Chelsea Community Foundation Local Nonprofits Workshop

The Chelsea Community Foundation (CCF) hosted an event for local nonprofit leaders, staff, and community members at Chelsea District Library’s McKune Room. 

The Workshop’s purpose was to share information, answer questions, and encourage local Chelsea Nonprofits to apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. Upcoming changes to the application process for the 2026 Grant Cycle were also shared and discussed. The new grant application process now comprises two steps:

• Step 1: Proposal Request that includes basic organization information and a summary of the funding request. Proposal requests can be submitted starting November 5, through December 5, 2025
• Step 2: A Full Application (by invitation only), which includes a detailed description of the request, budget, organizational documents, and information on expected outcomes and measures of success, can be submitted from February 2, 2026, to February 27, 2026. 

The two-step process fosters a dialogue and an opportunity for grant applicants to ask questions early in the process, as well as to identify, before submitting a complete application, ways to strengthen their request and ensure competitiveness and eligibility. The intent is to provide constructive feedback earlier in the process.

As an affiliate of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Chelsea Community Foundation can leverage the Community Foundation’s organizational structure to manage the grant application process. The CCF Grant Committee reviews all applications in both steps of the process and makes recommendations to the broader Advisory Committee, which then votes on the award of all grants. This past year, the Chelsea Community Foundation received requests from 16 applicants and awarded seven with $80,072.

Twenty-two different nonprofits attended the event, and several Chelsea Community Foundation Advisory members were in attendance, as were members of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s staff.

For more information about the grant process, contact Erin Marie McDonald, Program Officer, [email protected]. And to learn more about the Chelsea Community Foundation, please visit www.chelseafoundation.org or contact them at [email protected].