognize that meeting immediate needs is essential. We also believe lasting change requires addressing the conditions that caused inequity in the first place. That’s why we support a range of approaches — including immediate interventions, community power and influence, ecosystem of social change, and community innovation — when they align with our goals and contribute to the outcomes we hope to support.
Listening is an ongoing part of our work. We learn from nonprofit leaders, community leaders, researchers and other partners to better understand emerging challenges, opportunities and community priorities. Those perspectives help inform our grantmaking.
About Our Grantmaking Process
If you’re interested in applying for funding, we encourage you to first explore our goals and review detailed information about our grantmaking process.
Most organizations should apply through our Open Application. From time to time, we may also offer Requests for Proposals (RFPs) focused on a specific opportunity to advance progress toward one or more of our goals.
Polk Bros. Foundation only funds organizations located within and doing work within the city of Chicago. Rare exceptions are made.
To be considered for funding from Polk Bros. Foundation, organizations must meet the following baseline criteria:
- Be recognized by the IRS as eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions through Section 501(c)(3) status and as a public charity described in one of Sections 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2)
- Operate in/serve Chicago residents (see note below)
- Have been in operation for at least one year
- Have filed an IRS Form 990 for one of the two most recent fiscal years
A note about operating in/serving Chicago: Organizations that provide services, offer programs or build partnerships need to be based in Chicago and serve Chicago residents. Considerations are made for organizations whose scope of work is region-wide or statewide, but they must demonstrate that they operate a site or office in Chicago, closely partner with Chicago-based organizations, and/or conduct core work that benefits Chicago residents.
Organizations must wait at least 12 months from the date of their most recent Polk Bros. Foundation grant before receiving another grant. Because our Open Application and review process can take up to four months, organizations may begin a new application process as early as eight months after their most recent grant was issued. Because our Request for Proposals review process can take up to six months, organizations may apply six months after their last grant was issued.
Please note: Meeting these criteria does not guarantee funding.
Organizations must wait at least 12 months from the date of their most recent Polk Bros. Foundation grant before receiving another grant. Because our Open Application and review process can take up to four months, organizations may begin a new application process as early as eight months after their most recent grant was issued. Because our Request for Proposals review process can take up to six months, organizations may apply six months after their last grant was issued.
With that timing in mind, we welcome you to reintroduce your work to us through our Open Application as a first step toward being considered for funding. We ask all organizations seeking funding through our Open Application to complete an Introduction, including organizations we have funded in the past.
Visit the Our Grantmaking page to learn more about our process.
We welcome you to introduce your work to us through our Open Application as a first step toward being considered for funding. We ask all organizations seeking funding through our Open Application to complete an Introduction, including organizations we have funded in the past. Visit the Our Grantmaking page to learn more about our process.
Polk Bros. Foundation does not provide grant funding for:
- Initiatives or organizations that do not directly serve or benefit the residents of Chicago
- Projects or organizations situated outside the United States
- Religious institutions seeking support for programs whose participants are restricted by religious affiliation or whose services promote a particular creed
- Purchase of fundraising events or raffle tickets or advertising in dinner/gala programs
- Medical or scientific research
- Grants to individuals
- Private foundations or for-profit organizations
- Tax-generating entities (including municipalities, school districts or individual schools) for services within their normal responsibilities
Hate-Free and Non-Violent Grantmaking Policy
Hate has no place in the work of Polk Bros. Foundation, and grants will never be awarded to organizations that the Foundation knows or has reason to believe engage in hateful activities. “Hateful activities” are activities that incite or engage in violence, intimidation, harassment, threats, or defamation targeting an individual or group based on their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected class. The Foundation will implement this policy through its due diligence, relying on publicly available information from the IRS and organizations that monitor hate and extremism.
Additionally, the Foundation’s grantmaking shall not under any circumstances be used to fund violence of any kind, either directly or indirectly. Grants shall not be used to plan, incite, perpetrate, or otherwise contribute to violence, political or otherwise, nor shall they be used to fund activities that might lead to violence or the violation of local laws. Moreover, the Foundation shall not make grants of any kind to organizations known to plan, commit, permit, provoke, enable, or otherwise participate in acts of violence or those that might lead to violence.
Polk Bros. Foundation relies primarily on the IRS to regulate the charitable status of organizations, but if through our own diligence processes, we determine that an organization appears to engage in hateful or violent activities, the Foundation will not fund such an organization.
Yes, you can preview Open Application questions here. Requests for Proposals will also include a preview of questions.
If you’re interested in applying for funding, we encourage you to first explore our goals and review detailed information about our grantmaking process. Foundation staff also occasionally offer information sessions or open office hours. Because we receive many inquiries, and to be most equitable, we are not able to meet individually with applicants.
After you submit an Introduction through our Open Application or submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) in response to a Request for Proposals, the Foundation’s program staff review it to determine how your work aligns with our goals, priority areas, approaches and the outcomes we hope to support — all of which are described on our website. Organizations whose work is closely aligned will be asked to submit a full application. If your organization is not invited to move forward, you will hear from the Foundation. After receiving a full application, program staff conduct a more in-depth review, including a meeting with your organization and additional due diligence. Staff then determine whether to make a grant recommendation to our Board of Directors, which makes final funding decisions at its quarterly meetings. Applicants are notified after Board decisions are made.
Because of the volume of applications we receive, we are not able to provide individualized feedback.
Yes. Organizations whose proposals are not funded are welcome to apply again if they remain eligible and their work aligns with our goals. Applicants should review current grantmaking information on our website before submitting a future application.
