Great Hearts Community

05/15/2026

✨ Is Your Board Leading or Just Meeting? ✨
Strong boards do more than attend meetings — they help nonprofits grow, adapt, and stay mission-focused. From fundraising and advocacy to strategic planning and financial oversight, engaged board members strengthen leadership and build community trust.

To help strengthen nonprofit leadership, Great Hearts Initiatives is sponsoring five scholarships for the BoardSource Board Support Program — offering year-round access to governance resources, expert guidance, and a network of nonprofit leaders committed to board excellence.

✅ Apply for an individual or full-board scholarship today!
https://forms.gle/haZkYMpKhMGMw9Nw9

04/13/2026

Sarah Stusek’s Proper Help has wiped out $80K+ in student meal debt and plans more, as unpaid lunch balances rise and communities call for universal free lunch.

With donor support, she has erased over $80,000 in lunch debt nationwide and says the foundation still has more than $100,000 to distribute.

Watch this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND3279a2v4o

Consider supporting Proper Help.

04/10/2026

What One Person Can Do - The Power of One

Throughout April, Great Hearts will be sharing powerful stories of individuals and small groups who are going above and beyond to lift others up and support the causes closest to their hearts. Each story is a testament to the extraordinary impact one person can have—and a reminder that even the smallest act of compassion can ripple outward in ways we may never fully see.

Comment and tell us about something you have done or someone as done for you that shows the power of one!

03/16/2026

Inspiring Story - Tutoring Chicago 60th Anniversary

Long-term, one-to-one tutoring. Entirely free of charge. That’s Tutoring Chicago. For 60 years, they have been connecting economically challenged students with volunteer tutors who care. Tutoring Chicago has reached the halfway point of its 60th anniversary program year, and students and volunteer tutors have been hard at work. The organization is already seeing strong results and continued growth in several key areas.

So far this year, Tutoring Chicago has served 1,434 students, surpassing last year’s record of 1,347. Volunteer engagement remains strong as well, with 756 tutors returning from the 2024–25 program year, representing a 62% volunteer retention rate. Long-term tutor-student partnerships remain a cornerstone of the organization’s one-to-one tutoring model and a key factor in its impact.

Congratulations to Tutoring Chicago for 60 years of remarkable impact!

Tutoring Chicago’s mission is to deliver the power of education to children facing economic barriers through one-to-one tutoring at no cost to families. Cele...

02/12/2026

💚 Growing With Purpose: An Update from The Great Hearts Community 💚

Since launching The Great Hearts Community in August 2016, we’ve believed in one simple idea: when people come together with generosity, real change happens. Working together, we’ve been able to support more than 500 causes, award over 1,000 grants totaling $500,000+, and amplify incredible nonprofit work through our newsletter and social media. Along the way, we’ve also strengthened nonprofit leadership through board education and assessment — and connected with thousands of passionate, big-hearted people who care deeply about their communities.

As we’ve reflected on what’s next for Great Hearts, one thing is clear: we don’t want to stop sharing these stories or uplifting the nonprofits doing amazing work. So rather than pressing pause, we’re evolving. We’ll continue to share nonprofit spotlights and inspiring stories, while shifting our grantmaking away from quarterly awards and focusing on our beloved annual Giving Tuesday Award — just as we’ve always done. This shift allows us to keep doing what we love in a way that’s meaningful, sustainable, and impactful.

12/11/2025

💚 Great Hearts GivingTuesday Impact 💚

Over 38.1 million people worldwide participated in GivingTuesday 2025. Closer to home, over 3,000 people came together to participate in the Great Hearts GivingTuesday Award. Some helped spread the word by sharing and reposting the opportunity to vote for grants. Others took the time to learn about the twenty nonprofit causes that had been selected to receive financial awards. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your efforts made a big difference.

The Great Hearts community helped twenty caring organizations. More than 1,660 votes were given. In total, $16,695 was awarded to the nonprofits to support their missions!

For a list of the organizations receiving grants, click here-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jlYBlquP8hp05-ufDAmRNvifqX3sEarJ/view?usp=sharing

12/02/2025

💚Turn Your Vote into a $5 Grant for Causes You Care About! 💚

Today, our giving circle is hosting a Great Hearts Award as part of the wave of generosity for GivingTuesday. We are excited to share twenty nonprofit causes that were nominated by our community and public, and to hear from you as to which of the groups should receive grants. Vote for the nonprofits that you think should be supported. Each vote you give turns into a $5 grant from our giving circle. Vote for one or all the causes!

Click on this link here to vote-
https://forms.gle/77feMT91CLzJ4MMn8

How the award works-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FZTDeXTiknxkju1nxMvWoqB9o_4QydJB/view?usp=sharing