Getting Started

Girl’s Best Friend Foundation (GBF) is a grantmaking foundation that also offers non-financial resources to girls’ programs. We will make no grants after December 2007, because Girl’s Best Friend Foundation (GBF) is closing.

Funding Guidelines
GBF makes grants to groups that promote girls and young women’s strengths, development, leadership, and activism.

GBF will fund groups in the 6-county Chicago metropolitan area that:

• are working with girls and young women ages 8 to 18
• multi-gender groups that effectively incorporate gender consciousness
• LBTQ groups: we will consider your requests for work with young women through the age of 21
• disability rights groups: we will consider your requests for work with young women through the age of 21
• have tax-exempt status under IRS code 501(c)(3), classifying the group as a public charity, or groups that demonstrate that the activity for which funding is sought fulfills a “charitable purpose” (as defined by the IRS). Talk with us about what this means and extra reporting required.

We use a dual lens of gender and social change to invest in programs whose feminist, social change values are evident:

• girls and young women (not just adults) participate as decision-makers
• girls have fun, explore, learn, and take action that challenges them and improves their communities
• girls of all identities – racial/ethnic, cultural, sexuality, dis/ability, income, etc – are welcomed and included, and the program makes other efforts to combat discrimination, including making programs safe and welcoming for all
• information is available on a full range of sexual, sexuality, and reproductive health and choice
• multi-gender programs are sensitive to gendered power issues, give equal attention to girls, and provide some girl-only time

If your group meets these guidelines, please then review the information about each of our grants programs by downloading a grid of our grant programs: PDF format or MS Word document
It may be helpful to also review recent GBF grants in the Our Grantees section: www.girlsbestfriend.org/grantees.
Please call with questions or to discuss whether your idea might be a good match with our funding interests.

GBF generally does not fund: individuals, capital campaigns, debt reduction, scholarships, or government or religious organizations.