8 Things We Want You to Know Before Applying for an ACF Grant
Practical advice (and a little reassurance) from the Athens County Foundation team.
Applying for a grant can feel intimidating.
There is money on the line. There is work you care deeply about. There are people and communities counting on that work. And then someone hands you an application and asks you to explain all of it in a few boxes.
So, before we get into anything else, there is something we want you to know:
Don't be afraid to ask.
At the Athens County Foundation, our staff want to be your advocates. We want to understand what you do, why you do it, what you're learning, and what support might help. Our hope is that our relationship with local organizations extends beyond a single application or grant.
And please don't treat your grant application like an academic writing assignment.
Doing meaningful work and writing about meaningful work are two different skills. You don't need the perfect words. You don't need to sound like a foundation. You need to help us understand what you see, what you're trying to do, and why it matters.
Here are eight things we'd like you to keep in mind.
1. Talk to Us. Really.
We mean it when we say you can reach out.
Introduce yourself. Send us an email. Ask a question. Talk with us when you see us in the community. Tell us about something interesting you're working on even when you aren't currently seeking funding.
We want to know the people and organizations working to make Athens County stronger, not simply the applications they submit.
Part of that is practical. Knowing organizations is part of responsible grantmaking and due diligence. But there is a bigger reason, too.
Knowing you helps us know our community.
When we understand who is doing what, what challenges people are encountering, what communities are talking about, and where energy is emerging, ACF becomes a better community partner. We can make connections between people. We can recognize shared challenges. We can introduce someone working on an idea to someone else who might help.
And that relationship should go both ways. We don't want access to ACF to feel like a closed circle available only to people who already know us.
We want the community to have access to us, too.
2. Don't Try to Sound Like Us. Help Us Understand You.
One of the easiest traps in grantwriting is believing there is a particular kind of language funders want to hear.
There are certainly things we need to understand. But we're not grading your vocabulary.
Tell us what you're doing. Tell us why. Tell us who is involved. Tell us what you've learned.
And tell us about the quirky stuff.
Some of the most interesting work happens when people with limited resources find wonderfully creative ways to get something done. We want to hear about those solutions. Small impact matters. Large impact matters. Sometimes an organization quietly making life better for a handful of people tells us just as much as an impressive statistic.
Data can absolutely help tell your story. Research can, too. But scholarly evidence without local context can miss the point entirely.
We want to understand what this means here.
3. Start With Community, Not With the Foundation
Our mission is intentionally broad because we believe local people and organizations hold expertise about their own communities.
So when we think about alignment, we're not simply asking: "Does this project fit what ACF wants?"
We're interested in something deeper. How did you arrive at this work? Who is participating? What are you learning from the people most affected? How is your approach changing as you learn?
Ideas don't become good ideas simply because they worked somewhere else.
Communities have histories, relationships, cultures, assets, tensions, knowledge, and ways of doing things that can't be captured by importing a model and dropping it into Athens County.
Development work has a long history of outsiders deciding what communities need and then bringing in predetermined solutions. We don't want to reproduce that dynamic locally.
We'd much rather hear how you are learning, doing, building, and evolving with community.
That doesn't mean you need universal agreement before acting. It means the people affected by the work aren't an afterthought to it.
4. Tell Us What's Strong and What's Still Uncertain
We love hearing about what is working. Tell us about the thing you're proud of. The person who surprised you. The program that took off. The solution nobody expected to work but somehow did.
But don't stop there.
Tell us what you're still figuring out. Maybe something didn't work. Maybe your original idea changed. Maybe the community responded differently than you anticipated. Maybe you're trying something you've never done before and genuinely don't know what will happen.
That's okay.
In an increasingly complex and volatile world, complete certainty isn't particularly realistic. Pretending to have certainty doesn't necessarily make an application stronger.
Sometimes uncertainty tells us you're paying attention.
We value organizations that can act, learn, reflect, adapt, and keep moving. If grant dollars give an organization enough room to be a little braver—to try something worthwhile despite uncertainty—that can be a meaningful use of our resources.
5. Impact Doesn't Have to Be Enormous to Matter
When we ask about impact, don't assume we're asking you to prove that your project is going to transform Athens County overnight.
Impact can be big. It can also be small. It might be something that worked exactly as planned. Or it might be an experiment that didn't hit the mark but taught your organization and community something important enough to change what happens next.
We value the forward motion that comes from success. We also value the learning that can emerge from setbacks.
So give us the numbers when numbers help. Give us stories when stories help. Tell us what changed, what you noticed, what people told you, what surprised you, and what you're going to do differently because of what you learned.
For us, impact isn't synonymous with perfection. Sometimes impact is movement.
6. Collaborate When Collaboration Actually Makes Sense
Funders love the word collaboration. But requiring collaboration for collaboration's sake can create more work without creating more value. If achieving what you're trying to accomplish genuinely requires multiple organizations, community groups, residents, institutions, or other partners, tell us how you're working together. But if your organization has the knowledge and capacity to do something well on its own, that's okay too.
Collaboration should serve the work—not the application.
We would rather understand why you've chosen the approach that makes sense for your organization and community than see a collection of partnerships assembled because you think that's what a funder wants to hear.
7. Yes, You Can Use AI. Just Make Sure We Can Still Hear You.
AI is a tool. We recognize that applicants may use it to brainstorm, organize ideas, edit writing, or help get past the intimidating blank page.
That's okay.
But there's a point where the tool can begin getting in the way of communication.
We've received writing that was so generic or awkwardly formatted that it became difficult to understand what the organization was actually trying to tell us. When an application reads like something generated and pasted without anyone reviewing it, it can unintentionally undermine trust.
It leaves us wondering: Is this actually what the organization means?
So use the tools available to you, but stay in the driver's seat.
Read what AI produces. Question it. Delete things that don't sound like you. Correct what it gets wrong. Replace generic language with the names, places, experiences, and details that make your work yours.
You don't get extra points for sounding sophisticated.
Clarity beats polish. Your voice matters more than perfect prose.
8. A "No" Isn't a Judgment of Your Worth
We wish every worthwhile idea could receive funding.
It can't.
Sometimes we receive more strong applications than we have resources available. Sometimes the timing isn't right. Sometimes another opportunity may be a better fit. And sometimes we need more information or believe an idea needs more development.
A declined application isn't a verdict on the value of your organization, your work, or the people you serve.
Sometimes "no" really means "not now."
If your application isn't funded, you can reach out to us. Ask questions. Ask for feedback. Let's talk about what we saw and what might strengthen a future request.
Because our relationship doesn't have to end when a grant decision is made.
And One More Thing: We Have Responsibilities, Too
Grant applications can sometimes make it feel as though all the responsibility sits with the applicant. We don't think that's right.
If we're asking you to be transparent with us, we need to be transparent with you.
That's why we've worked to make our process, guidelines, review criteria, and expectations clearer. You deserve to understand how decisions are made and what we're asking of you.
And we need to keep learning, too.
If something about our process is confusing, tell us. If you don't understand a question, ask. If there's something we could do differently that would make the process more accessible, we want to hear that.
Trust can't be something we ask applicants to demonstrate to us. It has to be something we build together.
Mostly, Just Do It
If you've been staring at the application wondering whether you're ready, whether your idea is good enough, or whether you're saying things the "right" way, here's our encouragement: Just do it.
Fear may still be there. That's understandable. When we care deeply about something, we usually have something to protect.
But you don't have to approach ACF believing you're walking into a room where people are waiting to judge you.
Come talk to us.
Tell us what you're trying.
Tell us what you've learned.
Tell us what you're excited about and what you're unsure about.
Ask the question you think you're not supposed to ask.
We want the organizations doing the work of change in Athens County to know that we're on your side.
We're learning alongside you. And whatever happens with one particular application, we hope we're building a relationship that lasts much longer than one grant cycle.
----------
updated: 08/25/2025
Articles by Category
