Community Memorial Foundation

Community Memorial Foundation is a private health conversion foundation — created from the 1995 sale of Community Memorial Hospital — with a tightly defined geographic mandate: measurably improving health across 27 communities in the western suburbs of Chicago. This origin story shapes everything about how CMF funds. They are not a general-purpose grantmaker but a regional steward accountable to a specific geography and a specific ten-year health agenda (the Regional Health and Human Services Agenda, or RHA).

CMF favors organizations with deep roots in DuPage County and the surrounding western suburbs. Their grantee portfolio reflects this absolutely: 245 of 251 tracked grants (97.6%) go to Illinois nonprofits, with virtually all recipients demonstrably serving the 27 CMF target communities. Geographic alignment is a hard screen, not a soft preference — organizations serving communities outside this footprint are ineligible regardless of program quality or organizational strength.

The typical relationship progression involves three stages: (1) pre-application outreach — CMF explicitly invites prospective applicants to call 630-654-4729 before investing time in a proposal, and this conversation is a genuine relationship-building opportunity; (2) Letter of Intent (LOI) submission — required for first-time applicants, organizations not funded in the past three years, or any request over $25,000; and (3) full proposal review at either the June board meeting (spring cycle) or the December board meeting (fall cycle).

First-time applicants should understand that CMF invests in long-term partnerships, not one-time projects. Of the top 20 grantees in the tracked portfolio, virtually every organization has received four or more separate grants across multiple cycles — NAMI Metro Suburban received 10 grants totaling $1,009,036; Mujeres Latinas En Accion received 8 grants for $297,739; Bridge Communities received 10 grants for $138,395. A first application should be framed as the beginning of a multi-year partnership, with a clear organizational theory of change and demonstrated community need within the specific CMF service area.

CMF also runs two parallel funding tracks that often complement each other: Program Grants fund direct service delivery, while Capacity Building Grants invest in organizational infrastructure. Many top grantees receive both types simultaneously, meaning a strong first proposal may open the door to capacity-building investment within subsequent cycles. New leadership (Charlie Corrigan became CEO in September 2025) creates a timely opportunity to introduce your organization to a fresh administration.

Community Memorial Foundation has maintained annual giving in the range of $4.7 million to $5.7 million per year across available 990 filings (FY2013–FY2023). Specifically, total giving was $3.89M in FY2014, $4.77M in FY2015, $4.74M in FY2019, $5.71M in FY2020, $5.42M in FY2021, $5.43M in FY2022, and $5.52M in FY2023 — settling into a stable plateau of approximately $5.4–$5.5M for the most recent years. Grants paid (direct cash disbursements) are somewhat lower than total giving — ranging from $2.89M (FY2021) to $3.88M (FY2020) — because a portion of total giving flows through program expenses within the BOE ($888,396) and RHA ($2,788,019) programs rather than as direct cash grants to external nonprofits.

From the tracked grantee database (251 grants, $6,383,024 total), the average individual grant is $25,430. The distribution is long-tailed: the top five cumulative grantee relationships account for approximately $2.7 million, while individual single-cycle grants likely cluster in the $15,000–$50,000 range. Program Grants appear to range from roughly $10,000 to $75,000 per cycle, while Capacity Building Grants often run smaller ($5,000–$25,000) but are frequently awarded alongside program grants at the same organization. Established multi-year partners can grow into six-figure annual relationships: NAMI Metro Suburban averages approximately $100,000 per grant cycle across its 10-grant history.

By focus area, the portfolio clusters around: behavioral and mental health (NAMI Metro Suburban, NAMI of DuPage County, Healthcare Alternative Systems); community health access (Pillars Community Health, Alivio Medical Center, Hamdard Center, Suburban Primary Health Care Council); housing and homelessness prevention (DuPagePads, Beds Plus, Housing Forward, Alliance to End Homelessness, Mercy Housing Lakefront); aging and disability services (Aging Care Connections, UCP Seguin Services, Easter Seals DuPage); food security (Northern Illinois Food Bank, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Meals on Wheels); and legal/poverty advocacy (Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law).

Geographically, 97.6% of tracked grants go to Illinois nonprofits, with only 6 grants reaching organizations in Colorado or North Carolina — likely reflecting relationships with national capacity-building intermediaries. CMF's endowment reached $102.3M in FY2024 (up from $88.6M in FY2015), driven by investment returns rather than charitable contributions (contributions received were only $33,079–$48,647 per year in recent years). Annual giving is unlikely to expand dramatically absent significant market appreciation, but the foundation's capitalization is stable and strong.

The grantee database contains no peer records for Community Memorial Foundation, so this comparison draws on publicly available information about comparable Illinois-area funders. CMF occupies a distinctive niche as a health conversion foundation — created by a hospital sale rather than personal or family wealth — which creates specific accountability to geographic and health-focused mandates not shared by most peers.

Note: Peer asset and giving figures are approximate based on public 990 data; CMF figures are from verified filings. Healthy Communities Foundation and The Coleman Foundation are confirmed co-funders with CMF on the Community Health Worker initiative, making them the most directly comparable partners in the western suburbs ecosystem. CMF's dual grant tracks (Program + Capacity Building) combined with its BOE organizational effectiveness program make it more operationally engaged with grantees than most peers in this asset class. Unlike DuPage Foundation's broader community scope, CMF's focus is explicitly health and human services, meaning health-aligned organizations will find better fit and less competition here than at a general community foundation.

The most consequential recent development is CMF's CEO transition. After more than a decade under President & CEO Greg DiDomenico (compensation: $258,545 in FY2020), the board announced his retirement in 2026 and engaged WittKieffer — a nationally recognized executive search firm based in Oak Brook — to conduct a national CEO search. Charlie Corrigan, a native of the western suburbs, was named the new President & CEO, effective September 15, 2025. Leadership transitions at foundations of this size often trigger strategic reviews, priority recalibrations, and new staff relationship dynamics — making the 2025–2026 period an especially important window for organizations to introduce themselves and build relationships with incoming leadership.

On the program side, the joint Community Health Worker (CHW) initiative — co-funded with Healthy Communities Foundation and The Coleman Foundation — entered its sixth year, with Year 6 outcomes released documenting CHW impact on health equity and culturally competent care delivery in the western suburbs. This multi-funder, multi-year initiative represents one of CMF's most visible sustained investments and signals ongoing commitment to health equity as a funding priority.

In 2025, CMF also launched the Kindness Luncheon Series, an informal networking initiative for grantee partners, and transitioned its grants management system from Blackbaud to GivingData beginning Fall 2025. The YC2 Young Community Changemakers program is active for Spring 2026, with a March 15, 2026 deadline and $30,000 in total funding across two cohorts. Senior Program Officer Tom Fuechtmann was featured on the Fund the People podcast in 2025, highlighting CMF's identity as a capacity-builder.

Call before you apply. CMF staff at 630-654-4729 explicitly welcome pre-application conversations. This call is not a bureaucratic formality — it is a genuine screening and relationship-building step. Staff can confirm whether your organization's geography, program focus, and grant type request align with the current cycle's priorities. This step distinguishes informed applicants from generic grant seekers.

Know the two-cycle calendar cold. Spring: LOI due February 15, full proposal due March 15 (5:00 PM CST), board review in June. Fall: LOI due August 15, full proposal due September 15 (5:00 PM CST), board review in December. Missing the LOI deadline disqualifies you from that cycle, and CMF does not accept late submissions.

Use RHA language throughout. CMF's Regional Health and Human Services Agenda defines the health priorities for the 27 communities. Proposals that explicitly reference RHA priority areas and use its indicator language demonstrate genuine community partnership rather than opportunistic grant-seeking. Download and read the RHA before drafting any narrative.

Apply for both grant types when eligible. Program Grants and Capacity Building Grants can be requested simultaneously. Many of CMF's most established grantees — NAMI Metro Suburban, Mujeres Latinas En Accion, Aging Care Connections — consistently receive both types. A Capacity Building request (for staff development, financial systems, or technology) signals organizational maturity rather than weakness, and CMF's BOE program philosophy actively rewards this approach.

Attend Zoom office hours. Before the fall deadline, Grants Manager Danny Sayas hosts informal Zoom drop-in sessions. This is an unusual access point — use it. Bring specific questions about LOI framing, grant type selection, and GivingData account setup.

Be specific about your 27-community footprint. CMF does not fund broadly regional work that incidentally touches the western suburbs. If your organization operates across a wide geography, document precisely what percentage of your clients and service delivery occur within the 27 CMF target communities. Ambiguity about geographic alignment is the most common reason LOIs are not advanced.

Set up GivingData early. The Fall 2025 platform migration from Blackbaud means first-time users face a new onboarding process. Create your account at cmfdn.givingdata.com at least two weeks before any deadline.