Civic Partnerships

Chicago's civic landscape is notable for its broad network of philanthropic, corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations, and its rich history of collaboration between these entities to achieve shared goals. Civic partnerships build upon the collective assets of these leaders and organizations for greater impact. 

MacArthur works in close collaboration with our partners to identify the problems and support the solutions that community members want to address.

In 2016, the Foundation and its peers created a cooperative effort called the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities. With the contributions of more than 50 philanthropic organizations, the Partnership members align their funding around strategies to help reduce gun violence in Chicago in collaboration with community, public, and private sector leaders. The Partnership strives to elevate the voices of the individuals and organizations committed to street outreach and violence prevention, and it supports civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we partnered with an array of other entities to provide relief and support recovery for the city’s residents, as well as to address the economic impact of the pandemic. We also address timely or unique opportunities, such as ensuring an accurate count throughout Illinois in the decennial census; the establishment of a Chicago Public Library Branch at the Obama Presidential Center; and the acquisition of the historic Ebony and Jet photographic archives.

While the majority of applications for support under Civic Partnerships are invited in coordination with other funders, organizations that wish to be considered for support from MacArthur are welcome to submit a brief description of their work through our grants portal.

Evaluation of our work is a critical tool for informing our decision making, leading to better results and more effective stewardship of resources. We develop customized evaluation designs for each of our programs based on the context, problem, opportunity, and approach to the work. Evaluation is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process of collecting feedback and using that information to support our grantees and adjust our strategy.

Findings and analyses from evaluation activities are posted publicly as they become available.

Updated June 2025