Strategic Grant Making Priorities
The Lake County Community Foundation asserts that the quality of life of Lake County can be improved through an earnest effort to bring organizations, government, businesses, corporations and civic leaders together to establish a common vision, adopt a shared set of measurable goals and pursue evidence-based activities that reinforce one another’s goals as a means of addressing the most pressing needs of our community.
The Foundation’s grant making is a highly competitive process. With an emphasis on being both proactive to opportunities in the community that advance its mission and responsive to urgent needs, the Foundation will focus on making measurable impact on high priority issues with its limited available funding and additional resources.
The Foundation envisions a county-wide health and human service delivery system that is robust and thriving with a network of providers capable of achieving the greatest impact on the urgent needs of the most vulnerable residents of the county. With an emphasis on partnership and collaboration and using innovation and organizational strength as its compass, the system will foster transformational change in communities across the county.
Grant Priorities
Grant making in pursuit of the Foundation’s mission and vision will encompass a new strategic focus on quality of life indicators as articulated in the comprehensive regional plan, Go To 2040, along with several program areas that have traditionally received funding. The Foundation seeks to advance four overarching priorities for Lake County:
Livable communities tend to share some common traits. They are healthy, safe and walkable. They offer choices for timely transportation to schools, jobs, services and basic needs. They are more cost effective for individuals and local governments. They make the region more economically competitive. The Foundation will consider grants based upon the following priorities:
- Achieve Greater Livability through Land Use and Housing
- Manage and Conserve Water and Energy
- Expand and Improve Parks and Open Space
- Promote Sustainable Local Food
The quality of our region's labor force is crucial for sustaining economic prosperity. Increasingly, job growth relies on the availability of well-educated, skilled workers for knowledge-based industries. Our fragile health and human safety net system will require resources and investment in order for the sector to meet the growing demand for services. The Foundation will consider grants in the following areas:
- Improve Education and Workforce Training
- Support Economic Innovation
- *Sustain the Health and Human Services System
Effective and efficient decision making by government is necessary for the county to meet its goals. The Foundation will consider grants in the following areas:
A modern transportation system is indispensable for our region's future prosperity. To sustain our economy and quality of life, residents must be able to travel quickly and easily around our region so they can choose from a wide variety of jobs and communities in which to live. The Foundation will consider grants in the following area:
*Sustaining the Health and Human Services System and Advocacy and Public Policy are priorities of the Foundation that fit within the Lake County context of quality of life indicators, but they are not part of the Go To 2040 regional plan. Please refer to the grant guidelines for further information.
Grant Guidelines 2012
Check your organization's eligibility to receive funding.
Growing Philanthropy, Building Community
114 South Genesee Street Suite 505 Waukegan, IL 60085 Tel. 847.377.0520 Fax 847.782.8351
