Application Type: Grant
Find the Grant That Fits Your Project
The Illinois Nurses Foundation awards grant funds to registered professional nurses and nursing students to advance professional nursing practice, support safe, quality patient care, and promote innovative solutions in nursing.
Before beginning your application, review the eligibility requirements and funding categories below.
Applicant Eligibility
The lead applicant, also referred to as the principal investigator or project manager, must be an Illinois resident.
Applicants submitting a grant request on behalf of a healthcare organization, educational institution, or nursing program must ensure the organization has a presence in Illinois. For example, a multi-state hospital system must have at least one participating Illinois location. A nursing program seeking funds must be located in Illinois.
Grant applications are submitted electronically through this portal and reviewed through a blind review process.
Seed Grant | Up to $500
Start with an idea.
Seed Grants support early-stage projects and preliminary work. They are a good fit when you need support to explore an idea before developing a larger project.
Examples include pilot studies, feasibility projects, preliminary data collection, small demonstration projects, early nursing practice or education initiatives, and background work needed to develop a larger proposal.
Successful completion of a Seed Grant does not limit future opportunities. Recipients remain eligible to apply for an INF Small Grant or Large Grant in a future funding cycle.
Small Grant | Up to $1,500
Put an idea into practice.
Small Grants support projects focused on nursing practice, education, leadership, work environments, quality improvement, and patient care.
Eligible applicants include clinicians, APRNs, nurse administrators, nurse educators, and nurses enrolled in RN to BSN, graduate, or doctoral programs.
Projects might include a new clinical initiative, staff education program, leadership development project, quality improvement effort, patient care initiative, or work environment improvement.
Large Grant | Up to $5,000
Expand your impact.
Large Grants support projects with a broader scope, greater organizational impact, or more extensive research and implementation needs.
Projects include nursing research, quality improvement, leadership development, educational initiatives, new approaches to care delivery, collaborative research, interdisciplinary projects, and multi-institution projects.
Project and research teams are eligible when at least 50 percent of team members are RNs or APRNs, and the project leader or co-leader is an RN or APRN.
Up to one Large Grant is awarded during each April and October cycle based on available funding and receipt of a qualified application.