Case Study: Dunham Foundation achieves rapid, streamlined COVID-19 grantmaking with Blackbaud Grantmaking

The Dunham Foundation tackles its community’s most urgent COVID-19 needs in fastest way

The Dunham Foundation, an Illinois grantmaker focused on building a healthy, thriving community, faced urgent local needs when COVID-19 hit and local nonprofits encountered new constraints. The foundation needed a fast, flexible way to get funding to organizations on the front lines without the usual application barriers.

Working with Blackbaud Grantmaking, Dunham launched an interim, streamlined application process—removing deadlines and letter-of-intent requirements, enabling online small-grant submissions, and prioritizing COVID‑19 relief—and joined four local funders to create the Fox Valley Grantmakers COVID-19 Response Fund. The changes sped decision-making and expanded reach, allowing the foundation to quickly fill gaps in healthcare, food security, homelessness, and social services across its community.

Dunham Foundation

Vicki Morcos

President and Chief Executive Officer