Funding Criteria for All Grants
-- Seed Fund
-- Emergency Fund
-- Technical Assistance Fund
-- Youth Fund for Social Change
-- The Fire This Time Fund
Grantmaking Process
FAQ

6 copies of the application must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. or postmarked on or before the due date. No faxes or emails please. If the date falls on a weekend, the deadline is the following Monday.

Purpose: The Technical Assistance (TA) Fund is designed to support specific technical assistance needs of smaller organizations with grants up to $3,000.

• Organizations meeting Crossroads' funding criteria
• Organizations with annual expenses under $300,000
• Organizations that have been in operation for at least 3 years.
• Priority given to current Crossroads grantees – those that have received funding in the last 2 years.
• Technical Assistance projects that reach beyond a group’s regular, on-going work to build the organization’s internal capacity.

Examples of TA Needs: purchasing, upgrading or training for technology; organizing or attending conferences; hiring a consultant/facilitator for planning, evaluation or retreat; attending skills building training for board and staff; and paying a membership fee for a resource organization.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUND APPLICATION

Full application (Microsoft Word fill-in form)

Full application (pdf)
This form requires Acrobat Reader.  If your computer does not have Acrobat Reader, it can be downloaded by clicking here.  You can also email or call the Crossroads office at 773.227.7676 to request these forms by regular mail. 

Application Checklist: Each completed application must include, in the following order:

• Cover Sheet, Organizational Summary & Budget (included in full application above)
• Narrative (4 pages or less, see description below)
• Governing Body (see description below)
• Workers (see description below)
• Supporting materials (optional)
   

Please address these questions in 4 pages or less in a 12 point or larger font. In preparing your proposal, we recommend that you refer to Crossroads’ Funding Criteria and Funding Priorities to communicate your work.

• Briefly describe your organization’s history, purpose, and the type of impact it has made.
• What are your current activities?
• Please explain how you meet our funding criteria: working for social change; having grassroots leadership; organizing across issues; having a solid organizational plan; and working in the Chicago metropolitan area.

• For what TA activities are you requesting funding and why?
• What do you hope to accomplish as a result?
• How will the TA build the capacity of your organization?
• What is the time line for the TA activities?
• Who will participate in the TA? What is the role of the participant(s) in the organization?
• Will you be hiring a consultant for this project? If so, who is the consultant and what is the consultant expected to do?
• Who is overseeing the TA project?

• How will you know that your TA work is successful? What results would you be looking for?

4. Budget

• What is the budget for the TA?
• How much funding are you requesting from Crossroads?
• Have you applied to other funding sources? If so, where and for how much? What is the status?
• Please provide your organizational budget, including last FY expenses and current FY budget.
   

An organizational budget, cover sheet and organizational summary form must accompany each narrative. Please see Full Application above (available as a Microsoft Word fill-in form and pdf).

Alternative format:  You may create your own Cover Sheet, Budget Form or Organizational Summary as long as all the information we request is included.

• Governing Body: list and describe the organization’s key decision makers, such as board of directors, collective members, and core group members.
• Workers: provide a brief description of individual staff members and/or volunteers who will be responsible for carrying out the TA work.
• Supporting materials such as information about training, conferences, or consultants that are relevant to the TA proposal. (optional)
   

• 6 stapled copies of the completed application (see above checklist)
   

(Snail) Mail It To Me!  

Guidelines and applications can also be mailed to you via snail mail... just send us an email at and we'll send them along to you.  Please let us know:

• organization name

• contact name

• phone number (in case your packet is returned)