The Crossroads Fund’s Giving Project is an innovative model for blending philanthropy and grassroots organizing. The program is powerful, challenging, and fun. It is a hands-on experience that will shift your thinking about money and give you tangible ways to act for social change.

In the past ten years, Giving Project cohorts have raised more than $1,067,000 that was given out in grants to support building social, racial, and economic justice movements across Chicago.

Each cohort brings together a cross-class, cross-race, gender-diverse, intergenerational group of 15-20 volunteers who share a vision of social justice and apply their time, talents, network and financial resources to move money to Chicago movements in 7 months (December – June).

Each participant commits to attending 12 sessions throughout the program to learn about race, class, power, grassroots donor organizing, and community-led grantmaking.

Participants apply what they learn immediately after each session as they read and evaluate grant applications, donors organize their friends & family, and lead site visits with potential grantee partners. At the end of the program, the cohort collectively decides which organizations receive grants.

The 2024-25 Giving Project will run from December 2024 – June 2025. There are 12 required sessions over those 6 months, along with asynchronous coaching, donor organizing, grant reading and evaluation, and site visits with grant applicants.

We ask you to:

1. Commit to the entire program by attending all sessions, reading and scoring grant applications, donors organizing your network of personal connections, and participating in small and large group activities. The commitment is about 100 hours, or 15 hours per month.
2. Come ready to learn from one another and contribute what you’re able during discussions, activities, and group experiences.
3. Make a personal financial contribution. Every gift is meaningful, and there are no minimum or maximum amounts.

Please note that the experience of the Giving Project cohort is negatively impacted when participants aren’t fully present and engaged. It is important to us that Giving Project participants not only have passion for funding social justice movements, but also that they have the time and capacity to fully invest in this unique cohort experience.

The Giving Project is often a transformative experience for those involved. No prior experience with philanthropy or fundraising is necessary. We will train you and support you along the way!

We encourage all people, and especially Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color; LGBTQ people; low- or no-wealth individuals; and folks over 40 to apply.

You should apply if you want to:

• Confront issues of injustice and take action.
• contribute to movements fighting for change and building a future free of oppression in the Chicago area.
• Passionate about building community and curious to learn about other peoples’ lived experiences that are different from yours.
• Learn how to fundraise, make grants, and grow your network
• You are open to and ready for personal transformation.

• We need every participant to honestly, openly, and candidly engage in the process.
• Be generous and kind to your fellow participants. We all come from different places and have different experiences and have much to learn from each other.
• Commit to the entire Giving Project by attending all sessions, reading grants, participating in site visits, and fundraising.
• Make a meaningful personal financial contribution to the project.
• Fundraise from friends, family, and community.
• Be open to a process that will only be as transformative as the participants make it.

Giving Project 2025 Calendar

View or download our 2024 Giving Project Calendar

Please note that this schedule is subject to change as we continue to respond to the needs brought on by COVID-19 and prioritize the health and wellness of participants.
*Attendance at all sessions is required for participation in the program.

How will participants be selected?
Each interested Giving Project participant will submit an online interest form and have an in-person meeting with a Crossroads Fund staff member. We are looking for people who can: commit to attend all of the training days; review grant applications; participate in site visits; have the time and capacity to fully invest in the cohort experience; are passionate about organizing donors to fund social movements; and who meet our overall goals for cohort diversity.

What do we mean when we say “our goals for cohort diversity” and cross-class/crossrace/intergenerational group?
We want the Giving Project to be a space that brings together people from all different identities together to move through this process of learning and action. As such, we work hard to pull together a group that represents the race, class, gender, sexuality and ability diversity of the city of Chicago. We are committed that at least 50% of the cohort will be people of color, and curate a group of people that span the spectrum of many other identities. We especially encourage people of color and LGBTQ-identified people to apply, and are looking for individuals from all class backgrounds.

I’m interested in joining the Giving Project but my organization will apply for a grant from Crossroads Fund. Can I still participate?
Yes! We’ve had many people affiliated with applicants and grantees participate in past Giving Projects. We will use our conflict-of-interest policy to ensure that anyone closely involved with an applicant organization does not participate in the decision-making process for that organization’s application.

Is childcare available?
Yes. Crossroads Fund is committed to providing childcare, if needed, during the program. If you require childcare, please tell us when you submit your info form.

What organizations will be funded by the Giving Project?
The Giving Project participants will use Crossroads Fund’s longstanding criteria to select grantees. We support grassroots groups working for racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. Participants will work together to make one-year general operating grants. Potential grantees will apply through the Seed Fund application, which supports new, emerging, and small community-based organizations that are actively engaged in social change work. The maximum grant in this program is $15,000. Click here to learn more about the Seed Fund.

I’ve done training on race and class before – is this for me?
The Giving Project trainings on race and class are designed to help make sure that all participants have a common knowledge and language to use before we begin evaluating applications and making site visits. For those who have previous training, some of the curriculum will be review but there is always something new to learn. Often, people have had training on race, but not class, or vice versa. This curriculum brings them together. Additionally, this training is designed to facilitate dialogue and relationship building with a cohort of people who are intergenerational, cross-race, cross-class, and cross-identity group. Often we have these conversations in silos with other folks who share our identities. Last, the Giving Project model combines learning and action. So often, training spaces give us frameworks but don’t ask us to do anything after. By combining political education with fundraising and grantmaking, the Giving Project helps people live out what they’re learning.

I’m interested but I don’t know if I want to ask others for money.
Fundraising is not something that most people like to do. It feels intimidating and awkward but it is essential to supporting movements for justice. The Giving Project is designed to help each of us become better grassroots fundraisers and explore any hesitation we have in asking for money. Crossroads Fund staff members will work with each participant on their fundraising plan, practice making “an ask”, and help troubleshoot any questions or concerns. Each Giving Project participant will grow as a donor organizer by the end of the six month process.

What type of fundraising are we doing?
We will train participants in grassroots fundraising. This means having one-on-one conversations with people in your network about their values and making a direct ask. We are not using online platforms like GoFundMe or crowd-sourced fundraising. The purpose of this is to build skills around relational fundraising, which is the most challenging—and yet still the most effective type of fundraising.

Wait – 20 people raising $150,000? I know how to do math – am I responsible for raising $5,000?

Nope, not necessarily! The overall fundraising goal for each Giving Project cohort is $150,000 but we only ask each participant to give a gift that is meaningful for them personally and to then fundraise from their network. Each participant sets their own goal of what they can give and raise. The beauty of a cross-class cohort is that people can raise varying amounts from their networks! What’s most important to us is that people are having deep conversations with their friends/families/colleagues and making asks – all gifts are meaningful and add up.

I’m not in the Chicago area. Can I still participate in the Giving Project?
Although it might be tricky to participate in Crossroad Fund’s Giving Project if you don’t live in the city or suburbs, there are other options around the country! The following sister foundations are mobilizing donors through Giving Projects in their respective cities:

Bread & Roses Community Fund [Philadelphia, PA]

Chinook Fund [Denver, CO]

Headwaters Foundation for Justice [Minneapolis, MN]

HAWAI’I People’s Fund (Honolulu, HI)

Maine Initiatives [Portland, ME]

North Star Fund [New York, NY]

Social Justice Fund Northwest [Seattle, WA]

I’m interested but I can’t participate this time. How can I support?
There are many ways that you can support, even if you do not join as a participant. Here are a few:

• Tell others about the Giving Project. Please ask Crossroads Fund staff about helping you to share information about the Giving Project on social media.
• Be willing to be fundraised! We need supporters who are willing to have one-to-one conversations with our Giving Project participants that would be “easy asks.” If you are interested in/willing to be fundraised, please email joanna@crossroadsfund.org.
• Donate! Commit to building power and fighting for a more just Chicago by donating to the Giving Project. You may choose to donate to the current Giving Project or to the Crossroads Fund general fund, which makes this program possible.