Daily Featured Foundation - 12/21/2025

12/21/2025

Here is today’s featured foundation.

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation

Website: https://driehausfoundation.org/

Mission & Purpose: To benefit individuals and communities in Chicago by supporting the preservation and enhancement of the built and natural environment, the arts, and investigative journalism.

Broad Funding Guidelines: Grantmaking is focused on Chicago, Illinois. They are a niche funder with very specific interests: The Built Environment (historic preservation, architecture), Arts & Culture (especially small, community-based companies), and Investigative Journalism. They offer General Operating Support to arts organizations with budgets under a certain cap, ensuring that funding goes to smaller, grittier groups.

Featured Opportunity: Their "Investigative Journalism for Government Accountability" program is a rare find. They provide grant funding specifically for newsrooms and nonprofit outlets that are holding government officials accountable and exposing corruption. This is vital support for the fourth estate in Chicago.

Recommendation: A small theater company in Chicago (budget under $500k) or a nonprofit newsroom producing hard-hitting investigative reporting on local government.