Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge
Supporting nonprofit sustainability and helping build permanent endowments.
Supporting nonprofit sustainability and helping build permanent endowments.
Open to 501C3 nonprofits in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties.
Open to 501C3 nonprofits in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties.
The Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge is an opportunity for nonprofits in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties to build a permanent endowment at the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.
Participants select an amount they will raise, between $15,000 and $150,000, and have 19 months to meet their goal. If participating organizations reach their goal by the deadline, CFNIL will grant $1 for every $3 that the nonprofit contributes to an agency endowment. For example, if a participant raises $60,000, CFNIL will contribute $20,000 to the agency endowment established at the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.
The annual distribution from the agency endowment will support the organization’s mission for generations to come.
Organizations that wish to participate in the Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge must submit an application that declares the organization’s goal and the rationale behind choosing that figure, its plan for meeting the goal, and how the endowment will support the ongoing needs of the organization. The Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge is a competitive process. Applications will be scored by a committee of volunteer reviewers and ultimately voted on by CFNIL’s Trustees.
Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge XI opens on February 14, 2024. Organizations that are accepted into the Challenge will have 19 months (June 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025) to meet their stated fundraising goal. This is the eleventh time the challenge has been offered to area nonprofits; to date, the Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge has had 36 participants.
Creating an endowment is a major decision for an organization. CFNIL encourages organizations that are considering participating in the Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge to start thinking about how an endowment can support your organization’s long-term plans. Past participants and past applicants are welcome to reapply; new applicants and organizations that have not previously participated will be given preference.
| Grant Guidelines | PDF Version of the CHS Application |
| View slides from the 2022 CHS Challenge Informational Webinar | |
View the Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge XI Info Webinar
Want to learn more about the Challenge? View a virtual webinar to hear from CFNIL staff about the program guidelines and process, how to apply, and more.
The first Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge was offered by the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois in 2001. Through the Challenge, the Community Foundation matches $1 for every $3 raised by selected non-profits to build an endowment. Once established, the permanent fund will provide the agency with a stable source of income that will last forever.
Key benefits of building an endowment with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois include:
- A perpetual source of income
- Funding that can be spent in any way you chose to benefit your organization, such as salaries, operating expenses, and other hard-to-fund items
- Proven investment performance; Funds are commingled to achieve broader diversification while minimizing risk
I: Freeport Art Museum, Illinois Growth Enterprises, and The MILL (2001)
II: Connecting the Future (Burpee Museum and Discovery Center), Freeport Art Museum, Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and Swedish Historical Society (2006)
III: Natural Land Institute (2009)
IV: RAMP (2010)
V: Cosmopolitan Club of Rockford, Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center, and Swedish Historical Society (2011)
VI: Discovery Center Museum, Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and Natural Land Institute (2012)
VII: Belvidere Boone County Food Pantry, Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, Lifescape, Nachusa Grasslands, Rockford University, Sand Bluff Bird Observatory (2014)
VIII: Children’s Home & Aid, Friends of Nachusa Grasslands, Klehm Arboretum Foundation, Midway Village Museum, Northwest HomeStart, RAMP, Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity, and YMCA of Rock River Valley (2016)
IX: Boy Scouts of America, Blackhawk Area Council; Friends of Nachusa Grasslands; Goldie B. Floberg Center; Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (2018)
X: North Rockford Convalescent Home (DBA Peterson Meadows); Lincoln-Douglas Society of Freeport; Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence (NICNE); Regional Access and Mobilization Project (RAMP). (2022)
- Founder of the Rockford Community Trust – today known as the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.
- A prominent businessman who was partial owner of the first Ford Motor Car dealership in Rockford, a banker, and manager of a local investment firm
- Chairman of the City Planning Commission
- A leading advocate for families, with thirty years of service on the Family Welfare Service Board
- Head of the United War Fund during WWII, raising more than $1,000,000 in annual funds
- One of only nine founding members of the National Committee on Community Foundations
Mr. Starr guided the Trust during its formative years with an abiding conviction in its future growth and benefit to Rockford. He served the Trust faithfully until his death on November 10, 1963.
CFNIL will accept applications for CHS Challenge XI starting February 14, 2024. The online application will close on April 15, 2024. Applicants will be notified as to their award status by the end of May 2024.
Organizations that are accepted into the CHS Challenge XI will have from June 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025, to complete their efforts.
Questions about the Carroll H. Starr Endowment Challenge? Contact Sarah!
Vice President of Programs & Community Investment
Phone: 779-210-8207
Email: Sarah Lambert