Civic Partnerships

Chicago’s civic landscape is notable for its broad network of philanthropic, corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations, and its rich history of collaboration between these entities to achieve shared goals. Civic partnerships build upon the collective assets of these leaders and organizations for greater impact. We lead or collaborate in partnerships to address critical or timely challenges with the goal of advancing racial equity and building a more inclusive Chicago.

Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities

In 2016, the Foundation and its peers created a cooperative effort called the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities. With the contributions of more than 50 philanthropic organizations, the Partnership members align their funding around strategies to help reduce gun violence in Chicago in collaboration with community, public, and private sector leaders. The Partnership strives to elevate the voices of the individuals and organizations committed to street outreach and violence prevention, and it supports civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department.

Other Opportunities

We also address timely or unique opportunities, such as ensuring an accurate statewide count in the decennial census; the establishment of a Chicago Public Library Branch at the Obama Presidential Center; and the acquisition of the historic Ebony and Jet photographic archives.

While the majority of applications for support under Civic Partnerships are invited in coordination with other funders, organizations that wish to be considered for support from MacArthur are welcome to submit a brief description of their work through our grants portal.

From the 1909 Burnham Plan of Chicago to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Chicagoans have a strong tradition of joining hands to pursue opportunities or to address crises. Under our Civic Partnerships focus, MacArthur works in close collaboration with a variety of partners to identify the problems and support the solutions that Chicagoans prioritize.

We recognize that no single entity or sector can solve the issues and challenges faced by our city, and we believe in the value of collaboration. Some of the Civic Partnerships in which we are involved are multi-faceted, such as the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, described above. Others are less formal, such as our efforts to support the financial health of nonprofit organizations through the pandemic and beyond. And some respond to a specific moment of opportunity, such as contributing to efforts to recognize the Pullman industrial community as a National Historic Park.

We expect Civic Partnership programming to result in:

• More grantees, community leaders, civic organizations, and funders working in coordination to address urgent and timely issues;
• Increased learning within partnerships about the issues they address and potential solutions;
• Combined resources and assets that create a sustainable infrastructure to address urgent issues; and
• A model for civic partnerships that can be adapted and replicated elsewhere.

Evaluation of our work is a critical tool for informing our decision making, leading to better results and more effective stewardship of resources. We develop customized evaluation designs for each of our programs based on the context, problem, opportunity, and approach to the work. Evaluation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of collecting feedback and using that information to support our grantees and adjust our strategy.

Chicago Commitment Evaluation (2023)

Grant Guidelines