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Grant Opportunities 

CFW’s Rapid Response Fund

The application for CFW’s Rapid Response Fund has closed. 

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 this time of uncertainty and attacks against fundamental rights.

In response to the shifting environment, the fund also supports safety and security-related costs—including legal, digital, and physical protections for community organizations and their teams. The grant will support the unexpected or unbudgeted costs associated with community work and advocacy.

Process and Eligibility 

The Rapid Response Fund will award short-term, one-time organizing, advocacy, and safety grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 to groups, agencies, and organizations with a valid 501(c)(3) designation or that have a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. Applicants are not required to have been previously funded by CFW.

Funds may be used to cover unforeseen program expenses, bolster operational capacity in response to urgent advocacy demands, and support activities or costs related to ensuring the safety and security of community members and staff during periods of heightened risk or visibility.

Community organizing and advocacy activities include, but are not limited to: 

  • Constituency organizing and mobilization
  • Forming and sustaining coalitions 
  • Leadership development and training 
  • Public education  
  • Litigation  
  • Research  
  • Policy development and advocacy 

Safety and security activities are determined by each organization based on its work, risk assessment, and identified needs.

Eligible organizations must:

  1. Be a 501(c)(3) or have a fiscal grant with a 501(c)(3)
  2. Operate in the Chicagoland area (includes city and collar counties and, in some cases, statewide)
  3. Have an organizational budget under $4M
  4. Be able to affirm CFW’s guiding principles

Deadlines 

Applications have closed.