Schneider Electric Buildings, LLC Charitable Fund
The Howard D. Colman Memorial Fund (formerly the Barber-Colman Foundation) and charitable contributions from Schneider Electric Buildings, LLC are administered through the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois. Employees from Schneider Electric Buildings, LLC act as advisors to the fund and recommend grant awards to the Trustees of the Community Foundation for final approval.
Who is Eligible?
To be eligible for funding, an applicant must:
- Be a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit agency and/or organized group carrying out a charitable purpose for the public good in an efficient matter
- Provide services within the Illinois counties of Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, and Stephenson
- Be current on all final reports for grants from the Community Foundation; if your agency has a program currently being funded with a Community Foundation grant and your final report is not yet due, you must submit an interim letter letting us know the progress of your program (do not use the online final report form for this)
What We Look For
We welcome proposals for projects that benefit a broad spectrum of the community or a chronically under-served segment of the population. We are interested in proposals that reflect foresight and perhaps, some risk taking. We look for projects that:
- Address recognized community issues with innovative approaches
- Build positively on the rich diversity of our community
- Present clear work plans which show the ability to achieve the project’s goal
- Promote cooperation, create efficiencies without duplication of services
- Demonstrate leadership and develop the leadership potential of the community
- Demonstrate quality, vision, effectiveness, collaboration and good management
- Strengthen an agency’s effectiveness or stability
- Provide long-range fund development planning beyond the funding period
- Articulate meaningful, reasonable, measurable outcomes
- Priority will be given to collaborative projects
Priority for funding will be given to non-tax supported organizations.
What We Fund
We award grants in the areas of Health and Human Services, Education, and Children, Youth, and Families.
Health & Human Services
Encompasses social service projects that benefit the under-served segments of our community. For example, issues of homelessness, health care, education, hunger, poverty, rehabilitation and the elderly.
- Empower the under-served to seek solutions
- Promote self-sufficiency
- Programs that focus on long-term approaches to issues
- Provide independence to the elderly and disabled
- Improve access to health care
Grant Cycles
The deadlines for submitting all applications are January 15th and July 15th of each year. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, proposals are due on the next business day. Both the online application AND all hard copy materials must be received on or before the deadline date. Please consult the online application for details. Grants are typically awarded in late March for the January grant cycle and late September for the July grant cycle.
Carefully consider the funding cycle that allows you to receive funds prior to the start of your program. Grant applications for summer programs should apply to the July grant cycle the year before the program begins.
Only one proposal per organization per grant program will be considered during the Community Foundation’s fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th).
Exceptions to this rule:
- You are invited by a Grants Committee to resubmit an application in the following grant cycle.
- Organizations participating in a collaborative may apply once a year as a member of the collaborative, and once as itself or as part of a second collaborative.
The grants committee is comprised of employees of Schneider Electric Buildings, LLC. The Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees approves all grant awards.
All grant recipients are required to submit an online final report upon completion of the project for which the grant was made. This report must include the outcomes achieved by the project and a detailed budget explaining how the funds were used. The report may also include an oral presentation or other components as deemed necessary by the Community Foundation.
Final reports are due within one year of grant approval. You may access the final report by clicking here. Past grant recipients will be excluded from future grant consideration if a final report has not been completed for prior funding. If an organization submits an additional application while a Community Foundation funded project is still in progress, an interim letter must be completed and returned by the grant cycle deadline. (Do not use the online final report form for this.)
Grants are made for one year only; should circumstances allow, a multi-year commitment may be considered.
What We Do Not Fund
Grants are not made for the following:
- Ongoing project support & operating support – 10% of program grant may go to operational expenses
- Annual & capital campaigns
- Budget deficit
- Individuals
- Projects and programs that promote a religion or require participation in a religious activity as a condition for receiving services. However, grants may be made to faith-based organizations for other purposes.
All nonprofit agencies planning on submitting grant applications for a project done in partnership with Rockford Public School District 205 must obtain written certification of the project before submitting a grant application. Click Grant Pre-Approval Form »
Online Application
As the Community Foundation strives for complete accuracy in its grant programs, we reserve the right to update grant application forms 60 days before the deadline. Only applications started within 60 days of deadline will be accepted. While you may browse the online application at any time, you are reminded to check your calendar before you begin filling out any grant application.
Important Note: Both the online application AND all hard copy materials must be received on or before the deadline date. Please consult the online application for details.
To start a new application, click New Application »
To access an application that you chose to save and finish later, click Saved Application »
Please Note: Your computer must use one of the following commonly used internet browsers and have cookies enabled in order to access the online application.
- Internet Explorer version 7 or higher
- Mozilla Firefox version 3.0 or higher
- Safari 3.2 (for Mac) or higher
- Google Chrome 4 or higher
Budget Worksheet: For your convenience, we are providing a budget worksheet that you can download by clicking the link below. You may find it easier to complete this worksheet in paper form before entering the information into the online form.
If you have questions, please contact James Patterson, Program and Scholarship Officer at (815) 962-2110 ext 11 or jpatterson@cfnil.org.