Community Grants Program

Long supported by the generosity of the Masters Tournament – as well as other organizations and individuals throughout our region – the Community Grants program provides dependable funding for necessary and outstanding philanthropic work by local non-profits. These grants are distributed through a competitive process designed to help nonprofit organizations meet their mission.

Through a careful review process, our staff, community volunteer panels, and board work together to award grants based on identified community issues and the relative merit of the proposals received. This program provides funding for nonprofit projects and programs serving residents in Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie and Burke counties in Georgia and Aiken and Edgefield county in South Carolina.

Since the program’s inception, more than $10 million in grants have been awarded to countless nonprofits throughout our community.

Timeline

The Community Grants application opens each summer, usually in July, and the application is open until early August. The team at the Foundation provides multiple opportunities just before the application opens to learn about the process, any changes to the process from prior years, and helpful tips to improve the strength of a nonprofit’s application. There is even an opportunity to submit an application early and get feedback from our staff prior to submitting the final version. After the deadline, the staff and community volunteers use the early fall to review applications and conduct in-person site visits. Final decisions are approved by the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation in late November and we hold a press conference announcing the grant award recipients the first Friday in December. It is truly our favorite day of the year.