GRANT CYCLES

Thank you to all 2026 CBK Small Grant applicants. The committee is currently reviewing submissions, and recipients will be announced in the coming months. The KCF Competitive Grants application will be released in early March 2026. Please continue to check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Each year, the Kenosha Community Foundation (KCF) opens several competitive grant programs to support nonprofit organizations serving Kenosha County. Our grant offerings include the CBK Small Grant Program, Field of Interest Funds, and Unrestricted Grants, each designed to strengthen the community in unique ways. The CBK Small Grant Program opens for applications every November, followed later in the year by the Field of Interest and Unrestricted grant cycles. Specific opening dates will be announced here on the KCF Grants webpage as they become available. We invite you to review the grant programs below to learn more about available funding, eligibility, and areas of impact.

Field of Interest Grants

The Foundation manages several Field of Interest Funds – each fund was established by the Foundation’s Board of Directors for a particular philanthropic interest as specified by its creators and donors.

With a portion of their annual investment income, the Foundation awards grants from several Field of Interest Funds to non-profit organizations within their defined area of interest:

  • CBK Small Grant Program supports programs that provide opportunities for immersion in the arts, culture, nature, and the environment. This grant program is comprised of funds derived from the Clark-Barber Family Fund and The Kubasiewicz Family Trust.
  • Kenosha Arts Fund supports projects that enhance Kenosha’s culture, economy, and quality of life and impact the arts and community at large.
  • Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association Legacy Fund for Community Health: supports services for elderly and/or disabled residents of Kenosha, particularly homebound, with the goal of enhancing a person’s health and safety to assist them to live and remain in their home.
  • LaFave Family Fund supports programs that further education – particularly by promoting the humanities, the arts, tolerance, and communication.
  • OMC Legacy Fund supports programs and activities designed to improve the general welfare and enhance the quality of life for youth in the Kenosha community.
  • Women’s Fund supports programs and organizations that create opportunities for women and children.
  • Other Field of Interest Funds at the Foundation, including the Mary Lou and Arthur F. Mahone Fund and the Grace Kolakowski Fund, have not established competitive grant-making programs.

For each Field of Interest Fund, the Foundation, with the aid of committees of community volunteers, operates a thoughtful, responsive, and community-based grant-making program that annually awards grant funds to local non-profit organizations. Though the purposes of the Field of Interest Funds are focused, they remain flexible enough to meet community needs in the interest area—even as they change over time. All Field of Interest funds accept donations from the public. 

UNRESTRICTED GRANTS

Kenosha Community Foundation Unrestricted Grants derive from an investment pool reserved for unrestricted grantmaking, that is—grantmaking that does not conform to historical, donor-designated agreements. These select group of legacy donors had the foresight to direct their financial gifts toward unrestricted endowment funds so that KCF has this perpetual source of funds for competitive grant cycles that are responsive to the needs of a dynamic, everchanging community context.

Successful proposals from past recipients of the unrestricted grants have ranged from responsive educational, arts and nature-based programming, to “bricks and mortar” building repairs.  KCF encourages those with diverse organizational and operational needs to apply.

KCF stands honored to host the following component funds that provide Unrestricted Grants:

  • A. Allan and Isabel M. Jankus Unrestricted Endowment Fund
  • Advantage Bank / Charles Vignieri Fund
  • Advantage Bank / Robert Loss Fund
  • Edna Mae and C. Wesley Orvis Fund
  • Elaine K. and Dr. Steven A. Azuma Fund
  • Enroth Family Fund
  • Fred and Jessie Hopf Fund
  • Kenosha News Charitable Fund
  • M&I/Ben-Ami Chemerow Fund
  • Mary Frost Ashley Fund
  • Ralph L. and Frances A. Jaeschke Fund
  • The Kathleen Stuemke Legacy Fund
  • Verne and Doris Gantzer Fund
 

2025 Field of Interest Grants Recipients

The Kenosha Community Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of its 2025 Field of Interest Grants, awarding over $80,000 to 18 nonprofit organizations serving the Kenosha community. These grants, made possible through the generosity of donors and the foresight of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, support programs that enrich local health, education, the arts, and opportunities for women and children. Funded through several of the Foundation’s Field of Interest Funds, the following awards reflect the Foundation’s commitment to improving the quality of life for all who call Kenosha home:

Kenosha Arts Fund:
Kenosha Visiting Nurse Association Legacy Fund for Community Health:
La Fave Family Fund:
OMC Legacy Fund:
Women’s Fund:

2025 CBK Small Grants Recipients

From the The Clark-Barber Family Fund and The Kubasiewicz Family Trust, 7 grants have been awarded to support arts or the understanding of our natural world while emphasizing cross-cultural and multi-generational programs, whenever possible:

2025 Unrestricted Grants Recipients

17 grants have been awarded from a pool of KCF Unrestricted Funds. This array of grant awards demonstrates the breadth of programming that KCF can support to meet donors’ philanthropic aims and intents. Congratulations to the following Kenosha County nonprofit organizations

Visit our Grantmaking page for post-award requirements and resources by clicking the image below: