By Connie Hougland
Servant Christian Community Foundation
For churches looking beyond the church walls to find funding it can feel more like running into a brick wall. When we look for outside funding it is important that the church's reach is beyond the church walls as well. Grant funders typically look for community impact.
Joy Skjegsted, author of
Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry offers valuable insight for churches looking for funding from foundations in her article
Finding Funds.
Finding Funds shares six characteristics of church programs that are most likely to receive funding from a foundation or corporation:
1) The program benefits at least some people outside of your church congregation.
2) The program is not one of the core internal programs of your church.
3) The church can separate out the spiritual component of the program or make it optional.
4) The program possesses clearly defined outcomes.
5) The program possesses a well-defined plan.
6) The program works collaboratively with other organizations.
Click
here to read Joy's full article. Keeping these points in mind may help your church find grant support for outreach efforts.