GDDF Awards Nearly $6.2 Million in Funding in 2024 to 127 Organizations in Chicago, Lowcountry of South Carolina
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Awards Nearly $6.2 Million in Funding in 2024 to 127 Organizations in Chicago, Lowcountry of South Carolina
$2.5 Million Granted to 58 Nonprofits in End-of-Year Grant Cycle
(Chicago, IL & Charleston, SC) The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (GDDF) provided grant awards for 127 groups in 2024. The Board of Directors approved $6.18 million in multi-year funding to organizations working in the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina across the Foundation’s three program areas: Artistic Vitality, Broadening Narratives, and Land Conservation. In its fall grant cycle, GDDF awarded more than $2.5 million to 58 organizations across regions and programs. The Foundation makes grants twice a year in the summer and late fall.
“It is more important than ever to champion the power of art, nurture our land, and share the stories that shape our self-understanding,” said Arnold Randall, executive director of the Foundation.
“Even as they are doing exciting and important work, many of the organizations we support are facing challenges and uncertainty. At GDDF, we value the deep, steady, and long-term relationships we build with our grantee partners. We remain committed to trust-based practices, our mission areas, and the values of equity and trust that guide our work,” continued Randall. “We are proud to support these organizations that are doing such important work in their fields and communities.”
More than 65% of this year’s grants were for multi-year general operating support, and 70% of the fall grants provided general operating support. GDDF also provides project, planning, technical assistance, and cash reserve funding. In addition to grantmaking, GDDF is committed to supporting our grantee partners in a variety of ways, including access to training and support for collaborations and convenings. The Foundation currently funds 322 organizations in total.
Funding By Region and Program
A full list of grantees and grants appears at the end of this release.
Chicago Region
2024 Total: $4.38 million to 89 organizations
Fall cycle grants: $1.47 million to 35 organizations
- Chicago Artistic Vitality
- 2024 Total: $1.58 million to 59 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $757,000 to 26 organizations
- Broadening Narratives
- 2024 Total: $682,693 to 14 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $229,500 to 5 organizations
- Chicago Land Conservation
- 2024 Total: $2.12 million to 16 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $490,000 to 4 organizations
Lowcountry of South Carolina
2024 Total: $1.8 million to 38 organizations
Fall cycle grants: $1.05 million to 23 organizations
- Lowcountry Artistic Vitality
- 2024 Total: $738,700 to 25 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $401,000 to 15 organizations
- Broadening Narratives
- 2024 Total: $312,500 to 6 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $185,000 to 3 organizations
- Lowcountry Land Conservation
- 2024 Total: $758,000 to 7 organizations
- Fall cycle grants: $468,000 to 5 organizations
Chicago Region Grant Recipients
Artistic Vitality
| Access Contemporary Music | $27,000 |
| Aerial Dance Chicago | $25,500 |
| Asian Improv aRts Midwest | $30,000 |
| Beyond This Point | $12,000 |
| Chicago Dancemakers Forum | $30,000 |
| Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival | $25,000 |
| Chicago Jazz Philharmonic | $40,500 |
| Chicago Reader | $15,000 |
| Comfort Station | $18,000 |
| Community Film Workshop of Chicago | $22,500 |
| D-Composed | $25,500 |
| Deeply Rooted Productions | $27,000 |
| Definition Theatre Company | $36,000 |
| Diasporal Rhythms | $12,000 |
| Ensemble Dal Niente | $30,000 |
| First Floor Theater | $18,000 |
| High Concept Labs | $25,000 |
| Homeroom | $7,500 |
| HotHouse | $25,500 |
| Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art | $13,500 |
| Jazz Institute of Chicago | $40,500 |
| Kalapriya | $30,000 |
| Kokandy Productions | $25,500 |
| Lawndale Pop Up Spot | $22,500 |
| Lawyers for the Creative Arts | $75,000 |
| League of Chicago Theatres | $75,000 |
| Lubeznik Center for the Arts | $13,500 |
| Lucky Plush Productions | $30,000 |
| MAKE Literary Productions | $22,500 |
| Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, Inc. | $30,000 |
| Midsommer Flight | $12,000 |
| MOMENTA | $22,500 |
| Natya Dance Theatre | $40,500 |
| Open Television (OTV) | $27,500 |
| Orion Chamber Ensemble | $6,000 |
| Pullman Arts (Voice of the City fiscal sponsor) | $53,250 |
| Rivendell Theatre Ensemble | $30,000 |
| Roots and Culture Contemporary Art Center | $22,500 |
| See Chicago Dance | $40,500 |
| Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center | $40,500 |
| Shattered Globe Theatre | $36,000 |
| Silk Road Rising | $40,500 |
| Spudnik Press Cooperative | $25,500 |
| St Charles Singers | $8,500 |
| Steep Theatre Company | $30,000 |
| Strawdog Theatre Company | $25,500 |
| Synapse Arts | $18,000 |
| The Artistic Home Acting Ensemble | $22,500 |
| The Chicago Poetry Center | $25,000 |
| The Mural Movement | $22,500 |
| The Newberry Consort | $30,000 |
| The Seldoms | $22,500 |
| The South Side Jazz Coalition | $22,500 |
| TUTA: The Utopian Theatre Asylum | $18,000 |
| Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art | $30,000 |
| Union Street Gallery | $22,500 |
| Water Street Studios | $10,000 |
| Woman Made Gallery | $22,500 |
Broadening Narratives
| Bronzeville Black Chicagoan Historical Society | $15,000 |
| Chicago Cultural Alliance | $27,500 |
| Chicago Defender Charities | $25,000 |
| Chicago Theological Seminary Board of Directors | $49,500 |
| DePaul University | $198,193 |
| Experimental Sound Studio | $80,000 |
| Gerber Hart LGBTQ+ Library and Archives | $30,000 |
| Heritage Museum of Asian Art | $35,000 |
| Mitchell Museum of the American Indian | $100,000 |
| National Museum Of Gospel Music | $17,500 |
| Public Radio Exchange (PRX) | $30,000 |
| Quinn Community Service Alliance of Chicago | $25,000 |
| Shorefront | $25,000 |
| The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture | $25,000 |
Land Conservation
| American Farmland Trust | $150,000 |
| Ducks Unlimited | $120,000 |
| Faith in Place | $100,000 |
| Friends of the Chicago River | $100,000 |
| Friends of the Forest Preserves | $100,000 |
| Geneva Lake Conservancy | $100,000 |
| Illinois Environmental Council Education Fund | $150,000 |
| Metropolitan Planning Council | $100,000 |
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | $375,000 |
| Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves | $50,000 |
| Shirley Heinze Land Trust | $120,000 |
| Southeast Environmental Task Force | $70,000 |
| The Conservation Foundation | $135,000 |
| The Land Conservancy of McHenry County | $100,000 |
| The Wetlands Initiative | $150,000 |
| Trust for Public Land (cross-region) | $300,000 |
Lowcountry Grant Recipients
Artistic Vitality
| Alternate ROOTS for TINYisPOWERFUL (two grants) | $68,700 |
| Annex Dance Company | $10,000 |
| Art League of Hilton Head Island Inc. | $20,000 |
| City of Charleston | $60,000 |
| Footlight Players | $30,000 |
| Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum | $40,000 |
| Gibbes Museum of Art | $50,000 |
| Hampton Friends of the Arts | $10,000 |
| HEART Inclusive Arts Community | $20,000 |
| Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra | $50,000 |
| Lean Ensemble Theater | $20,000 |
| Long Bay Symphonic Society | $40,000 |
| Native Island Business and Community Affairs Association | $20,000 |
| North Charleston Pops | $20,000 |
| OHM Radio | $20,000 |
| Palmetto City Ballet | $20,000 |
| Palmetto Luna Arts | $10,000 |
| Pat Conroy Literary Center Inc. | $20,000 |
| Redux Contemporary Art Center | $30,000 |
| South Carolina Arts Alliance | $40,000 |
| South of Broadway Theatre | $20,000 |
| The Charleston Gaillard Center | $50,000 |
| The Flowertown Players | $20,000 |
| The Original Gullah Festival of South Carolina Inc. | $20,000 |
| University of South Carolina Beaufort Center for the Arts | $30,000 |
Broadening Narratives
| Dorchester Heritage Center | $25,000 |
| Friends of Coastal South Carolina | $60,000 |
| Historic Charleston Foundation | $25,000 |
| Lincolnville Preservation & Historical Society (fiscal sponsor SCACED) | $52,500 |
| The South Carolina Historical Society | $100,000 |
| The Village Group | $50,000 |
Land Conservation
| Kiawah Conservancy | $48,000 |
| Natural Resources Defense Council | $200,000 |
| Open Land Trust | $100,000 |
| Pee Dee Land Trust | $90,000 |
| South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development | $100,000 |
| South Carolina Farm Bureau Land Trust | $30,000 |
| The Sustainability Institute | $90,000 |
| Trust for Public Land (cross-region) | $300,000 |
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The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The Foundation seeks to sustain and build resilient, vital, engaged, and equitable communities in these two regions by supporting conservation, arts, and collecting organizations that broaden narratives. For more information, visit gddf.org.
About the programs:
Artistic Vitality
Arts organizations produce innovative, exciting, and engaging works. In Chicago, we support small arts organizations that are the building blocks of the city’s cultural vibrancy, and in the Lowcountry support a wide spectrum of organizations that contribute to the unique culture of the Lowcountry.
Broadening Narratives
Broadening Narratives is a newly imagined approach to the work of collections. GDDF is working to ensure that those whose stories are being told through collections are included in the decisions about how those stories are told, with an emphasis on untold or incomplete or inaccurate stories.
Land Conservation
GDDF supports the preservation and restoration of natural and working lands with an emphasis on climate resiliency, advocacy, and inclusive conservation strategies to provide both ecological and quality of life benefits for the diverse communities in the Chicago and Lowcountry regions.
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