Community Services & Jewish Community Grants

The Circle of Service Foundation offers grants to enhance community well-being, focusing on areas such as Education, Jewish Community, Medical Research, and Community Services in Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois. The foundation emphasizes challenge grants and invites applications for specific programs or general operating support. Eligible organizations must demonstrate a commitment to raising funds and fulfilling the foundation's mission, while also being classified as public charities under the Internal Revenue Code.

Circle of Service Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants to support great organizations to enhance community, opportunity and well-being.
We believe that challenge grants are powerful tools in the fundraising toolboxes of the organizations we support, and strategies from our grant recipients confirm this. Accordingly, most of our grants have a challenge component.
We welcome grant applications both for specific programs and general operating support. Each of our grants generally can be categorized into one of our four focus areas.
Education
Our Education program supports organizations that optimize opportunities for low-income youth to live engaged and productive lives. Education grants are by invitation only. If you have a new program that aligns with our giving area, please feel free to contact us.
Our Jewish Community program supports organizations that generate and maintain a vibrant, cohesive and engaging Jewish community in Chicago and the United States, committed to the well-being of Israel and Jewish communities around the world.
Medical Research
Our Medical Research program supports organizations that seek to advance scientific and medical research focused on the diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure of cancer and other diseases. Medical Research grants are by invitation only.
Our Community Services program supports organizations in Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois that help individuals achieve stability in their lives and grow to achieve increasing self-reliance and independence.

Eligibility

If you are thinking of applying for a grant, please make sure that:You or one of your programs is consistent with one of our focus areas: For Community Services and Jewish Community requests, you or your program is in Cook County or Lake County, Illinois.Please Note: We accept applications by invitation only for: Education requests (if you have a new program that aligns with our giving area, please feel free to contact us); Jewish Community requests for organizations without programming in Cook or Lake County, Illinois; and Medical Research requests.You are a public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. If your organization is also classified under Section 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, please contact us before applying.You have the capacity to fulfill a Circle of Service Foundation (COSF) Challenge Grant. You are willing to raise funds from new donors and increased funds from existing donors, and you are able to effectively track and report on these new and additional donationsDuring your last fiscal year, you had a broad base of non-governmental supporters andreceived at least $75,000 in private revenue. For a discussion of what private revenue is, please see our Eligible Gifts FAQs. If you are an established organization, you can also provide recent evaluation results (internal or external) and your analysis of those results.

Ineligibility

We do not accept unsolicited Pre-applications for the following focus areas:

• Education (if you have a new program that aligns with our giving area, please feel free to contact us)
• Jewish Community (outside of Cook and/or Lake County)
• Medical ResearchWe do not accept unsolicited applications for capital grants.