Club Fostered Community (CFC) Grant Program Overview:
Every year, the ACA partners with L.L. Bean to inspire and sponsor local paddling clubs to take an active role in protecting and improving our nation’s waterways. Since the program’s inception in 2002, ACA has awarded over 225 Club Fostered Stewardship grants to local grassroots organizations across the United States.
This year, we are excited and inspired about our continued relationship with L.L. Bean in light of the evolving strategic direction of their charitable giving programs. In an effort to best support L.L. Bean’s mission, and to build upon the strong existing partnerships the ACA maintains with grass roots non-profit paddling clubs in the United States, we have widened the scope of our stewardship efforts through what is now known as the Club Fostered Community Grant Program (CFC).
The logistics of the application process, selection of qualified recipients, monitoring of project progress, and final reporting will remain the same, but grants will be provided to clubs that have a specific goal toward intentionally inviting and recruiting a new and diverse group of paddlers through work that supports the ACA’s mission of education, stewardship, and competition.
Non-profits, clubs, and volunteer groups that are ultimately selected to receive a grant should demonstrate substantial and quantifiable efforts to invite and recruit a diversity of community members to CFC funded activities, projects, and programming. The goal of these intentional efforts to invite diversity into the paddling community creates a welcoming environment for potential paddlers to get involved and the opportunity to create lifelong connections to our waterways and to the larger paddling community.
In turn, the lasting relationships of our collective effort toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in our paddling communities is the foundation upon which the future stewardship of paddlesports is built.
Qualifying Criteria
- Eligible applicants must be ACA members.
- Eligible projects may focus upon paddling education, competition, stewardship initiatives, or any combination of the three.
- Priority will be given to applications from active paddling clubs or outdoor clubs that have a significant paddling component.
- Clubs are not required to be official 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organizations, but they must be a not-for-profit entity in purpose and function. For-profit business interests are not eligible for funding under this grant program.
- Grant awards will only be made for specific community outreach projects. No grants will be awarded for “general support.”
- Proposed projects should utilize volunteer efforts to the maximum extent possible.
- Projects that are harmful to the waterway, the surrounding environment, or to wildlife will not qualify. Projects that are exclusionary to any particular community group(s) or member(s) will not qualify.
- CFC grants will not be awarded for lobbying or litigation activities.
Grant requests will be evaluated on the merit of the proposed project and its overall contribution to the goals of the CFC Program. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis as determined by the ACA. The CFC Program offers access to grants of up to $2,500. The ACA reserves the right to award an amount less than the amount requested in the grant application.
There are a few things that CFC grants do not fund. Items that are ineligible for funding include:
- T-shirts
- Food for volunteers
- Giveaways or prizes
*It is not mandatory to be a non-profit paddling club to apply. However, applications that incorporate active collaboration with local paddling organizations will be given priority.
Grant requests will be evaluated on the merit of the proposed project and its overall contribution to the goals of the CFC Program. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis as determined by the ACA. The CFC Program offers access to grants of up to $2,500. The ACA reserves the right to award an amount less than the amount requested in the grant application.
Funded projects must be completed and final reports submitted to the ACA by October 31st, 2024. Reports must include a minimum of one (1) page summary/narrative of project accomplishments and a minimum of five (5) high resolution photos.
- Application Form (Closed March 1st, 2024)
- Project Report Form (Available June 2024)