Member Resources and Research
Grantmaker Resources
As the country still struggles with the outbreak of COVID-19, Forefront remains committed to supporting the Illinois social impact sector. We continue to update our Grantmaker resources page with webinars, reports, and other assets to help you make the right choices for you and the sector at large. Access Forefront’s Grantmaker resources here.
Access to Forefront’s Library
Our librarians assist Members with a variety of research, sourcing reports, templates, articles, our webinars, and other support. Common requests include prospect research on foundations and individuals, samples and templates of requests for proposals, grant applications, budgets, and other aspects of the grantseeking/grantmaking process, salary surveys and job descriptions, and general research on philanthropic topics. Visit the Library Homepage or email [email protected] for more information.
Foundation Maps Regional
Foundation Maps Regional, a powerful tool with highly interactive maps that display a wide range of grants data, is provided free to our Grantmaker Members as a benefit of Membership. Click here to access this powerful data.
Exponent Philanthropy Reports
Through our partnership with Exponent Philanthropy, Forefront members receive 20% off the following publications (Use code FORUM20):
- The Foundation Guidebook – This signature publication is written especially for newcomers to foundations or philanthropy. Gain the baseline knowledge to operate your foundation, including board responsibilities, tax and legal issues, administrative details, investment matters, grantmaking basics, and more.
- The Trustee Handbook – A comprehensive resource for foundation trustees and key staff, you’ll find detailed guidance on foundation governance, grantmaking, tax and legal issues, and financial oversight and investments.
- Foundation Operations and Management Report – Exponent Philanthropy’s flagship report includes more than 60 pages of mission-critical benchmarking data about foundations’ boards & governance, investments, administration, and grantmaking.
Council on Foundations Salary Survey
The Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Survey provides the sector with the most comprehensive data on staff composition and compensation in the United States for grantmakers like you to use in planning budgets, benchmarking personnel policies and practices, determining salary levels for new and existing staff, and more. Tables from the salary survey are made available to our Members through library reference requests or email [email protected]. Forefront contacts all Grantmaker Members regarding the survey each year, and we encourage you to participate.
Illinois Foundation Stats Dashboard
To promote transparency and increase awareness of the impact of the Illinois philanthropy community, Forefront has partnered with Foundation Center to bring top-line data about the philanthropy landscape to regional foundations, nonprofits, policymakers, and media with Illinois Foundation Stats.
This public-facing interactive dashboard represents the latest available data from Illinois foundations and the IRS and offers insights into:
- The composition of foundations in Illinois
- The giving priorities, populations, and support strategies of those foundations
- Giving to Illinois by all foundations, regardless of location