Chillicothe-Ross Community Foundation Grant

The Chillicothe-Ross Community Foundation is dedicated to making Ross County a great place to live, work, play, and raise families. Through its Community Fall Grants program, the Foundation supports nonprofit organizations whose work strengthens the community and improves quality of life. Grants are awarded based on available funds and are intended to support charitable work that serves a public purpose, creates broad community impact, addresses pressing community needs or opportunities, and aligns with the Foundation's mission and values. Funding may support projects, programs, or initiatives that directly benefit the people and communities served by the Foundation. Requests should focus on tangible items or specific project expenses that directly relate to services provided to clients. The guidelines state that administrative or general operating expenses are generally not funded. Other generally excluded uses include endowments not held at the Community Foundation, fundraising events or campaigns, direct support for individuals, political causes, candidates or lobbying, budget deficits or debt payments, and recreational sporting events or athletic teams. Eligible applicants are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations serving a public purpose and providing projects or programs with broad community impact. Organizations with little or no presence in Ross County are unlikely to be considered. Religious organizations are generally not funded unless the request is for a non-sectarian project serving the whole community. Organizations that discriminate against individuals are not funded. The Foundation also generally excludes social, labor, veterans, alumni, and fraternal organizations. The guidelines do not state that fiscal sponsors, 501(c)(4) organizations, 501(c)(6) organizations, for-profit organizations, social enterprises, government entities, educational institutions, or individuals are eligible applicants. The Fall Grant Cycle application period is currently open, and applications will be accepted through September 25, 2026. The supplied guidelines do not provide a separate letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, notice of intent, or other pre-application gating requirement. They also do not identify an application portal, application form, required attachments, narrative questions, financial documents, submission steps, or other application components. Applicants should therefore rely on the Foundation's application materials for submission requirements not contained in these guidelines. The guidelines indicate that funding decisions are connected to community benefit and fit with the Foundation's priorities. Relevant considerations stated in the guidelines include whether the organization serves a public purpose, whether the proposed work has broad community impact, whether it responds to pressing community needs or opportunities, whether it aligns with the Foundation's mission and values, and whether the organization has a meaningful presence in Ross County. Applicants should also ensure that requests are directed toward tangible items or specific project expenses connected directly to client services rather than general operating or administrative expenses. Projects recommended by the Grants Committee but not selected for immediate funding may be listed in the Community Foundation Grants Catalog. This catalog is described as a crowdfunding platform connecting worthy local projects with donors who want to help. The source does not provide an award floor, award ceiling, total amount available, anticipated number of awards, required matching contribution, award notification date, project performance period, named grant contact, email address, phone number, or direct PDF URL. The supplied material also does not explicitly state that the Fall Grant Cycle recurs annually or on another fixed schedule, so no recurrence is established from the available guidelines.

Demonstrate a clear public purpose broad community impact and a response to a pressing community need or opportunity. Show alignment with the Foundation's mission and a meaningful presence in Ross County. Focus the request on tangible items or specific project expenses directly related to services provided to clients and avoid administrative or general operating expenses and other stated exclusions.