Nonprofit Relief and Capacity Building
This program hopes to build upon existing nonprofit assets and strengthen organizations where they have gaps in their systems, structures, skills, and resources. The goal is not necessarily to grow these nonprofits in size and scale, but rather to invest significant resources into them to prepare and position them to deepen their impact in community and sustain themselves as a part of their neighborhood and sector infrastructure.
501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations across Chicago saw a significant increase in the demand for their services without a comparable increase in their financial and operational capacity to meet that demand. They experienced decreased revenue and/or increased costs. Additionally, many nonprofits were forced to lay off staff. By December 2020, nationally the nonprofit sector lost nearly 930,000 jobs. To ensure a strong recovery for nonprofit organizations, the department has designed the Nonprofit Relief and Capacity Building Program. The first phase focuses on providing technical assistance and capacity building services for disproportionately impacted nonprofits, preparing them for partnership opportunities. The second phase of the program will provide grants and highly customized coaching to eligible nonprofits, 501(c)(3) organizations operating in a Qualified Census Tract.