2010 IDF Social Justice Grantees

The IDF Staff & Board would like to congratulate this year's grant recipients!

Avicenna Community Health Center
Champaign County Christian Health Center
Champaign Urbana Tenant Union
Channing Murray Foundation & Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant
Church of the Brethren's Motherlands Culture Club
Crisis Nursery
Generations of Hope
Greater Community AIDS Project
Rape Advocacy, Counseling & Education Services
SmileHealthy
Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center's Books To Prisoners
University YMCA
Wesley Evening Food Pantry
YWCA of the University of Illinois


2010 IDF Social Justice Grant Guidelines

IDF's Mission Statement:
The Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF) is a non-profit organization committed to the struggle for peace with social justice. The IDF's mission is informed by our legacy of campus ministry, direct action for social change, and the radical traditions of the Disciples of Christ. The IDF continues our activist legacy by supporting efforts to further the struggles for systemic change to attain social justice.

Grant Information:
The IDF Social Justice Grants are one-year project or general support grants. A maximum of $50,000 can be requested and/or granted. Organizations that apply for a grant must be charitable in nature and have an organizational checking account. Organizations are not required to have any religious affiliation. The 2010 grant cycle runs from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.

For grant requests of $5,000 or more, organizations must also:

  • Be incorporated for at least three years
  • Be tax exempt (as defined by the IRS, see IRS Pub. 557)
  • Be independently audited and able to provide financial reports with grant application

Funding Priorities:
The IDF Social Justice Grants are awarded with preference given to organizations and projects that address issues of economic justice, peace and anti-war, health care justice, and education. The IDF strongly believes that societal change begins in our community and therefore has a local geographic focus. In the following order, preference will be given to organizations and projects devoted to Champaign County, central and downstate Illinois, and then statewide. Projects may be part of larger campaigns but the funds requested must specifically be used locally.

Applying for the IDF Social Justice Grant:
Organizations must first submit a Letter of Inquiry. The deadline for submitting a Letter of Inquiry has passed.

Jen Tayabji, Executive Director
Illinois Disciples Foundation
PO Box 634
Champaign, IL 61824-0634

The letter must not be longer than 5 pages and needs to include the following information:

  • Organization's official name and contact information
  • Previous IDF Grant status (Has the organization or project applied for a grant from the IDF, and if so, what was the outcome? Current grantees will be required to submit their 2009 Grant Reports with their grant application, if invited to re-apply)
  • Organization's Tax Exempt status, date of incorporation, and FEIN/Tax ID, if applicable (required for all requests of $5,000 or more)
  • Organization's mission
  • A brief summary of the organization's recent history
  • Grant size and type (project or general support) to be requested
  • A description of the problem to be addressed and the work to be performed
  • Organization's operating budget, and if applying for a project grant, a project
    budget (attached budget spreadsheets are acceptable)

Only one copy of the Letter of Inquiry should be submitted. Please submit letters either on organization letterhead or on white 8.5” x 11” paper. Pages must be numbered. Please use 12-point type and 1” margins. In addition to (not in lieu of) sending the Letter of Inquiry to the above address, please email a .pdf version of your LOI to
idf@ildisciplesfoundation.org.

The Illinois Disciples Foundation will respond to all letters of inquiry in writing by March 15th, 2010 (postmarked).

If you have any questions, please contact IDF's Executive Director, Jen Tayabji,
at (217) 352-8721 or idf@ildisciplesfoundation.org.

2009 IDF Social Justice Grantees

The IDF Staff & Board would like to congratulate this year's grant recipients!

Central Illinois Jobs With Justice
Champaign County Christian Health Center
Champaign County Health Care Consumers
Champaign Urbana Area Project
Champaign Urbana Tenant Union
Channing Murray Foundation & Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant
Church of the Brethren's Motherlands Culture Club
Crisis Nursery
East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center
Greater Community AIDS Project
Hope Community Health Center
National Alliance on Mental Illness-Champaign County
North First Street Association of Champaign
Partnership Accounts for Individual Development
SmileHealthy
Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center's Books To Prisoners
Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center's Public I
University YMCA
Wesley Evening Food Pantry

Resources

IDF Social Justice Grant Guidelines (2010)(pdf)

IDF's Press Release Announcing Second Year of Grants

IDF's Press Release Announcing New Social Justice Grant Funding Program

IRS Publication 557: "Tax Exempt Status For Your Organization" (pdf)