Article II of Civic By-Laws
The purposes of this Corporation shall be:

• To raise funds and to donate these funds for the purposes of assisting the following objects within or related to the Village of Northbrook, Illinois, or its residents
• Public Libraries, education, scholarship, and schools; Public health, parks and recreation; Improvement and assistance to community youth; Other lawful objects having charitable, educational or public purposes, or furthering the well- being of the society, within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
• To participate, and to encourage interest and participation by the members and other Northbrook residents, in activities related to the objects described in paragraph 1 of this article
• To investigate and to take such action as is required for the improvement or implementation of the objects described in paragraph 1 of this article

Civic prefers to fund projects that require tangible assets (equipment, etc.) or start up grants for programs/services. Civic traditionally has refused requests for operating expenses.

Civic distributes monies earned at Northbrook Days back to community organizations through two grant committees:

• General Projects – Accepts requests from community organizations and local government. Grants can be up to a maximum of $5,000
• Major Projects – Accepts requests from community organizations and local government. Grant requests must exceed $5000. On occasion Civic has approved major projects that span multiple years (e.g., when Civic funded the rebuilding of the Village Green Playground it took all of the revenue from two Northbrook Days)

All grant requests must be submitted with the required documentation described in Grant Request Format

• GENERAL PROJECT – Grants up to and including $5000:
  Mail to:

  General Projects Committee
  Northbrook Civic Foundation
  2002 WaIters Ave.
  Northbrook, IL 60062

  If the motion passes for a General Project, it must be confirmed by a vote of the Board of Directors. The requester will then be notified of the results

• MAJOR PROJECT – Grants over $5000:
  Mail to:

  Major Projects Committee
  Northbrook Civic Foundation
  2002 WaIters Ave.
  Northbrook, IL 60062

  (Note: The information requested by Civic represents the scope of the questions that Civic may ask of a grantee.)

  If the motion passes for a Major Project, the proposal must then be sent in ballot form to all members of Civic. The ballot will include a motion for the grant, an argument for the grant, and an optional argument against the grant (if more than 25% of the meeting vote was against the grant). Ballots will be returned by the next regular Civic meeting and will be counted there. The requester will then be notified of the results.

After initial review, a representative from the Committee may contact the requester for additional information or to suggest modification to the project scope. The Committee will then vote either to present the request to Civic’s membership, or to decline the request.

If the Committee approves a grant proposal it will be presented at a regular monthly Civic meeting. The Committee may ask that a spokesperson from the organization be present to assist in the presentation by answering questions that may come from the floor. Note: Civic meetings are open to the public and are generally held on the second Monday of each month, except in August.

After all information has been presented, members in attendance at the meeting will vote on the request.

When a grant proposal is approved, the requesting organization will be contacted to discuss the conditions required to receive the funds (e.g., invoices, proof of matching funds, etc.).