Civil Legal Aid Grants

GRANT ELIGIBILITY

Organizations are eligible to apply for a grant from the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation if they:

• Are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
• Provide services to Illinois residents in one or more of the five areas set forth in the “Purposes” section. To determine if a particular project qualifies for a grant, see the specific guidelines for each of the five categories noted above.
• Provide services to low-income people free of charge or on a sliding scale based on income. Low-income is defined as a household income of up to 150% of the federal poverty guidelines.  Applicants who charge fees for their legal services are required to provide the IEJF with a copy of their fee schedule. However, legal information for the public, self-help legal assistance and mediation services must be provided free of charge.
• Has submitted an up-to-date version of the FY27 Organizational Assurances (OA) application available through the IEJF’s grantmaking software Foundant.

CIVIL LEGAL AID DRAFT GRANT GUIDELINES FOR FY 27 

The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation makes Civil Legal Aid grants in five categories:

• Legal Information for the Public
• Self Help Legal Assistance Projects
• Mediation Services
• Telephone Advice & Referral Services
• Civil Legal Assistance

An organization may apply for funds in more than one category.  Organizations seeking support for more than one of the five purposes must submit a separate application for each category.

At its discretion, the Board may also request proposals from non-profit organizations to conduct research, training and technical assistance regarding legal information for the public, mediation, telephone advice and referral services and/or civil legal assistance.

KEY DATES

The grant period will be September 1, 2026 – August 31, 2027, and the application and review process will follow this schedule:

AVAILABLE FUNDING

Attorney General Raoul received $5,000,000 for the state appropriation for civil legal aid this year. The budget for FY 27 grants will be approximately $4.25 million.

HOW TO APPLY

Application procedures and forms will be available by June 26, 2026 at www.iejf.org under the Our Grantmaking tab. Select Grantee Portal in the drop-down menu and then login to the grant portal. The “Apply” button on the top left will allow you to select your funding category and apply.

All applicants must also complete the FY 27 Organizational Assurance Application as well as the grant proposal.

Prior to applying, please review the tools available at Grantee Resources to address questions that arise.

QUESTIONS?

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Grant reports are also submitted via the grantee portal.

All grantees must submit a brief mid-term report on their activities on or by March 19, 2027.  Grantees must state whether or not they can spend the grant funds in the time and manner allocated in this report. Payments for April and June are contingent on receipt and acceptance of the mid-term report. All funds must be expended by August 31, 2027. The IEJF reserves the right to re-grant funds if deemed necessary.

A detailed final report will be due on or by September 30, 2027. Failure to submit reports in a timely manner may jeopardize future IEJF funding.

PUBLIC POSTING PERIOD: April 13–May 15, 2026.