Do you ever look at your budget and wonder, “How in the world will we ever have the funds to truly serve our community in the way God has called us”?
You’re not alone. Your community has many needs. You have people battling hunger. Others need to learn English to survive. Still others have social and spiritual needs that God has uniquely equipped your church to meet.
But ministry requires resources. What do you do if your traditional funding methods—tithes, offerings, and fundraising events—just won’t meet the need?
Grants offer a new funding source that’s particularly helpful to resource ministries designed to meet needs in your community.
How Do Grants Work?
Grants provide money for targeted programs or activities, enabling your church to expand your community work. Unlike loans, you won’t have to pay a grant back. Your church has access to several kinds of grants, including:
- Government Grants: Offered by local, state, or federal agencies, these grants often address public needs like social services, education, and health. The funding can be significant for these grants, but the competition will typically be steep, as well.
- Foundation grants: Private or family foundations often fund grants for specific causes, such as addressing poverty, serving youth, or community development.
- Corporate Grants: Seeing it as part of their civic duty to help the community, businesses create grants that help community organizations related to the company’s values or business interests.
Grants offer a structured approach to fundraising because they come with clear expectations for how the money will be used and require detailed reporting on the outcomes. Unlike other ways you might raise funds, these grants will require you to apply for the resources. This application process can be extensive.
Large nonprofits (and even smaller ones that rely on grants) will employ full-time grant-writers to navigate this process.
Don’t be discouraged though. Many grants are specifically designed to help smaller organizations, including churches, that are deeply connected to their communities. As a nonprofit with a clear and compelling mission, you have a leg up on many other organizations looking for funds.
But it’s important to find the right grants at the outset.
Finding the Right Grants
If you want to have the best chance of success, start your grant-searching process with a clear understanding of your church’s mission and the ministries you’re wanting to better fund. This will help you narrow your search.
Once you do this, it’s time to do a thorough search of grant possibilities. Years ago, you’d sit down with a book of grant options. The search could quickly get overwhelming. Fortunately now, you can do much of this with a computer and an Internet connection. Try some of these options.
- Grant databases: These allow you to search through grants by categories, locations, funding sources, etc. Some require a subscription. Grantwatch, Grants.gov, and Foundation Directory Online are a few of the options.
- Local foundations: Depending upon where you live, you likely have local grants you can apply for as well. You can usually find these with simple Google searches or by networking with other local nonprofits. Many nonprofits depend upon these grants, so they often know where to look. Local school administrators may have some ideas of where to look as well.
- Sign up for grant newsletters. Many of the databases you’ll search in for grants will let you sign up for email newsletters where they’ll push new grant opportunities to you. We all get tons of emails that we don’t read, so it’s tempting to block these. But they do provide a regular opportunity to review grant possibilities.
Also, you’ll find a variety of national and regional newsletters that include grants. Again, a Google search can help you find these. Some faith-based organizations, such as the National Christian Foundation, have newsletters that occasionally alert readers to grant possibilities.
Crafting Your Proposal
Your grant proposal will play a crucial role in obtaining funding for the ministries that are important to you. You’ll want to emphasize these key elements.
- Executive Summary: You need a concise summary outlining your ministry’s mission and the amount you’re requesting. Your goal with the executive summary is to keep the grant-maker reading, so do what you can to intrigue the reader here.
- Needs Statement: Define the specific need your project addresses in the community. Use compelling data that shows why your need is urgent. For example, if you’re trying to get a grant to help your church’s clothing closet, include some information that shows the demand for your services are outpacing your resources.
- Goals: Outline your church’s short-term and long-term goals for the ministry. It’s good to articulate them in a S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely) format so it’s clear you’ve thought it through.
- Budget: Show your plans for how you’ll use the resources you’re asking for. Break down the budget into specific categories, such as staffing, materials, and program costs. The grant-maker wants to know that you have an idea of how you’ll leverage their resources to make an impact.
- Evaluation Plan: Your grant-maker wants to know how you’ll judge success. Show them how you plan to track progress and evaluate your impact. Use terms that will resonate with the grant-maker. Success for a corporate grant likely isn’t about growing your church’s attendance or seeing a specific number of conversions. Instead, it’ll likely be measured in the breadth and depth of help you’re providing for the community. Do the work to figure out what they think is important.
Include well-written, well-researched content that aligns with each of these sections, and you’ll greatly increase your chances of receiving the funds.
Managing and Reporting on Grants
When you get confirmation that you’ve received the grant funds, your work hasn’t ended. In fact, you still have quite a bit of work to do. Make sure you have a solid process to track spending and keep your grant-makers in the loop on your progress. This will go a long way in projecting credibility to those who have provided the funds.
Try something like this.
- Assign a grant manager. This can be a volunteer or the ministry lead for the project. You need someone to take ownership of reporting back on the grant.
- Create a detailed timeline. If you’ve already done this as part of your application process, stick to it. Otherwise, make sure you put together one as soon as possible.
- Maintain detailed expense records. Careful attention to tracking expenses will ensure there is no question you’re using the resources with integrity.
- Develop a regular cadence of reports. Your grant may specify a certain reporting rhythm (annually, quarterly, monthly). If not, create a rhythm on your own. Those reports should include a summary of how you’ve used the resources and the impact of the ministry. If you’ve hit significant roadblocks that may challenge your timeline, let the grant-maker know in this report.
The more transparent your church is about how it uses grant funds, the better chance you have of getting more grants in the future.
Conclusion: Taking the First Step Towards Grant Funding
Leveraging grants to expand your church’s ministry is likely easier than you imagine. The tools above will help as you find the right grants, craft a compelling proposal, and report back to the grant-maker responsibly.
All you have to do now is get started! Spend some time with your church leaders brainstorming the ministries that could benefit the most from this important funding source.
To dig into more about developing a budget that will grow with your church, check out our free guide, Budgeting Today for Tomorrow’s Church Growth.
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