A YEAR OF CHALLENGE, A YEAR OF ACTION

HOW ECF IS MEETING THE MOMENT IN 2025:

Despite federal budget cuts and growing needs, our community continues to rise to the occasion. With your support, we’re meeting this moment with responsive grantmaking, powerful collaboration, and bold investments in the local leaders and organizations moving Evanston forward.

Investing in Evanston

See how ECF met the moment when Evanston needed it most. Discover how fast action helped our nonprofits stay strong. 

Empowering Leaders

Going through Leadership Evanston changed how I see my work — and my community. 



Advancing Justice

Behind every act of justice is a story of care and courage. Discover how your support helps families find stability — and hope. 


2025 GRANTS:

  • ECF launched Resilience Grants in 2025 to support nonprofits experiencing unexpected financial hardship due to federal, state, and local funding loss.


    • Childcare Network of Evanston 
    • Curt’s Café 
    • Erie Family Health Center (Evanston/Skokie) 
    • Evanston CASE 
    • Evanston Public Library (Friends of the Evanston Public Library, fiscal sponsor) 
    • Evanston Scholars 
    • Family Promise Chicago North Shore 
    • Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) 
    • Infant Welfare Society of Evanston (IWSE) 
    • James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy 
    • Northlight Theatre 
    • Open Communities 
    • Padres Empoderados 
    • PEER Services, Inc. 
    • Rebuilding Exchange 
    • The Harbour, Inc. 
    • Youth Opportunity United (Y.O.U.) 

  • These grants are selected by ECF's community-led committees to provide unrestricted funding to local nonprofits.

    • Books & Breakfast 
    • Chessmen Club of the North Shore 
    • Childcare Network of Evanston 
    • Connections for the Homeless 
    • Curt’s Café 
    • Erie Family Health Centers, 
    • Evanston Branch 
    • Evanston ASPA 
    • Evanston Grows 
    • Evanston PEACE (Community Organizing and Family Issues – COFI) 
    • Family Promise Chicago North Shore 
    • Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum 
    • Her Rising Initiative 
    • Infant Welfare Society of Evanston (IWSE) 
    • James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy 
    • McGaw YMCA 
    • Open Communities 
    • Padres Empoderados 
    • Shorefront Legacy Center 
    • Sokana Collective Worldwide 
    • YWCA Evanston/North Shore 




  • Collective & Enduring Grants support long-term solutions through collaboration and multi-year investments. These grants fund partnerships between nonprofits and community stakeholder working together to tackle complex challenges and drive lasting, systemic change in Evanston.

    • Books & Breakfast – 2025 Summer Program 
    • City of Evanston – Financial Empowerment Center 

  • Catalyst Grants are small but powerful seed investments that help bold ideas take root. These grants often support new or under-resourced efforts that, with the right spark, can grow into lasting community impact.

    • City of Evanston – 2025 Town Gown Conference 
    • City of Evanston – UpSquad 
    • Evanston Community Cooperative – Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA) 
    • Evanston Public Library - Evanston Care Network Sunset 
    • Evanston RoundTable Media - Racial Equity Journalist 

GIVE NOW

The Now Fund empowers ECF to serve the community now, and through out the year, enabling us to make immediate grants, bring new ideas to fruition, and mobilize money, people, ideas, and talent in times of immediate need.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to our 2025 Corporate Community Partners. Your partnership empowers our work to create a vibrant, just, and equitable Evanston.

VIEW OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSBECOME A COMMUNITY PARTNER