Ministry Grant Information

The Missouri United Methodist Foundation offers grants to churches, institutions, agencies, and organizations related to the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church for the purpose of furthering mission and ministry. The needs of ministries are as varied as the settings, contexts and people involved.

The application, therefore, is primarily intended to help you describe your proposal
clearly to the Foundation’s Grant Committee and Board of Trustees to enable their decision-making process. As you read the instructions and complete the application, please feel free to contact us with questions – we are more than happy to assist.

Please read all grant application instructions carefully on this page before filling out a grant application.

guidelines

Foundation grants are primarily intended to help initiate programs, projects, or activities – especially those that are innovative, new, or acutely needed.

The strongest proposals have a clear and compelling connection to the overall health, vitality and ministry effectiveness of a church or organization. It is also beneficial to see specific quantitative and/or qualitative measures of success, as well as some commitment of financial or in-kind support from the congregation or organization.

In general, lower priority consideration is given to proposals that simply address capital building improvements/maintenance or the on-going operational expenses that are the regular responsibility of the congregation.

Requests for personnel costs (e.g. salary and benefits) or other types of sustaining support are generally not appropriate unless strongly tied to the start-up of a new project or position and where there is a clear plan for sustaining the expense beyond the grant.

The Committee gives priority to proposals that address ministry areas identified by the Conference as priorities. Currently these priorities include development of missional leaders, evangelistic outreach to involve new people in new places, and service activities to help lift people out of poverty (especially children). Over the last two years we have allocated funds to address needs directly related to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, and this is likely to remain a consideration for some time.

grant funding takes one of four forms:

  • Full funding: providing the full amount requested.
  • Challenge grant: a conditional grant that will be awarded only after the grant recipient provides proof that the remaining amount required to completely fund the project has been raised.
  • Partial funding: selecting a specific component of a project or program to be funded.
  • Matching grant: a conditional grant that will be awarded only after the grant recipient provides proof that an additional amount equal to the matching grant has been raised.

NOTE: Challenge and matching grants are the preferred forms of grant funding.

additional information

Organizations applying for and receiving grants must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as charitable, tax-exempt organizations. (All United Methodist churches are, by definition, Public Charities and are a part of the denominational IRS recognition. Other organizations should have IRS documentation.)

Grant requests are considered twice a year. Applications are due April 1 for Spring consideration and October 1 for Fall consideration. Grants are approved at Board Meetings and are announced in June and December, respectively. Grant applicants will be notified of grant acceptance status in mid-June (spring grant cycle)  and mid-December (fall grant cycle).

The total amount of ministry grant funds that are available each year continues to grow but can vary based on endowment returns and the competing needs of other Foundation projects and services. In recent years, there has been about $250,000 available with roughly half available in the Spring and half in the Fall.

Most Foundation ministry grants are $5,000 or less. We occasionally give larger grants, but rarely are they larger than $15,000.

application instructions

If you have questions or need assistance completing the process, please contact the Foundation at 800-332-8238.

  1. Complete the on-line application by clicking on the appropriate button below. A separate application must be submitted for each project proposal.
  2. Within the application form you will be asked to respond to the following questions with brief narrative answers. You should type your responses directly into the on-line form. You may upload additional pages if you feel that is helpful.
    a. Purpose: Why is this project/program needed?
    b. Vision: What do you hope to achieve through this project?
    c. Goal(s): What specific result(s) are expected? How will you judge or measure success?
    d. Provide a detailed project description.
    e. Will you be partnering with any other group or organization on this project?
    f. What is the timeline for implementation?
    g. What is the estimated budget for the overall project?
    h. Please provide a breakdown of key cost components.
    i. What are expected funding sources for the project?
    j. What expenses in the project’s budget will specifically be funded by a grant award from the Foundation?
  3. You may also upload or include with your grant application additional supporting items such as narrative documents, photos, video or graphics, if appropriate.
  4. Download the Grant Authorization Signature Form
    Print, sign, scan and upload the Grant Authorization Signature Form with your application.
    Grant Authorization Form for Churches
    Grant Authorization Form for Agencies
  5. Click the submit button when your on-line application is complete, and all supporting items have been uploaded. If you do not receive an immediate email confirming the receipt of your online application, please call the Foundation office.
  6. The Foundation office will acknowledge, in writing, the receipt of all completed grant applications.
  7. After you submit a grant proposal you may be contacted if we need additional information or clarification regarding your proposal.
  8. All proposals are initially reviewed by the Grants Committee, along with input requested from the District Superintendents and Foundation staff. Grant Committee recommendations are reviewed and final funding decisions are made at the next meeting of the Foundation Board of Trustees. All applicants are notified in writing regarding final funding decisions.
  9. If you receive funding, please contact the Foundation to arrange a grant presentation date. When appropriate, please mention the Foundation as a funder of your project in any publicity. Please down load a Grant Evaluation Form and fill it out at the completion of your project or one year after the receipt of the grant (whichever is sooner).

if you have any questions during the grant process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Email: bhill@mumf.org | Phone: 800-332-8238

Grant applicants will be notified of grant acceptance status in mid-June (spring grant cycle)  and mid-December (fall grant cycle).

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Church Grant Application
Organization Grant Application
Church Grant Application
Organization Grant Application

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