01/18/2012 04:19 pm

I have been fundraising to build a community center for a project in Uganda for about a year. Last year I applied for a couple grants, but never heard anything back from them. I've been primarily speaking at meetings for a service club in the US, and they've so generously donated about 9,000 all-together, and they are planning to raise even more. To build the basic community center without a water tank, bathroom, kitchen, etc., is about $15,000, so we've been well on our way to reaching this goal.

Well, yesterday, I found out that a grant we applied for last year has been awarded to us, and the amount more than covers all of our needs - beyond the basic community center.

My question is, what is protocol for situations like this? I am so thankful to everyone who has donated. We can't imagine that it would be appropriate to offer to give money back. We could use the already donated money for another area of our organization, but many people donated because they wanted to see the money go toward the community center.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!