Before Submitting Your Letter of Intent

Strong preference will be given to organizations that have not previously received funding. If you have previously received ECF funding, please review our guidelines for reapplication below.

Have you discussed this specific request with our Executive Director?

If you have not yet discussed your request with us, please send us an email or schedule a phone call or Zoom prior to beginning your LOI.

We will review the below guidelines with you at that time.

If you HAVE discussed this request with us, please continue to the LOI form.

Complete LOI Form

Important Guidelines for LOIs

Guidelines

Episcopal Parishes

Parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta are eligible to apply for funding directly or through a nonprofit partner. Previous grant recipients may apply for additional funding within the guidelines listed below. You DO NOT need to keep track of these dates yourself! ECF tracks this information, and you can ALWAYS simply contact us to ask when you are eligible to apply again.

If you have any questions about whether or not your parish qualifies, please contact our Executive Director.

If you’d like to review the full detailed explanation of parish eligibility dates (including examples), see below.


The terms of your reporting and your final report deadline are listed in your grant agreement.

If your parish has received funding directly, you are eligible to reapply 12 months AFTER you have submitted an approved final report from your previous funding. Examples:

  • Reporting On-Time: Your parish directly receives funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, you turn it in on time, and ECF finds it acceptable. You will be eligible to apply again for the September 30, 2025 deadline (the Spring 2026 cycle).
  • Reporting Received Late: Your parish directly receives funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, but you miss your deadline and turn in your report in November 2024 (or perhaps you turn it in on time, but it is incomplete and it takes you until November 2024 to make acceptable edits). You will be eligible to apply again for the March 31, 2026 deadline (the Fall 2026 cycle).
  • Reporting Received Early: Your parish directly receives funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, but you are able to utilize the funds quickly and turn in your final report in February 2024. If ECF finds this report acceptable, you will be eligible to apply again for the March 31, 2025 deadline (the Fall 2025 cycle).

Each parish’s community is eligible to receive funding once every 18 months – this includes grants given to the parish directly or indirectly through one of your nonprofit partners. Examples:

  • Parish Funded Directly: Your parish directly receives funding in October 2023 (our Fall 2023 cycle). The earliest you can apply again (assuming your deadlines are met) is for the March 31, 2025 deadline (the Fall 2025 cycle). During this waiting period, the parish cannot apply for funding AND the parish cannot support a nonprofit’s application for funding.
  • Parish Supports Nonprofit: Your parish supports a nonprofit’s application for funding received in October 2023 (our Fall 2023 cycle). The earliest the parish can apply again AND the earliest the parish can support another nonprofit application is for the March 31, 2025 deadline (the Fall 2025 cycle).
  • If the parish supports a nonprofit application and that nonprofit does not meet final reporting requirements, this will NOT change the parish’s eligibility to apply again or support a DIFFERENT nonprofit application.

Nonprofits

Nonprofits may apply for funding with the support of an eligible Episcopal parish. This support is determined by the Parish Statement of Support, a separate form that the parish will submit independently. A new statement is required with each LOI; previously submitted statements cannot be used for a new request.

As early as possible, send your main parish contact’s email address to our Executive Director; we will connect with them one-on-one regarding the required Statement of Support. Out of respect for your parish and its busy staff, do not wait until the week of the deadline to start this process! Your Statement of Support is due when your LOI is due; without it, your LOI will not be considered.

Previous grant recipients may apply for additional funding within the guidelines listed below. You DO NOT need to keep track of these dates yourself! ECF tracks this information, and you can ALWAYS simply contact us to ask when you are eligible to apply again.

If you’d like to review the full detailed explanation of nonprofit eligibility dates (including examples), see below.


The terms of your reporting and your final report deadline are listed in your grant agreement.

If your organization has received funding previously, you are eligible to reapply 12 months AFTER you have submitted an approved final report from your previous funding. Examples:

  • Reporting On-Time: You received funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, you turn it in on time, and ECF finds it acceptable. You will be eligible to apply again for the September 30, 2025 deadline (the Spring 2026 cycle).
  • Reporting Received Late: You received funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, but you miss your deadline and turn in your report in November 2024 (or perhaps you turn it in on time, but it is incomplete and it takes you until November 2024 to make acceptable edits). You will be eligible to apply again for the March 31, 2026 deadline (the Fall 2026 cycle).
  • Reporting Received Early: You received funding in October 2023. Your final grant report is due in July 2024, but you are able to utilize the funds quickly and turn in your final report in February 2024. If ECF finds this report acceptable, you will be eligible to apply again for the March 31, 2025 deadline (the Fall 2025 cycle).

In addition to the 12 month waiting period detailed above, nonprofits also need to consider that each Episcopal parish’s community is eligible to receive funding once every 18 months – this includes grants given to the parish directly or indirectly through nonprofit partners. This means that your organization may specifically be eligible (you have never received a grant or, if you have, your waiting period has ended), but if your parish has received a grant either directly or through another partner, you cannot list them on your application until 18 months have passed.

  • This additional criterion ensures that ECF is sharing our funding with all 117 worshiping communities across Middle and North Georgia and not concentrating our funds in any one parish community.
  • This also encourages nonprofits to partner with more than one parish when possible.