Albert Pick, Jr. Fund Staff meet to showcase the work of grantee Project Exploration with representatives from the Chicago Mayor's office, other funders, and an envoy from the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, Director Dr. Alondra Nelson.

HOW TO APPLY

Important 2025 Grantmaking Update

As many of you know, toward the end of last year we made a decision to start shifting our grantmaking to prioritize early stage and emerging organizations, and in order to make room in our portfolio this meant making difficult decisions to sunset support for some of our more seasoned grantee partners that have received multiple years of funding. At that time, we never could have anticipated how devastating the consequences of the last federal election would be, how it's happening so quickly, and how destabilizing and destructive the environment would now be for nonprofits and philanthropy. At this point, EVERYONE is hurting and in jeopardy, particularly our Health & Human Services grantees that rely heavily on federal and state funding. Our Education grantees are also in serious jeopardy due to proposals to dismantle the Department of Education, let alone the instability they are experiencing with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) locally. And our Civic Activism grantees have even more of a burden to bear as they catalyze strategic community organizing and policy advocacy.

Consequently, we are in the midst of determining how the Pick Fund can best respond to meet this moment and support our existing grantee partners, as well as explore support for potential grantees if and where possible. We will be in a better position to share how we plan to respond after the Spring board meeting.

Announcing Virtual Office Hours

The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund has always subscribed to the philosophy of philanthropy as a vehicle to mitigate and help solve today’s challenges, and consequently, we recognize the uncertainty of the larger current political and funding environment and the potential ramifications this may have on your organization’s work. Consequently, we are in the midst of determining how the Pick Fund can best respond to meet this moment and support our existing grantee partners, as well as explore support for potential grantees if and where possible. We will be in a better position to share how we plan to respond after the Spring board meeting. As communicated last year to our existing grantee partners and Letter of Inquiry (LOI) applicants, starting in 2025 we will extend funding invitations by way of invitation only.

In the meantime, Pick Fund staff will be holding virtual office hours on Mondays for the next several weeks, starting on March 10th - April 7th from 9am – 12 noon and 2pm - 5pm. We ask that existing grantee partners make an appointment to meet with Heather Parish, Executive Director, using this Calendly link: https://calendly.com/heather-apjf/one-on-one-meeting.

If you are a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) applicant from 2023 and/or 2024 and would like to learn more about why your application was declined, please plan to meet with Alexis Allegra, Grants & Operations Administrator, during virtual office hours from 12 noon – 4pm using the following Calendly link: https://calendly.com/alexis-albertpickjrfund/30min.

A number of you have reached out over the last few months to schedule time to meet, and we greatly appreciate your patience as we figure out how best to communicate with transparency while determining the appropriate actions to take in the near future.

OUR GRANTMAKING

We encourage all applicants to read our funding guidelines thoroughly. Please contact staff should you have questions.

Chicago-Based Nonprofits: The Fund considers requests only from nonprofits with offices and separately budgeted programs operating within the City of Chicago.
Project/Program Support and General Operating Funds: Most Fund grants are for project support; in limited instances general operating grants may be awarded to small or single purpose organizations. Grant awards are generally $15,000 or more. Multi-year grants may be awarded to organizations with which the Fund has a history of support.
Priority given to community-based organizations that have annual operating budgets below $2.5 million: However, we recognize that sometimes larger organizations have critical resources and infrastructure that better position them to have a more significant impact on an issue
Reporting Requirements: All grantees will be required to submit a final report. In some instances, a mid-year report may also be required. All reports must be submitted online and should discuss progress made in comparison to objectives set in the original request, barriers to accomplishing objectives and unexpected results (negative and positive). Reports must include budget/expenditure information. If a grantee is submitting a renewal grant application, the final report from the previous year should be attached the new proposal.
Programs considered for funding are restricted to fit within the focus areas described under each funding category in our guidelines. General operating requests will only be considered for smaller or single-purpose organizations whose programs align with a specific subcategory. Before future renewal grants will be considered, an organization must fulfill requirements of prior grants, including submission of a grant acknowledgement letter and required reports.
Culture Category Funding: Please note as of 2024, The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund has ceased funding in the Culture category in order to focus its attention and resources on grantee organizations in our three other priority areas.

OUR GUIDELINES

CIVIC ACTIVISM

COMMUNITY & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Goal: to increase the participation of youth and adults in the civic processes that affect their lives and the well-being of their neighborhoods.

Grantmaking: The Fund supports programs that educate community residents about civic processes and assist and support their engagement in promoting policies and government actions that respond to their own needs as well as the needs of their community. Examples are a community organization that engages parents in school reform/improvement, a youth program that gives youth a voice in neighborhood violence prevention and an agency that brings people together to advocate for improved services in their community.

EDUCATION

ENGAGING APPROACHES TO LEARNING

Goal: to increase students' (K-12) desire for and teachers' ability to promote in-school, out-of-school and at-home learning by creating positive experiences for young people to relate to academic subjects, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), in ways that are engaging, challenging and fun and to provide professional development for educators.

Grantmaking: The Fund is interested in programs that respond to young people’s natural curiosity, provide opportunities for discovery and problem-solving, include hands-on projects, promote self-esteem and foster eager learners. Our preference is for programs that relate to academic subjects, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), but not necessarily standardized tests or Common Core, and include activities to engage parents and expose school teachers to positive teaching strategies. We also prioritize programs that target mostly minority populations or girls with STEM education and promotes careers in science and technology. The emphasis for the Fund is on making the process of learning more fun and exciting along with content mastery as well as increasing the capacity of educators to effectively teach academic subjects and encourage learning in engaging ways. Please note that individual schools are not eligible.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

VIOLENCE AFFECTING YOUTH

Goal: to reduce violence that affects children and youth in and around schools and neighborhoods.

Grantmaking: While all services that engage young people (e.g. after school programs, arts programs, counseling, etc.) can be thought of as helping reduce violence, the time frame for these to be effective is often long. In addition, these services may not reach youth more likely to be victims or perpetrators. There is an urgent need for programs that will have an effect on violence over the short term. The Pick Fund supports programs that target those most likely to be in violent situations, especially those youth who have dropped out of school, have had previous histories with the juvenile justice system or have been exposed to trauma. Examples of programs include alternatives to incarceration, social and mental health services, restorative justice and policy changes. The Fund gives special consideration to programs that use restorative justice.

UTILIZATION OF HEALTH SERVICES BY CHILDREN & YOUTH

Goal: to increase the use of the full range of health, dental, medical and mental health services by children and youth.

Grantmaking: The Fund supports programs that are youth-focused and youth-friendly. Programs should make youth more aware of the services that are available to them, offer specialized services to meet the needs of youth or work to change policies to increase the accessibility of health services for children and youth. Examples are LGBTIA+ friendly health services, peer education to alert teens of health issues and mobile clinics that reach youth where they are. Mental health programs are generally given priority.

SPECIAL INITIATIVES

Goal: to enable the Fund to have some flexibility to support special programs or projects outside of the established Focus areas.

Grantmaking: Funds are used for: special projects of the grantmaking community, a unique project that meets a pressing need or other projects/programs/organizations identified by the Directors. Unsolicited proposals are not accepted for this category.

LIMITATIONS

Organization may only submit an application only once per calendar year. The Fund's policies also limit, restrict or prohibit support to:

Individuals
Nonprofits whose programs are not within the City of Chicago
Nonprofit organizations not exempt under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
Fraternal, veteran, labor, athletic or religious organizations serving a limited constituency
Professional groups with volunteer service programs
Individual elementary or secondary schools
Local chapters of state, regional or national organizations, except those with separately budgeted Chicago-based programs, which otherwise meet these Guidelines
Hospitals
Local chapters of single-disease agencies
Building programs, endowment funds or capital campaigns
Campaigns for the reduction or liquidation of debt
Student aid or scholarship programs
Political, lobbying, or voter registration programs, or those supporting the political candidacy of a particular individual
Travel - individual or group
Fundraising events or benefits including sponsorship, tickets or courtesy advertising
Organizations that may create a conflict with our goals, programs, officers, directors or employees

LAW STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHES MAY 1ST

The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund Law Student Scholarship Program was established in 2003 to assist a first-year or second-year law student who is a long-term resident of Chicago studying at one of four law schools in the Chicago area: DePaul University College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Kent College of Law, Loyola University College of Law and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Law.

One scholarship of $5,000 is offered each year to support full-time study for a student that demonstrates financial need with preference given to historically underrepresented students.

If you or someone you know would like to apply, please visit https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/albertpickscholarship/