Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective

04/16/2026

North Lawndale has some incredible organizations doing real work — and this month, five of them sat down together to get their finances in order. 💙

Code Your Dreams, Heavenly Cynt Youth Inc, Lawndale Pop-Up Spot, One Lawndale Arts & Activism Incubator, and The Quilt Corporation NFP came together as part of our North Lawndale Collective to dig into budgeting and financial management with expert Oi Eng-Crandus — because when money is tight, how you manage it matters even more.

They walked away with real tools: how to budget strategically with limited resources, and what staffing and practices actually support strong financial health.

To stay connected and hear about opportunities to work with us, follow us and sign up for our newsletter:

https://www.chivnc.org/newsletter

04/15/2026

Meet Grassroots Empowerment Mission (GEM) — a Chicago nonprofit on a mission to develop the next generation of community leaders.

Founded in 2024, GEM was built to fill a real gap on the Northwest Side: a lack of grassroots organizing and leadership development that puts residents in the driver’s seat of their community’s future.

GEM is part of our West Side Neighborhood Collective, a space where organizations from the west side come together to build stronger infrastructure behind the work they’re already doing.

Here’s what Board Chair Jeremy Cuebas had to say about the experience:
“It has been a game-changer for GEM. The experience strengthened both our team and board’s confidence around budgeting, helping us move from reactive financial decisions to more strategic, forward-looking planning… As a result, we are better positioned to steward resources responsibly and amplify our impact in the community.”

To learn more about GEM’s work, visit https://www.gempowerment.org

If your organization is looking to build capacity and deepen its community impact, learn more about our programs at chivnc.org.

04/14/2026

Have you ever felt like the funding landscape is stacked against organizations like yours?

You're not imagining it.

Join us on Wednesday, May 6 from 4–6PM at Malcolm X College for Real Talk Session 3: It's Not You, It's the System, co-hosted with SVP Chicago. Moderator Lori Lightfoot will be joined by panelists Luis Guitierrez, Matt Johanson, Carlos Nelson, and Drea Slaughter for an honest conversation about how entrenched funding practices create barriers for community-based nonprofits and what it actually looks like when leaders across sectors start disrupting those patterns.

This one is for the folks who've been doing the work, playing by the rules, and still hitting walls. Come hear why that is and what we can do about it together.

Free. Free parking. And a conversation that's long overdue.��Register today:�https://www.eventbrite.com/e/real-talk-partnering-with-community-based-nonprofits-for-greater-impact-tickets-1985000973346?aff=oddtdtcreator

04/08/2026

AI can be a powerful tool – if you know how to use it.

In our latest blog post, the first in a series of blog posts that provide tips and tricks for nonprofits using AI, we provide tips on prompt writing and free resources – like the Nonprofit Prompt Cookbook.

Head to https://www.chivnc.org/news/a-part1 to check out the blog and access the Nonprofit Prompt Cookbook.

04/06/2026

We know that using AI can feel complicated. That’s why, last Wednesday, we held our first-ever AI workshop for nonprofits. Participants unpacked AI myths and realities, gained tools and tips for using AI, and learned about real-world case studies of how AI can support nonprofits.

Want to make sure you catch the next event? Follow us and sign up for our newsletter here:
https://www.chivnc.org/newsletter

04/03/2026

💡Funding Feed: Resources to Grow Neighborhood Impact

Each month, CVNC highlights grant opportunities for small- and mid-sized nonprofits creating meaningful change in their communities.

UChicago Medicine recently announced Ingalls Memorial Community Impact Grant. There are two opportunities for organizations working in the far south and south suburbs of Chicago through this grant: 1) community organizations who help adult community members prevent and manage diabetes and heart disease by addressing social determinants of health or 2) community organizations that work with youth specifically to reduce health inequities through addressing social determinants of health.

If your organization has experience working on economic stability, housing stability, or healthy food access to address chronic diseases or youth health inequities, this may be the opportunity to you! Please note that this opportunity is only for organizations that serve residents in the following zip codes: 60406, 60409, 60419, 60426, 60429, 60430, 60438, 60469, 60473, 60476, 60633, and 60827.


Apply here: 🔗 https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/about-us/community/grants-sponsorships

04/02/2026

Join us tomorrow at the opening of BLACK BOY JOY. Come support one of the amazing North Lawndale Collective organizations, the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot. Hope to see you there!

We are on the cusp of BLACK BOY JOY, the first exhibition of 2026 at the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot!! Please join us Friday, April 3 from 4:00-6:00 at Love Blooms Here Plaza to see fantastic installation and exploration of family, childhood, and art! (Lavontae is a first year student at who has been painting faces at North Lawndale community events for several years.)

This is also the first of our FRIDAYS ON THE PLAZA series, so be sure to set your alarm and join us every Friday in April and May for some awesome events!

04/02/2026

💡Funding Feed: Resources to Grow Neighborhood Impact

Each month, CVNC highlights grant opportunities for small- and mid-sized nonprofits creating meaningful change in their communities.

The Chicago Community Trust, in partnership with philanthropic organizations across Chicago, recently announced a Request for Proposals as part of the Chicago Resilience Fund. The RFP is seeking organizations and partnerships who work in basic needs services to improve the access and delivery of these services for community members. If your organization has experience working within basic needs systems like SNAP or Medicaid, this may be the opportunity for you!

Apply here: 🔗 https://www.cct.org/grants/opportunities/rfp-resilient-chicago-fund/

03/31/2026

Would you like funding opportunities sent directly to your inbox? Are you looking for hands-on learning opportunities and events to help you advance your mission? Do you ever find yourself searching for tools and templates to help you manage your organization?

Sign up for CVNC’s newsletter to get all of these things and more sent to you directly each month. Sign up here to stay up to date on new program launches, free nonprofit resources, and upcoming events:

👉 https://lnkd.in/gtZ3yqN3

❓ Curious what's in store? You can check out our March newsletter here:
https://lnkd.in/gxZKAjbp

03/30/2026

Running a nonprofit is no small task. Nonprofit leaders show up day after day and put in countless hours to keep their organizations going. It’s more important than ever for leaders to have opportunities to grow – and a community to lean on.

Each year, our partners at Compass Pro Bono host the On Course Summit to give nonprofit Executive Directors and Board members the opportunity to step back, learn from expert panelists, and connect with members of their community. This year’s summit is happening on April 21 and includes a full day of structured peer learning and powerful networking built specifically for nonprofit Executive Directors and Board Members. Sessions this year are focused on what's most urgent right now — board-ED partnerships, organizational resilience, and navigating rapid change.

Register here 👇

https://compassprobono.org/summit

On Course Summit A Nonprofit[...]

03/25/2026

Strong nonprofit–funder relationships don’t happen by accident—they’re built with intention.

At our second Real Talk session co-hosted with SVP Chicago, we heard honest reflections from nonprofit leaders and philanthropists about what it takes to make partnerships actually work.

A few key takeaways:

🔹 Stay rooted in your mission - even when funding opportunities pull you in other directions
🔹 Trust is built through consistency and transparency
🔹 Power dynamics are real and naming them matters
🔹 The best funders go beyond giving money and show up as partners

We closed with a simple challenge for everyone in the room: identify one action you can take to strengthen a partner relationship. What’s something you can do?

A huge thank you to moderator Shelley A. Davis and panelists Monali Shah, Michelle Rashad, Malcolm Crawford, and Aaron Dannenbring.

Don’t miss our third and final session in this three-part series: It’s Not You, It’s the System on May 6—Tickets are free, but space is limited!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/real-talk-partnering-with-community-based-nonprofits-for-greater-impact-tickets-1985000973346?aff=oddtdtcreator

03/23/2026

We know firsthand how hard it can be to work with program data and evaluation - that’s why our neighborhood collective curriculum always includes a session on data and evaluation. In their last session, our West Side Neighborhood Collective worked with technical expert Emily Ardell from Four Corners Global Consulting Group to learn how to use data to talk about organizational success.

Participants from Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures, Inc. NFP, Grassroots Empowerment Mission, Love and Protect Wisdom, and ShoeHeals mapped out what success looks like for their programs and explored ways to collect data that shows their impact. We are honored to be working alongside these organizations to support the meaningful changes they are making in their communities.