If i were in your position i would figure out what exact grant they are going for, and who is giving it, along with who is doing the work to get the grant. My impression of a grant is they set the parameters for how the money is used, which will be the main force in dictating what is done. Along with that, the person working to receive the grant will have their own goals and ideas, or specific people they plan to hand it off to. I would get the club established right now and start meeting, because being established is the only way anyone will take your input as a club seriously. If a permaculture club could taut that they had successfully planted a thousand
trees in community projects it'd be better than coming in and saying "we have never really done this but we want the orchard planted this way"
Not to mention if you want to build a community you must start somewhere, with events, seminars, presentations, movie watching party, etc. in order to get people on the same page.
I call many permaculture things i do landscaping because people know what landscaping means generally, no reason to hit unsuspecting or uncaring people with terminology they don't understand. At least thats the case in my political climate.
As for the structure of the club itself, without quoting the entirety of David Holmgrens principles and pathways beyond
sustainability its hard to say how you can infuse your group with permaculture thinking. Some buzz ideas that come to mind would be his section on "patterns of competition and cooperation in nature and society"
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