A person wearing a brown coat, scarf, and green safety vest stands with arms outstretched, smiling. They have long hair, and a blue face mask is on top of their head. A brick wall and iron fence are in the background.

Multiyear Investment Partners

Chicago Beyond’s multiyear investments provide flexible funding of up to $5 million to promote organizational growth across a variety of issues, strategies, and geographies. Through catalytic grants that enable growth and innovation, paired with partnership support, we work to increase the impact of solutions led by those closest to the issues.

In multiyear investment partners, Chicago Beyond looks for:

Organizations led by leaders with lived experience that they apply to their work to address systemic inequities
Organizations with quantitative and qualitative impact that is rooted in the voices of community members
Organizations accountable to the people they seek to support, including pathways for community members to impact decisions
Ideas, leaders, and organizations that may be undervalued, including those that have yet to receive significant capital relative to the scale of what they are working to achieve
Organizations with aspirations and plans to shift systemic conditions, including structures, policies, relationships, and behaviors

A man in a gray shirt hands items to two women at an outdoor market stall. There is a decorative blue patterned backdrop and a sign that reads Urban Agriculture in the background.

Impact Statistics

$1.4M
Since 2020, our average multiyear grant is $1.4 million, compared to median grants of $50,000 from large foundations.

Source: Lever For Change
3.9
Since 2020, our average multiyear grant is made over 3.9 years, compared to 1.5 years from large foundations.

Source: Lever For Change
100%
Since 2020, 100% of our multiyear grants have been made to organizations led by individuals with lived experience and meaningful proximity to the issues they are working to improve.

“Chicago Beyond’s funding is transformational and flexible. It allows us to develop administrative aspects of our organization and redirect funding to programing if needed. This enables us to not be in survival mode and view our organization through a sustainability lens.”
Edwin Martinez, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Centro Sanar
"The trust and understanding that Chicago Beyond provides has shown us as an association that partnership with funders are much more than monetary support, but a mutual understanding with intentionality. The team has taken the time to understand the complexity of our work, reflect on our challenges and celebrate our victories. This is a model that should be replicated in the philanthropic sector."
Asiaha Butler, Co-Founder and CEO, Residents Association of Greater Englewood