GRANT WRITING 101: The Basics for Church Leaders

Generosity Hotline - Book a 50-minute appointment with an expert Ministry Strategist to uncover best practices, discuss pressing questions, and clarify opportunities and resources available. If you want to fully fund your ministry plan and grow disciples, discover how creating an enduring culture of generosity in your church is the path.

Center for Nonprofit Excellence  - Access to grant-writing training. Email Mandy White to access discounted rates through the TWK Conference's membership.

Tennessee's Nonprofit Network - Access to grant-writing training

• Renfro: The Renfro Trust Fund awards annual “brick-and-mortar” grants to small rural United Methodist congregations in the Southeastern Jurisdiction. Applications can be found here and should be submitted to the TWKUMC Global Ministries Team (grant@twkumc.org) by August 1 for consideration.

• Equitable Compensation Grants for churches with a full-time pastor that cannot afford a full time salary. These grants allow a church some relief while they get back on their feet. Contact your district office for additional information and to obtain a grant application.

• ENCORE grants are available for churches who are offering ministry to retired adults.

• Stay UMC funds are available for churches affected by disaffiliation. Pastors can discuss with their District Superintendent for what types of funds support they specifically need.

• Faith and Innovation helps to establish traditional church plants, essence plants, and experiments. More information can be found here.

• Racial / Ethnic Church Grants are provided to assist local racial/ethnic congregations with projects and programs on one of three areas:
  1) Leadership Development;
  2) Church Growth and Development;
  3) Ministry with the Poor and Health Ministries.
  
  Grant recipients can receive up to $5,000 for programmatic grants, or up to $5,000 for one-year salary support. Applicant churches must have at least a 51% majority nonwhite congregation.
• Global Youth Service Fund (Discipleship Ministries)- The Global Youth Service Fund (YSF) is a unique grant program within the UMC, because all aspects involve youth. Youth create fundraisers and contribute money, youth decide what projects receive money, and all of the projects supported must be youth-designed, led by youth, and benefit young people. These projects are chosen based upon criteria established by the youth of the Division on Ministries with Young People. Their current priorities include (but are not limited to) community outreach and evangelism, leadership development, and justice work related to young people.

• Grants for Ministries with Young People (Discipleship Ministries)- Young People’s Ministries offers these grants through our program budget because we believe that dynamic, creative individuals and groups sometimes need resources to help a ministry become reality. These grants are meant to support creative and innovative approaches to ministry for, with, and by, young people. These applications are often chosen for their ability to create systems and models, which create meaningful ministry and discipleship opportunities with young people, that can then be shared with and replicated throughout the United Methodist connection.

• Multi-Ethnic Ministries Grant (Global Ministries): supports multiethnic and racial-ethnic congregations as they reach out in mission and ministry in their local communities. 

• Foundation for Evangelism’s Equipping the Local Church grants for $5,000 or $10,000 will be awarded to small and medium** church congregations, or clusters of churches working together, in a Wesleyan-tradition denomination. The grant focus is to launch an experiment or initiative to share the Gospel, tell their faith stories, and invite others into a relationship with Jesus alongside a local faith community.

• Church and Society Grants provides funding through Ethnic Local Church Grants, Human Relations Day Grants, Peace with Justice Grants.

• Intentional Growth Center seeks to fund educational events or programs that increase pastoral and congregational effectiveness in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

• GCORR Action Fund Grants – funds mental health small groups, cohorts

• Council of Bishop Grants -Every year the Council of Bishops awards 3 grants to annual conferences from around the world that are involved in ecumenical and/or interreligious ministry.  These grants are for $1,000 US each and must be used for ministry projects that focus on ecumenical/interreligious relationship-building both in invitation and goal.  Applications are solicited in July or August and are awarded by the end of the year for projects designed for the following year.

• The Creative Arts Collective for Christian Life and Faith (CAC) grantmaking initiative supports expressions of the Christian story and faith that inspire moments of awe and wonder through art and art experiences.  The grant program seeks to create, educate, and network by supporting projects and programs across the nation that create and curate works of art, educate and nurture Christian imagination, and cultivate and sustain a thriving network in Christianity and the arts. 

• State of Tennessee Preservation Grants

• Preservation Kentucky

• Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Program - The Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program at Christian Theological Seminary is a competitive grants program open to Christian congregations with one or more ordained pastors that serve their congregation. CTS plans to award as many as 125 grants to the congregations that submit the most outstanding applications. The Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program at Christian Theological Seminary will provide grants of up to $50,000 each directly to congregations for the support of a renewal program for their pastor. The costs associated with family members who accompany a pastor may be included in the amount requested for the pastor. Up to $15,000 of the grant may be used to help the congregation fulfill pastoral duties during the pastor’s absence and/or support activities that enable the congregation to also be renewed in its ministry.

• Brotherhood Mutual Kingdom Advancing Grant funds innovative Christian church programs that are transforming local communities through ministry.

• Wal-Mart Local Community Grant funds churches with a proposed project that benefits the community at large, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and clothing closets.

• Oldham Little Church Foundation - Facility Completion Grants are provided to churches across the United States. Awards are considered for a specific item(s) within a building repair, renovation, or new construction project that would be needed to help the church finish their project.

• National Fund for Sacred Spaces helps congregations and others with a stake in older religious properties make the most of them as civic assets in ways that benefit people of all faiths and of no faith.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation – Grants from Preserving Black Churches are intended to preserve historic Black houses of worship (with either active or non-active congregations) and advance ongoing preservation activities. With grants ranging from $50,000 to $200,000, the funding will strengthen capacity for historic congregations, preservation organizations, and community groups to better steward, manage, and use their historic structures.

• The Interfaith Federal Credit Union has announced that clergy members are eligible for unsecured debt consolidation up to $20,000 at 5.99%.

• The Foundation for Evangelism

• The Healing Trust offers grants for organizations who are aligned with their priorities around holistic health.