Top 10 List of the Month Each month during the 2015-16 fiscal year, we are featuring a Top 10 List to celebrate the CIP's birthday. Consider it a birthday gift from the ENF to you! August With Final Report Forms due at the end of the month, check out these 10 FAQs for some helpful advice wrapping up your Lodge's grant project: 10 Common Final Report Form Questions September Step up your social media game! Check out our September Top 10 List: 10 Ways to Promote your Grant Project on Social Media October October is GRITOber here at the ENF. Learn how you can demonstrate grit when applying for grants with this new Top 10 List: 10 Ways to Show Grit in Grants November November is Veterans Remembrance Month—a month to reflect on the Elks’ year-round promise that “so long as there are Veterans, the BPOE will never forget them.” Check our our November Top 10 List: 10 Tips for Meeting the Needs of Today's Veterans December It's the season of giving, and the season of long winter breaks for college students. With both coinciding, it's also the perfect time to engage Elks scholars in service! Today’s Elks scholars can be tomorrow’s Elks—get the ball rolling with our December Top 10 List: 10 Resources for Engaging Elks Scholars January New Year, new you. Resolve to help your community in 2016 with the help of our January Top 10 List: 10 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep February Love is in the air this Valentines Day! To celebrate, here are ten reasons to love CIP grants!: 10 Reasons to Love the CIP

Program History

When John F. Malley founded the ENF in 1928, he envisioned that it would “unite the forces of the Order into a mighty army for the service of mankind." Today, in many ways, the Community Investments Program is that army. Launched in 2005, this program has experienced remarkable growth ever since, thanks to the work of hundreds of thousands of Elks volunteers.

Since the Community Investments Program began, we’ve awarded more than 16,000 grants to Lodges, each targeted toward helping Elks build stronger communities. Elks use grants to provide food to the hungry and clothes for the homeless, to serve veterans in need and support community members in crisis, to teach the value of service and be role models for youth, and to spread the goodwill of the Elks.

The Community Investments Program started in 2005-06 with a budget of $350,000. In 2015-16, the ENF will invest $9.77 million in the Community Investments Program to help Elks build stronger communities. If the past 10 years are any indication, this birthday is the first of many milestones. Ten years is only the beginning.