William G. McGowan Charitable Fund

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OVERVIEW: The William G. McGowan Charitable Fund is a national funder, but many grants are regularly awarded in the Chicago area. Priorities include education, human services, health and medical research.

IP TAKE: Education has received consistent support and is broadly focused on pre-K to grade 12 programs and graduation rates. A recent health interest in cardiology. This funder accepts letters of inquiry via its website.

PROFILE: Established in 1993, the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund is a family foundation in Chicago. McGowan was the founder and chairman of MCI Communications and expanded the company from a local radio service to a $9.5 billion telecommunications giant. This fund was established upon his death from heart disease in 1992. The fund aims to “perpetuate William McGowan’s tradition of compassionate philanthropy and ethical leadership.” Its three grantmaking programs are education, human services and health care and medical research.

McGowan focuses its education grantmaking on low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods, addressing achievement gaps and boosting graduation rates. Recently, the foundation has focused on early childhood education programs, out-of-school programs, charter and faith-based alternative schools and teacher training. Health care and medical research grantmaking prioritizes institutions that advance cardiac disease research and heart disease prevention programs, including an collaborative obesity-prevention initiative with the American Heart Association and the nonprofit children’s health system Nemours. Its human services grantmaking makes grants to community organizations that serve the elderly, disabled, homeless and poverty-stricken through job training, education, wellness and community building.

A majority of grants are between $10,000 and $50,000. View lists of recent grants on the funder’s website. Although McGowan is a national funder, Chicago is one of its five geographic areas of focus and accounts for about 20% of its grantmaking. Chicago grants prioritize the neighborhoods of Austin and North Lawndale, as well as the suburban city of Aurora. This foundation likes to partner with other funders that share similar program areas and collaborate on joint projects. In addition to the grantmaking programs, McGowan has a fellowship program for top-ranked MBA students who are dedicated to ethical leadership and societal concerns.

McGowan does accept unsolicited letters of inquiry through an online system. It does not, however, support advocacy, building funds, capital campaigns, endowments, sponsorships, grants to individuals, international grants, multi-year awards or the arts. The board of directors considers new grant requests three times per year. To get in touch with the McGowan staff about grants, call 312-544-4412 or email info@williamgmcgowanfund.org.

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