A GOOD PLACE FOR ALL

A more equitable and inclusive Evanston has been our mission for over 30 years. We're invested in our home.

The Now! Fund invests in the immediate work of the Foundation. Your donation supports ECF and enables us to make grants, bring new ideas to fruition, and mobilize people, ideas, and talent. Consider a gift today.

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News & Events

ECF's Grant Showcase & Annual Meeting will be held at the Merion's Crystal Ballroom on JUNE 7 - Learn more & RSVP

Eligible organizations can apply for E-Town Innovation Grants. Apply by MAY 23, 2022. Note: this is a new (extended) deadline.

Local organizations can register to attend the upcoming May and June workshops in the series on Steady Resilience.

ECF is hiring a Director of Donor Relations. Learn about the position and how to apply.

ECF announced it will receive nearly $45,000 as the secondary beneficiary of the 2022 Northwestern University Dance Marathon (NUDM), the 25th year of this partnership. Read the full story.

Learn about ECF's Equity Promise, and stand with us by giving to the Now! Fund today.

ECF leads effort to engage community as Evanston considers how to spend $43M in ARPA Rescue Funds. Learn more and read the report, available in English and Spanish.

The Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston (RSAE) announced the establishment of a Fund with ECF that will provide investment support to advance Evanston’s Reparations Program.

Sobre la Fundación. ¡Se habla español! La oficina de Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) es bilingüe. Para servir a nuestra communidad de una manera mas efectiva, favor de contactarnos al 847-492-0990 o mándarnos un correo electrónico.

ECF's work during covid-19 crisis

Since mid-March, 2020 Evanston Community Foundation has radically expanded its fundraising and restructured its grantmaking and programs to respond to the new world shaped by Covid-19.

By March 18, 2020 ECF launched the Evanston Community Rapid Response Fund with $100,000 seed money from endowment to foster a unified philanthropic response to address the impact of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in the Evanston community. As of April 15, 2021, when the Now!Fund succeeded the Rapid Response Fund, generous Evanstonians had contributed over $4.4 million.

ECF immediately created a strategic vision for the use of the Fund, focused on relief, recovery, and rebuilding. Learn more about that strategy and exactly how over $4.6 million in ECRR and other ECF funds have been invested in the community since March 23, 2020.

In mid-2021, while continuing investments in collective and enduring systems, as well as immediate needs, ECF introduced two new grant programs, focused on nonprofit growth & sustainability and innovative solutions to address our current challenges. We will continue to work together in 2022 and beyond to reimagine a more equitable Evanston in a post-COVID world.