Grantmaking Philosophies
The following philosophies and policies guide our grantmaking practices and relationships with community partners. They reflect our commitment to building trust-based partnerships, reducing barriers to opportunity, encouraging responsible and authentic use of emerging tools, and fostering a welcoming, inclusive community. Together, these principles help ensure that our work remains transparent, accountable, and focused on strengthening Hendricks County and improving quality of life for all who call it home.
Commitment to Community Partners
Community partners are core to our vision of Hendricks County as a place where everyone has the opportunity to have a fulfilling life and the tools they need to build a stronger future together. It is through funding their work that HCCF makes real impact on our community and our residents, which is why it is imperative that we build our programs with them in mind—FOR our community partners. To that end, this is our commitment to our community partners:
We commit to continual learning about:
- our community by:
- completing a tri-annual Community Needs Assessment
- participating in community meetings and task forces
- our community partners by:
- building trust-based relationships
- showing up and listening
- best practices for our work by:
- participating in local and national learning opportunities
We commit to being trusted partners with our community organizations in our shared missions by:
- creating a transparent website including description of the grant process, timelines, and other important information for potential grant applicants
- soliciting and acting on feedback from applicants and recipients
- offering additional support beyond the grant
We commit to eliminating barriers to our community partners receiving and implementing funding by:
- sharing the burden of the application process
- simplifying and streamlining paperwork from application to reporting
- providing unrestricted grants whenever possible
AI Usage in Grantwriting
Applicants are encouraged to use available tools, including AI, to support proposal development.
At the same time, applications should:
- Reflect the authentic voice and perspective of the organization;
- Be grounded in the realities of Hendricks County;
- Represent the organization’s capacity to implement the proposed work; and,
- Include verifiable and reliable data sources.
Applications that rely heavily on generic or unsupported content, or that do not clearly reflect the applicant’s unique context and capabilities, will be less competitive.
Non-Discrimination Policy
To ensure we are doing our part to foster a welcoming and inclusive community, it is HCCF’s policy that programs, funding and employment with HCCF are available and open to all persons without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship status, genetic information, military service/veteran status, or any other category protected under state or local law.
Generally, HCCF programs will be open to all under the formal standard above. Public and individual meetings held by HCCF will be as inclusive and accessible as practical. HCCF will encourage partner organizations to follow this standard as well.
Funding from Restricted funds shall generally follow the standard as well, though there may be some exceptions due to appropriately meeting donor intent (e.g., grants to religious institutions or organizations with programming directed to specific populations).
Funding from Unrestricted funds shall follow the standard, and shall not be available for organizations or projects that discriminate based upon race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship status, genetic information, military service/veteran status, or any other category protected under state or local law, except to the extent any such program lawfully provides services to a limited segment of the population based on any such factor.