Interested in applying for a grant?
Learn more about our grant procedures and how to apply.
Grant Seekers Resource Center
The Ausherman Family Foundation partners with the Frederick County C. Burr Artz Public Library to bring reference and circulating materials to nonprofit staff, board members, fundraisers, and the general public.
Grant seekers have the opportunity to search the most comprehensive electronic collections of grantmakers and grants available through two Foundation Center databases as well as print resources. Subjects in the Grant Resource Center’s collection include philanthropy, nonprofit management and board development, grant seeking, fundraising and proposal writing.
For additional information please contact Jessica El-Zeftawy at the C. Burr Artz Public Library either via email,
vog.dmytnuockcirederf@yawtfeZ-lEJ, or by phone 301.600.1052.
The United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Project
Every other year, the United Way publishes a report, which calculates the number of people in the community who qualify as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). ALICE families have income above the Federal Poverty Line, but not enough to afford a basic household budget that includes housing, child care, food, transportation and health care.
The project raises awareness about a huge but hidden segment of our community that is struggling to afford basic necessities. ALICE households live in every community in Frederick County — downtown City of Frederick, Urbana, Brunswick, Emmitsburg, in cities, farmlands and mountains — and include women and men, young and old, and all races and ethnicities.
The ultimate goal is to stimulate action that will improve the financial stability of ALICE families and our community. The data is used in the nonprofit, education, government, health, policy and research arenas to better understand local economic condition and the demographics of communities.
The United Way ALICE Project brings about community conversations on critical issues and identifies opportunities to build strategies that support ALICE.
For the full Maryland report and additional information on ALICE click here.
Community Needs Assessment
Ausherman Family Foundation was honored to co-sponsor the compilation of the 2018 Frederick County Human Needs Assessment. The Community Foundation commissioned the assessment to determine the most pressing needs in Frederick County. This information is then used to shape their strategic funding and leadership initiatives over the next five to ten years. This work is an invaluable tool for the Frederick community. It provides a solid, unbiased assessment of greatest needs now and trends for the future.
The 2018 assessment included an interactive visualization tool that offers easy access to data about social and economic conditions in Frederick County. This tool can be used by nonprofits, government officials, and even the general public to select criteria and filter all graphs and charts in the assessment as needed.
Maryland Nonprofits
Maryland Nonprofits’ mission is to strengthen and improve individual nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector as a whole, while also working to bolster public confidence in and support for Maryland nonprofit organizations. They offer tools and resources to help nonprofits develop staff, stay current, influence policy and take organizations to the next level.
Learn more about Maryland Nonprofits.
GuideStar by Candid
GuideStar is the world’s largest online source of nonprofit organization information. They gather, organize and distribute information to millions of people to utilize when making decisions about nonprofits and the work they do. Donors explore charities and issues they want to support. Nonprofit leaders benchmark their organizations against their peers. Funders research grantees.
Ausherman Family Foundation recognizes the importance of nonprofits utilizing GuideStar to increase their visibility and credibility in the community and on a national stage. We recently hosted a training for local nonprofits where GuideStar associates worked with nonprofits one on one and walked them through every step to update their profile to achieve their Seals of Transparency. Many local organizations increased achieved gold and platinum status. By providing up-to-date information, nonprofits allow potential donors and funders to make educated decisions about the work they do.
“For restaurants, there’s Yelp. For real estate, there’s Zillow. For law, there’s LexisNexis. For nonprofits, there’s GuideStar.”
Learn more about creating your nonprofit profile and increasing your Seals of Transparency.
Save Time When Completing an LOI or Application
In order to save our applicants time when completing an LOI or Application, AFF has implemented GuideStar for Grant Applications (G4G). If your organization has claimed their profile on GuideStar and completed fields on their GuideStar profile, you may be able to automatically fill in fields in our forms with just a couple clicks of a button.
After clicking the Apply button, simply click the Copy GuideStar Profile button in the upper right corner and a table of available questions will open. Choose any or all of those questions by checking the boxes next to them, and those fields will automatically populate. You will be able to modify these answers if you would like to add or change any of this information. If you do update your answers in our form, be aware that this does not update your GuideStar profile.
Note – Other funders are in the process of implementing G4G, so keeping your GuideStar profile up to date may save you time in applying for grants from multiple funders.
Compliance Guide for Public Charities
This resource is an IRS guide to avoid activities that could jeopardize a public charity’s tax-exempt status.