Funding Amount

$1,000 - $5,000

Deadline

Rolling / Open

Grant Type

Foundation

Deadline history & next window

Cycle
One-time opportunity
Tracked since
April 2026

Source: the cycle recorded on this listing. Confirm dates with the funder.

Can we apply?

Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.

Geography

  • Safety and security activities (determined by each organization based on its work, risk assessment, and identified needs)

Size & budget

  • An organizational budget under $4M

Required status

  • 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status

Other requirements

  • Constituency organizing and mobilization
  • Forming and sustaining coalitions
  • Leadership development and training
  • Public education

Overview

Geographic Scope: Chicagoland area (includes city and collar counties and, in some cases, statewide)

Rapid Response Fund grants support grassroots, community solutions and approaches through a variety of advocacy strategies that will protect women, girls, and gender-expansive people and their families and advance policies and interventions that center communities during times of uncertainty and attacks against fundamental rights. The fund supports safety and security-related costs—including legal, digital, and physical protections for community organizations and their teams.

What They Fund:

  • Short-term, one-time organizing, advocacy, and safety grants
  • Unforeseen program expenses
  • Operational capacity in response to urgent advocacy demands
  • Activities or costs related to ensuring the safety and security of community members and staff during periods of heightened risk or visibility

Eligible Activities:

  • Constituency organizing and mobilization
  • Forming and sustaining coalitions
  • Leadership development and training
  • Public education
  • Litigation
  • Research
  • Policy development and advocacy
  • Safety and security activities (determined by each organization based on its work, risk assessment, and identified needs)

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Must be a 501(c)(3) or have a fiscal grant with a 501(c)(3)
  • Operate in the Chicagoland area
  • Have an organizational budget under $4M
  • Be able to affirm CFW's guiding principles
  • Applicants are not required to have been previously funded by CFW

Contact:

  • Phone: 312-577-2801
  • Fax: 312-577-2802
  • TTY: 312-577-2803
  • Email: info@cfw.org
  • Address: 140 S. Dearborn St. Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60603

How to Apply

Application Process

Status: Applications have closed

No current application details are available as the application period has ended.

Past recipients of this program

Recent awards under this program (from Chicago Foundation for Women's IRS filings)

2 grants in Chicago Foundation for Women's 2021 filings reference “Rapid Response Fund” in their stated purpose. Amounts and places as reported by the funder.

What Chicago Foundation for Women actually gave

Source: IRS Form 990, 2025

Grants in 2025
149
Total given
$3.07M
Median grant
$15K
Range
$1,000–$147K
  • By dollars: Illinois 98%, New York <1%, Maryland <1%. Top recipient cities: Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Evanston, IL.
  • 77% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
  • 17% of recipients were new grantees, not repeat recipients.

Example grants

  • Ba NIA Incorporated · Chicago, IL

    General operating

    $147K

  • Sista Afya Community Care NFP · Chicago, IL

    General operating support

    $130K

  • Life Is Work · Chicago, IL

    General operating support

    $118K

  • Teamwork Englewood · Chicago, IL

    2025 englewood womens initiative

    $110K

  • Un Nuevo Despertar-A New Awakening · Chicago, IL

    General operating support

    $110K

IRS Form 990, 2025. Amounts as reported by the funder. Full 990 history →

Focus Areas & Funding Uses

Fields of Work

  • Women
  • LGBTQ
  • Grassroots
  • Social justice
  • Nonprofits

Categories

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