Thank you for agreeing to serve on a volunteer panel for the 2025 Community Grants process. We truly value your time and your wisdom as you help us select this year’s grant recipients. You will find resources on this page to assist you during the grant process. We will continue to add information and resources as they become available. We are here to help, so do not hesitate to call if you need more information.
2025 Community Grants Panel Timeline
Note: All trainings will be in person. Site visits will also be in person unless it is a state-run nonprofit without a local office.
September
23 – 25 Panel Trainings at HUB West
Three options to choose from:
- Monday, September 23, 5:00 – 6:30 pm
- Tuesday, September 24, 8:30 – 10:00 am
- Wednesday, September 25, 12:00 – 1:30 pm
31 CFCSRA notifies nonprofits of their panel chair
September 30 – October 18
Panel Chairs schedule site visits during this week
October 1 – November 24
Panels perform site visits
- You will need to provide your own transportation to the nonprofit’s location (We try to group similar organizations together, but your organizations could be in Aiken, Burke, Columbia, Edgefield, McDuffie, or Richmond counties)
- Site visits last a minimum of one hour
- Exact dates/times vary – each panel works directly with the nonprofit to schedule
November 27
Final grant rankings due to CFCSRA by noon (earlier is encouraged)
The Community Foundation will not host its annual Press Conference. Stay tuned for how we will honor our 2025 Community Grants recipients!
Panel Member FAQs
Easy - just click below. Use the email address you provided during registration. If you are a new panelist, click on "Forgot your password?" to establish your password. Please contact Erin Starnes for assistance.
- Friday, September 27 - CFCSRA notifies nonprofits of their panel chair
- Friday, September 27 - Saturday, October 5 - Panel Chairs schedule site visits
- Tuesday, October 1 - Wednesday, October 30 - Panels conduct site visits
- Thursday, October 31 - All evaluations due to CFCSRA by noon (earlier is encouraged)
- Friday, December 6 - Announcement of awardees - exact details TBD
Site visits are opportunities for a non-profit organization to have a chance to tell their story outside of what they submitted in their application. Here is how you can prepare:
- Ensure you have a minimum of three (3) panel members at each visit. Preference is to have as many panel members as possible.
- Make sure you read the application thoroughly before the visit.
- Prepare questions in advance and don't hesitate to ask questions even if they are not part of the application.
- Try and be as consistent as you can with questions asked of each reviewed organization.
Feel free to download the "Site Visit Questions" to use during the site visits.
We have communicated with our non-profits and provided guidelines on how they can best prepare for your visit. If you would like to review that document, please do.
No worries. You can review the slides from our training!
Not sure how to access the evaluations or need a refresher?
Visit our website.
