The Dupaco Foundation Nonprofit Grant is a one-time financial contribution of up to $20,000 to support nonprofit organizations whose mission or programs directly further one of the Foundation’s three Community Pillars: Affordable housing and homeownership, upskilling and reskilling, or small business development.
The Foundation’s community pillars guide the efforts to make an impact on people’s financial and social well-being. Organizations applying for this grant must directly further one of the Foundation’s community pillars:
Homeownership provides a pathway for people to build wealth and housing stability.
Education and training increase people’s earning potential and help strengthen our workforce.
Small businesses help drive our economy and help people create their own economic opportunity.
The Foundation will invest in organizations whose mission or programs directly further one of the Foundation’s community pillars: Affordable housing and homeownership, upskilling and reskilling, or small business development. Here’s what that looks like for each pillar:
Affordable housing and homeownership: The grant supports programs and activities designed to address homeownership barriers. Barriers include preparedness and understanding of the homebuying process, financial education, access to credit, savings and down payment, and housing affordability.
Desired outcomes: Preference is given to programs that help people achieve homeownership. Additionally, programs that increase affordable housing, help people maintain housing, or attain basic housing are also considered.
Upskilling and reskilling: The grant supports programs or activities designed to address the barriers to employment or living-wage jobs. Barriers include education and training, skills and experience, and transportation.
Desired outcomes: Preference is given to programs that help people with job placement and increased wages. Programs that increase people’s marketable skills are also considered.
Small business development: The grant supports programs or activities designed to address the barriers to starting or growing a business. Barriers include startup or growth funding, financial education, business planning and management skills.
Desired outcomes: Preference is given to programs that support business startups or help small businesses grow and create new jobs. Programs that improve business management and planning skills are also considered.
If awarded, the organization agrees to apply all grant funds toward eligible activities.
Your organization must meet the following criteria:
Be a 501(c)(3) public charity that is not a supporting organization or unit of state, local or federal government (like a public library or public university).
Reside in and provide service in the credit union’s geographic charter area:
Iowa: Any county
Illinois: Carroll, Jo Daviess, Rock Island, Stephenson, Whiteside
Wisconsin: Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Walworth, Waukesha
Be aligned with one of the three community pillars: affordable housing and homeownership, upskilling and reskilling, or small business development.
Nonprofits that have received funding in two of the last three years remain eligible to apply for this grant. However, preference may be given to nonprofits that have not received funding in two of the last three years.
Organization must commit to providing the Foundation with a final outcome report at the end of the award timeline. Reporting is required to be eligible for future awards.
Activities supported include, but are not limited to:
Direct services of the organization
Opportunities that allow the organization to deliver services more effectively and efficiently, and improve the delivery of services with priority to low-to-moderate income communities
Development of new programming, approaches or tools to improve charitable outcomes
Development of new ideas or scaling of existing solutions
Activities that are NOT supported include, but are not limited to:
Groups seeking educational or travel grants for contests, pageants, trips or conventions
Advertising, promotional events or sponsorship of athletic teams
Lobbying, partisan or denominational groups
Endowment support
Capital campaigns
Cause-related events like walks, runs and conferences
Requests submitted by a third party on behalf of an organization
Individual elementary and secondary schools
Individuals, families or businesses
Private foundations, donor advised funds and supporting organizations
Any entity that does not meet the grantee eligibility criteria
Grantmaking preference will be given to organizations that operate in the cities where Dupaco maintains a branch office. All grant applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Alignment with the Foundation’s community pillars and desired outcomes.
Project plan and how it addresses need.
Service to underserved populations (e.g., low-income).
Potential for outcomes and impact.
Measurement plan.
Sustainability or growth potential of the program or project.
The Dupaco Foundation Nonprofit Grant operates on an annual cycle. The 2025 grant cycle is as follows:
Application opens: April 15, 2026
Applications due: May 31, 2026
Communication to applicants regarding decision: July 2026
Disbursement of funds: August 2026
Final outcome report due: April 2027
Grants awarded range from $5,000 to $20,000. If awarded a grant, please note that the amount requested may not necessarily be the amount awarded.
Applications must be submitted online. Submissions via mail or in person at a branch will not be accepted. A limited number of grants are available and awarded based on available funds and eligibility criteria. The grant cycle may be modified by the Foundation’s board of directors as needed to accommodate staff capacity and community needs. All grantmaking decisions are subject to the discretion of Dupaco Foundation. Grantmaking decisions are final and may not be appealed.
Review the eligibility guidelines.
Make sure you're eligible to apply.
Gather information about your program or project. We’ll want to know:
Your objectives
Who the grant would support
How you’ll measure your impact
Apply for the grant. Create a username and password to access and complete the grant application when it’s available again. (Hint: Check back in April 2026.)
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Heads up! This link leads to a different website.
We only do this when it's helpful for you. But we must inform you that Dupaco isn't responsible for the site's content, products, services, policies or sponsors. Also, Dupaco's Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party sites. So, if you have concerns, please look at its privacy disclosures.