Our Partners
Springboard has established partnerships with leading not-for-profit philanthropic and service organizations to bring more than just our financial backing to the programs we support. Our partners help our grant recipients with financial, technical, and strategic planning assistance, strengthening their impact in the communities they serve. Springboard underwrites a significant portion of the cost of these services so as to minimize the expense to our grantees. Springboard also sponsors roundtables and seminars presented for our grantees by our partner organizations and others who have expertise in areas of interest to small non-profit organizations. Springboard is part of the Chicago Community Trust , and receives significant administrative and strategic support from the Trust. Largely as a result of this, Springboard is able to commit virtually all of the money we raise directly to our grantee organizations, where it can do the most good.
The Chicago Community Trust
As metropolitan Chicago's largest community foundation, The Chicago Community Trust and Affiliates have helped thousands of Chicago-area individuals and families manage their charitable giving since 1915. The Trust is a union of gifts and bequests from many sources, forming endowments of more than $1.5 billion, the income from which is used to make grants to fund not-for-profit organizations and related activities in the Chicago region ($113 million in 2008). The staff of The Chicago Community Trust works closely with the members of the Springboard Foundation, sharing their expertise about the local philanthropic landscape and about effective charitable giving and grant making. The Trust also administers the Springboard Foundation, a supporting organization of the Trust. This relationship is vital to the Springboard Foundation and provides operational guidance and administrative support.
The Alford Group
The Alford Group provides consulting services in the areas of fundraising and resource development, strategic planning and executive recruitment.
Community Media Workshop
Community Media Workshop provides media training, communications strategy; and assistance in getting media attention.
CPAs for the Public Interest
CPAsPI provides pro bono assistance to not-for-profit organizations in financial management, board member recruitment and low-cost workshops.
Donors Forum of Chicago
Donors Forum of Chicago provides information and training on fundraising, management and board governance.
Executive Service Corps of Chicago
ESC helps not-for-profits, schools and governments improve their performance through consulting projects and executive coaching in the areas of board development, strategic planning, and financial management. These services are provided by retired and semi-retired executives – some of Chicagos most accomplished business and professional people – who have worked with more than 2,700 community organizations.
John D. Kopczyk, Ltd.
Based on more than 25 years' experience advising nonprofit organizations, John D. Kopczyk, Ltd. provides financial, tax, and audit services for the special needs of this growing sector. Having served on several nonprofit boards, John Kopczyk offers an in-depth understanding of compliance issues and financial concerns facing organizations such as health and welfare agencies, schools, professional associations at the national, state, and local level, as well as museums and trade associations.
IFF
Founded in 1988 as Illinois Facilities Fund, IFF is a CDFI serving Illinois and, as of 2006, also Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana. IFF assists nonprofits through below-market real estate loans, facilities planning and development, and community planning. Its programs focus on nonprofits serving low-income and special needs populations. Through 2006, IFF had made more than 500 loans totaling more than $150 million, to help nonprofits providing supportive housing, child care centers, youth shelters and community health clinics to buy, expand, or renovate their facilities.
Lumity
Lumity, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, works to catalyze the nonprofit community to do more good work by increasing the capacity of charitable organizations to more effectively fulfill their missions. We do this through organizational capacity support, including technological and financial solutions, leadership in digital literacy, and defining a brighter future through thought leadership, resources, and education for the nonprofit community. Our goal is to help create high performing nonprofits with systems that support positive social impact.
Program Spotlight
Erie Elementary Charter School (EECS) provides children in grades K-5 with a high-quality education that values their unique life experience, language and culture. Our innovative curriculum, infused with the Spanish language, the arts, and an emphasis on lifelong learning, creates a culture of high expectations for our students. EECS offers enriching learning opportunities both during and after school, including dual language instruction, technology access, Judo training, field trips, music, and now, visual arts with a professional artist.
Website: www.eriecharterschool.org
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University concluded that two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth results from unequal access to summer learning opportunities. (American Sociological Review, Vol. 72, April 2007)