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Guidelines & Criteria

Funding Priorities

An Integrated Approach To Community Organizing And Public Policy

Program Area: Community Organizing

Program Area: Public Policy

What is a “Policy Proposal”?

Program Area: Arts and Culture

Additional Funding Information

Other Projects

Multiyear Funding

An Integrated Approach to Community Organizing and Public Policy

The Woods Fund of Chicago has traditionally supported two program areas: Community Organizing and Public Policy. (Both of these program areas are described in detail below)

Believing that project outcomes for grantees in both Community Organizing and Public Policy program areas can be strengthened through an integrated approach, the Woods Fund particularly welcomes proposals that closely integrate the aims of both of the Community Organizing and Policy program areas. In the Community Organizing program, for instance, the Woods Fund looks for organizations with strategies that build the capacity to move beyond local issues and more purposefully address system and policy change. With respect to its Public Policy program area, the Woods Fund seeks to enable policy organizations to better understand that the political realities for system change are grounded in the context of the affected community, so that they might develop effective change strategies rooted in these understandings and increase their skills in translating local issues into systemic solutions. Such policies might address issues of employment and income, affordable housing, public school.

The Woods Fund recognizes that community organizations and coalitions are at various stages of development and may need to build their capacities to achieve these objectives. To that end, the Woods Fund welcomes proposals from new and emerging, as well as established, community-based organizations and from temporary or permanent coalitions.

Program Area: Community Organizing

Community organizing enables democracy at the grassroots level and beyond. It is a process that brings together into an influential group people who, individually, may lack sufficient power to improve their opportunities and their communities. Once organized into an effective organization, individuals gain a vehicle for articulating their concerns and goals, proposing ideas and solutions, demanding accountability from influential forces, and shaping the relevant public policies. Successful organizing "builds power for effective action in the public arena". It also generates hope, fosters leadership as well as intentional communities of interest, and strengthens institutions in economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. As a structure, community organizing is largely comprised of dedicated volunteers, assisted by professional or volunteer leaders.

The Woods Fund aims to support community organizing that:

• Develops independent, community-controlled organizations that elect their own leaders and determine their own “grassroots” issues

• Demonstrates a willingness to develop, or already possesses experience in developing, relationships with similar organizations and broad-based coalitions to achieve greater impact both within and beyond the Chicago area

• Seeks to shape public policies through strategies that provide participatory and leadership opportunities for the residents of economically disadvantaged communities

• Continually reflects on, improves and documents practices to increase effectiveness of both operations and outreach (particularly developing new leaders, members, and strategies to engage less advantaged residents)

• Shares best practices and learning experiences with other grantees and stakeholders

Organizations wishing to apply for a Woods Fund Community Organizing Grant should follow the instructions under Applicant Procedures and Forms.

Program Area: Public Policy

The Public Policy program area primarily supports policy and constituency-building work that helps low-income individuals and families to attain higher standards of living. It encourages links between workforce development policies, income security, and supportive programs, which address issues of poverty among low-wage workers as well as unskilled potential workers. Although employment, workforce development, and income security issues are a principal interest, the Woods Fund also will consider proposals addressing affordable housing, public school reform, governmental accountability, and other issues deemed important by Chicago's less advantaged people.

With respect to the emphasis on employment related issues, the Woods Fund prefers to support policy efforts that are designed to: (1) reduce structural barriers to job opportunities, job retention, and job advancement; and (2) enable the working poor to meet their family’s basic needs.

Of those who face significant barriers to employment, three particular groups are of special concern, those who:

• Encounter discrimination, exploitation, and other barriers to job opportunity, job retention, and job advancement based on race, immigration status, and gender

• Have prison records or felony convictions that make it difficult for them to enter the workforce. "Get tough" policies for youth and adults and mandatory sentencing guidelines have produced significant numbers of ex-offenders who return to their communities and find that their penal history is a serious barrier to securing gainful employment.

• Lack basic skills and job readiness training that would allow them to enter and advance in the labor market. While most job-ready people find employment, those left behind need "hard skills" to perform jobs and "soft skills" to get and retain jobs

What Is a “Policy” Proposal

Policy proposals seek to improve the effectiveness of public laws and regulations, inform the use of public funds, and address private sector employment practices that impact upon people’s ability to work and live above the poverty line. Policy proposals may also seek to improve the process by which public policy is made, by making it more inclusive, more collaborative, and more responsive to ordinary citizens’ interests.

Policy change activities may include:

• Constituency building to engage more people, particularly the less advantaged people, in issue awareness and solutions-based participation

• Research and information gathering, including learning more about an issue and its effect upon people, evaluating programs or policies, and identifying best practices

• Networking and coalition building to bring groups together in a coordinated strategy to win effective solutions to policy barriers

• Providing technical information to public officials and administrators

• Media and communications strategies that raise awareness and educate the public and policy makers about low-wage workers’ most common concerns, as well as viable policy solutions to those concerns

• Demonstration projects that inform policy where an experience or idea vacuum exists. Demonstration proposals must explain why a demonstration is needed to inform policy and provide specific plans for impacting policy based on the results of the demonstration.

Organizations wishing to apply for a Woods Fund Public Policy Grant should follow the instructions under Applicant Procedures and Forms.

Program Area: Arts and Culture

Chicago is a city rich in excellent cultural organizations and programs. Woods Fund of Chicago recognizes the important role that a full, vibrant spectrum of the arts and humanities plays in enhancing the quality of life. To that end, the Woods Fund is interested in supporting high-quality cultural programming that naturally aligns with the Woods Fund’s overall grantmaking mission.

Specifically, the Woods Fund is interested in cultural organizations and initiatives that actively explore the role of the arts in engaging people in civic life. A suitable project for consideration in this program area would ideally combine artistic pursuits with community building or organizing. An organization applying for a Woods Fund Arts and Culture Grant will be asked to describe how its program goals align with the Woods Fund’s goals. Possible examples include:

• Increasing opportunities for people and communities that have limited access to cultural resources

• Bridging cultural and racial divides

• Building common ground and developing a sense of community

• Developing employment and economic opportunities for lower-income people

• Exploring community issues

Special consideration will be given to organizations or projects that strive to:

• Build participation in civic affairs

• Develop community leadership

• Connect their project to facilitate and/or highlight community issue analysis or policy development

The Woods Fund awards two types of Arts and Culture Grants:

MULTIYEAR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT FOR MID-SIZED ARTS AND HUMANITIES ORGANIZATIONS

In these times of shrinking funding for the arts and humanities, paying staff and turning on the lights are major challenges. The Woods Fund seeks to support mid-sized cultural organizations through multiyear general operating grants. Applying organizations must possess current 501c(3) nonprofit status, demonstrate a primarily cultural focus, and have an annual operating budget between $200,000 and $1 million as demonstrated by financial statements for the prior year, as well as budgets for the current fiscal year and year for which the grant is requested. Grants may be awarded for periods of up to three years, and are generally awarded in the $10,000 to $15,000 range per year.

COMMUNITY BUILDING AND/OR POLICY-BASED CULTURAL PROJECTS

The Woods Fund is also interested in community-building, community-based, or policy-based cultural projects or initiatives. Grants will generally range from $10,000 to $25,000 per year, though in special instances, smaller grants will be considered for small organizations or projects. New or experimental initiatives, special one-time projects, and proposals for technical assistance are also welcome. This type of grant may also be provided for multiyear projects, but all projects must have demonstrated timelines with stated completion dates. Ongoing projects will not be considered for this grant.

Organizations receiving multiyear support for either type of Woods Fund Arts and Culture Grant must submit annual update reports at the end of Year 1. The Woods Fund will continue funding for future years if the report receives a favorable review by staff.

The Woods Fund asks organizations that have received multiyear support for three consecutive years to wait two years after the completion of prior grants before reapplying for Fund support.

Organizations wishing to apply for a Woods Fund Arts and Culture Grant should follow the instructions under Applicant Procedures and Forms. Potential applicants should be aware that Woods Fund Arts and Culture Grants are awarded annually in June.

Other Projects

Over the years, the Woods Fund has invested in a range of projects aimed at improving the quality of life of the area’s less advantaged residents. While the Fund focuses primarily upon the Community Organizing and Public Policy program areas, it will continue to consider other innovative proposals that may benefit the Chicago area’s less advantaged residents and communities.

Grant seekers who believe they have such a proposal may submit the Inquiry Form that is included in the Application Package under Applicant Procedures and Forms.

Multiyear Funding

The Woods Fund is open to receiving requests for multiyear funding from organizations that have performed consistently and effectively in the past, and can communicate carefully considered visions for their future. Grant seekers who apply for multiyear funding should be aware that multiyear funding is not automatically granted to successful applicants. The decision to award a multiyear grant will depend on a number of factors, including a clear and well-organized plan that includes methods used to evaluate progress, the number of organizations seeking multiyear funding, and the amount of Woods Fund funding available for long-term commitments. Thus, applicants for multiyear funding may, even if accepted, receive funding only for one year.