The Christopher Family Foundation

The Christopher Family Foundation is a family-led private foundation based in Westmont, IL, rooted in Christian values but executing a decidedly secular, equity-focused grantmaking strategy. Founded by the Christopher family and governed by trustees Doris K. Christopher, Jay Christopher, and Kelley Christopher Schueler (Board Chair), CFF operates with a lean staff model — six employees as of 2025 — and concentrates its $72.7M in assets (FY2023) on four program pillars: Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Food Security, and Community and Family Well-being.

The foundation's giving philosophy explicitly blends Christian ethic with access and equity imperatives. Faith-based organizations are welcome grantees provided they do not discriminate based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics. In practice, Lutheran institutions — Walther Lutheran High School ($911,033 across 10 grants), Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church of River Forest ($424,000 across 20 grants), Chicagoland Lutheran Educational Foundation ($305,000 across 5 grants) — represent some of the foundation's deepest and most enduring relationships.

For new applicants, the relationship begins with a Letter of Inquiry submitted via the online portal at grantinterface.com (urlkey: tcff). Before submitting, new applicants are explicitly expected to contact Grants Manager Monica at monica@christopherff.org to introduce their organization and confirm program-cycle fit. CFF does not encourage cold submissions.

The standard progression runs: informal outreach → LOI submission → invitation to full proposal (a subset of LOI applicants) → site visit → funding decision. Site visits are substantive: CFF staff observe programs directly, meet beneficiaries, and engage organizational leadership — not just executive directors. Applicants should prepare program staff and frontline workers for these interactions.

Once funded, CFF builds long partnerships. Top grantees appear across 4–20 grants, and general operating support — a marker of deep trust — is offered primarily to organizations with established multi-year track records. First-time applicants should anchor requests to a specific, active program with documented outcomes and a realistic partial-funding budget. The foundation does not fund organizations planning to expand to Chicago's West Side; current, operational presence and partnerships there are a prerequisite.

CFF's annual grantmaking has grown substantially over the past decade: from $2.7M in FY2015 and $3.3M in FY2019 to $4.1M in grants paid and $5.1M in total giving in FY2023. This trajectory reflects a doubling of assets — from $36.1M (FY2019) to $72.7M (FY2023) — partly driven by a transformative $21M contribution in FY2021 and a further $11.2M infusion in FY2023. With a 5% payout rate on $72.7M in assets, annual grantmaking is likely to remain in the $3.5–5M range going forward.

Grant sizes span a wide range. Internal data shows a median grant of $20,000, an average of $33,641–$37,747, and a documented range from $50 to $500,000. External grant cycle documentation cites typical awards of $75,000–$250,000, reflecting that larger grants go to established multi-year grantees while new partners often receive smaller initial awards in the $20,000–$50,000 range.

Geographic concentration is extreme: Illinois accounts for 353 of 417 tracked grants (85%), the vast majority Chicago-based. Wisconsin (9), New York (9), California (15), and Massachusetts (6) appear as minor secondary states — Wisconsin likely reflecting the Sheboygan County and other Midwest Lutheran connections (Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County received $347,500 across 6 grants).

By program area, an analysis of the top 50 grantees reveals approximate giving allocations: - Education (25–30%): Led by Walther Lutheran High School ($911,033), Timothy Christian Schools ($500,000), CLEF ($305,000), Museum of Science and Industry ($300,000). - Employment and Entrepreneurship (18–22%): Jane Addams Resource Corporation ($260,000), Cara Program ($300,000), Hire360 ($160,000), Gray Matter Experience ($171,000). - Food Security (14–16%): Northern Illinois Food Bank ($480,100), Feeding America ($240,000), Greater Chicago Food Depository ($230,000). - Community and Human Services (18–20%): Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago ($335,000), New Moms Inc ($245,000), Lutheran Social Services of Illinois ($245,000). - Collaborative/Philanthropic Infrastructure (8–10%): Forefront ($750,000), Chicago Community Foundation ($695,000), A Better Chicago ($170,000). - Faith-based Community Organizations (6–8%): Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church ($424,000), Holy Family Ministries ($155,000), Chicago Jesuit Academy ($155,000).

Single large grants above $100,000 are almost exclusively associated with multi-year grantee relationships averaging 4–10 grants over time.

CFF is classified under NTEE code X99Z (Religion — Not Elsewhere Classified), which groups it with other faith-affiliated or faith-founded foundations rather than community foundations. The five closest database peers are mid-sized foundations in the same NTEE category:

The NTEE peer set reflects CFF's founding faith roots rather than its operational grantmaking. In practice, CFF occupies a different competitive space — mid-sized Chicago funders committed to West Side equity work — alongside the Polk Bros. Foundation, the Woods Fund Chicago, and the Lumpkin Family Foundation. CFF distinguishes itself from this functional peer group through its narrow West Side/Austin geographic focus, its transparent two-cycle online application process (accessible to any eligible nonprofit), and its commitment to collaborative multi-funder initiatives. At $72.7M in assets, CFF is smaller than Polk Bros. (~$300M) but is growing rapidly and deploying capital at an increasing rate. For nonprofits serving Chicago's West Side, CFF is among the most accessible and relationship-oriented mid-sized funders in the region.

The defining event of the past 12 months at CFF is a leadership transition at the executive director level. After seven years of service, Clare Butterfield retired effective October 1, 2025. She oversaw a period in which CFF's assets grew from approximately $36M to $72.7M, annual grantmaking roughly doubled, and the portfolio sharpened its geographic focus on Chicago's West Side. Butterfield also built CFF's collaborative infrastructure, establishing partnerships in the Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance and the Austin Fresh food access initiative.

Monique Bobb Schlichtman took over as Executive Director on October 1, 2025. She comes from a Senior Program Officer role at the Lumpkin Family Foundation, where she managed Chicago grantmaking and co-led the Austin Fresh collaboration with CFF. She brings 20+ years of experience spanning philanthropy, nonprofit management (including a prior Executive Director role at a mental health nonprofit), and public sector work. Her academic background — Brown University (BA Public Policy), Baruch College (MPA, National Urban Fellow), and a PhD in progress at UIC — signals an analytically rigorous, policy-literate approach to grantmaking. Her appointment statement emphasized dismantling systems of injustice and community-driven change.

In December 2025, CFF released an unscheduled round of Food Security and Austin Fresh grants, citing heightened need following federal SNAP funding disruptions and surging demand at West Side food programs. This out-of-cycle action signals food security as an acute strategic priority.

The 2026 Education cycle opened February 16, 2026 (LOI portal), with LOIs due March 20, full proposals due May 11, and decisions expected June 2026. An information session was held February 24, 2026 via Zoom.

Contact Monica before anything else. The Grants Manager, Monica (monica@christopherff.org), is the single most important relationship for new applicants. CFF's own website states that first-time applicants should reach out before submitting. Use this conversation to gauge fit, understand what the current cycle is prioritizing, and get your organization on Monica's radar before the portal opens.

Establish West Side presence first. CFF asks explicitly whether your organization is based in or serving Chicago's West Side (zip codes 60644, 60639, 60651, 60707). If you are not yet operating there with established community relationships, do not apply. This is a hard screen, not a soft preference.

New applicants: request program support, not general operating. CFF reserves unrestricted/general operating grants for existing multi-year grantees. First proposals must be anchored to a specific, active program with documented history. Name the program, quantify its outcomes, and show it is already running — not planned.

Show financial health proactively. CFF reviews organizational financial statements and multi-year deficits are a red flag. If your organization has experienced a deficit year, explain it in context (e.g., COVID disruptions, a one-time capital project). Unexplained sustained deficits are disqualifying.

Build a leveraged budget. CFF expects to be one funder among several. Budget your program to show other confirmed or anticipated funding sources, and frame CFF's portion as enabling rather than fully sustaining the work. Avoid submitting a budget where CFF would be the only funder.

One proposal per year per organization. CFF enforces a strict one-full-proposal-per-year limit. If you want to explore submitting an additional LOI (not a full proposal), contact Monica first — exceptions exist but require advance coordination.

Align proposal language with CFF's four pillars. Use the foundation's own vocabulary: Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Food Security, Family and Community Well-being. Map your program explicitly to one of these four areas. Avoid housing services, disability programs, capital campaigns, and policy advocacy — these are explicitly outside CFF's scope.

Prepare for a substantive site visit. CFF staff conduct site visits for full proposal stage applicants, meeting program staff and beneficiaries directly. Brief your frontline team on outcomes data, have impact stories ready, and treat the site visit as part of the application, not an afterthought.

Attend the information session. The Education cycle session on February 24, 2026 (and equivalent sessions for the Employment/Food Security cycle) are free and optional — but strategically valuable. CFF staff attend, and these sessions surface the specific priorities of the current cycle.