AthFest Educates Grants Program

How to Apply for a Grant

#### Application Timeline

• Applications Open: July 7th, 2026 (for 2026-27 cycle)
• Application Deadline: August 25th, 2026 by 5:00 PM
• Awards Announced: Mid-September 2026

#### Required Application Information

Every grant application must include:

1. Funding Priority Designation - Indicate which of the three priorities your application addresses
2. Youth Demographics - Total anticipated number of young people benefiting from the grant, including age, gender, and grade
3. Schools Served - Name of elementary and/or middle school(s) youth attend (nonprofit and government agencies should identify anticipated schools program participants attend)
4. Program Description - Maximum 500 words describing the program/experience/equipment
5. Learning Objectives - Identify the learning objectives the grant will support; applicants encouraged to provide correlating Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) identifiers and descriptions if applicable
6. Resources/Curriculum - Name and brief description of resources and curriculum to be used for implementation
7. Evaluation Tool/Process - Description or copy of evaluation tool or process to assess youth learning as a result of the funded project
8. Detailed Budget - Itemized project budget with cost-per-youth calculation (CCSD employees must use CCSD-approved vendor costs)
9. Applicant Credentials - Resume and/or brief description of applicant's professional experience

#### Application Restrictions

• One Application Per Cycle: May only submit one grant application per grant cycle
• CCSD Vendor Requirements: CCSD employees must calculate program expenses based on CCSD-approved vendor costs and use these vendors to order materials
• CCSD Volunteer Requirements: Nonprofits and government agencies must notify non-CCSD employees that they will need to complete a CCSD volunteer application and/or background check prior to working with CCSD students during school hours or as part of CCSD-affiliated afterschool programs
• Strategic Partnerships Permission: Nonprofits and government applicants must secure permission from the CCSD Strategic Partnerships office to operate and/or advertise programs in schools

#### Evaluation Criteria

Applications are evaluated in the following order:

1. Eligibility Screening - All applications screened to ensure program and participants meet eligibility criteria
2. Learning Objectives Evaluation - Reviewed based on:
- Stated learning objectives
- How well described program aligns with stated learning objectives
- How well evaluation tool/process will measure youths' progress toward learning objectives
3. Budget Review - AthFest Educates Grants Committee evaluates:
- Completeness of proposed budget
- Whether funds requested are sufficient to achieve proposed learning objectives
4. Scoring - Each application reviewed by three Grants Committee members; combined average score assigned; highest-scoring applications awarded grants

#### Grant Reporting Requirements

Report Due Date: No later than 30 days after program completion and no later than June 30th of the academic calendar year (whichever comes first)

Report Must Include:

1. Confirmation of demographics of youth served (nonprofits/government agencies must identify individual schools and number of students from each school)
2. Receipts and/or invoices correlating with original program budget
3. Description of youths' progress toward pre-identified learning objectives
4. Identification of how project can be further developed or improved upon in the future

#### Reimbursement Schedule

• CCSD Grants: Monthly reimbursements
• Nonprofits: As requested