Grantseekers

Thank you for your interest in funding from The Siragusa Foundation. Unfortunately, the foundation is not accepting unsolicited letters of inquiry or proposals. (Updated July 2010)

While our country faces challenging economic times, the foundation recognizes the increasing needs of nonprofit organizations serving our nation's communities. We understand how the current outlook is impacting groups here in the metropolitan Chicago area - our primary giving region. In such unfortunate times, we are fortunate to be able to continue to serve our mission by providing a level of support to our grantees.

The foundation relies on its investment portfolio returns to meet grant obligations each year. In order to sustain itself and its giving, the foundation pays close attention to its financial management and takes great care to manage its grantmaking the best way possible through such challenges.

However, we too have been affected by the recent economic downturn. Our foundation's assets have declined nearly 35% since the beginning of 2008. We made grants totaling $1,704,488 in that year. And we are committed to granting $1,509,680 in 2009. This funding mainly includes renewal grants for program and operating expenses and some capital and multi-year grants to nonprofits in the Chicago area.

In an effort to better serve our long-term grantees and partners and honor family interests, the foundation will continue to not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry or proposals. We believe the most effective way for the foundation to utilize its resources particularly in this tough economy is to maintain support for the foundation's current grantees, aiding their operational stability.

In the coming few years, we will be evaluating the foundation's giving, our strategies and impact, as well as reassessing our priorities and future grantmaking. As the foundation's situation may change, we will update this Web site with information about guidelines and the grantmaking process.