How to Apply

Girl's Best Friend Foundation is a grantmaking foundation that also offers nonfinancial 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 funds a variety of organizations in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, DuPage, McHenry, Will, Kane, and Lake):

groups that work with girls and young women ages 8 to 18
multigender groups that effectively incorporate gender consciousness
LBTQ groups that work with young women through the age of 21
disability rights groups that work with young women through the age of 21

In order to be considered for funding, an organization must have tax-exempt status under IRS code 501(c)(3), classifying the group as a public charity; alternatively, we also consider 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 the extra reporting required if you do not have 501(c)(3) status.

We invest in programs whose feminist, social justice values are evident, evaluating grant requests through a dual lens of gender and social change. To be considered for a grant, organizations must meet the following criteria:

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, 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
if a multi-gender program, it is sensitive to gendered power issues, gives equal attention to girls, and provides some girl-only time

If your group meets these guidelines, please review the following information about each of our grants programs. (???)

Review recent GBF grants

Please call us if you have questions or to discuss whether your idea might be a good match with our funding interests.

Large-text, Braille, and audio versions of this information are available upon request.

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