After discernment, re-visioning, and approval of the 109th Diocesan Annual Council, the Episcopal Charities Foundation is now accepting requests for grant funding. In recent years, the Episcopal Charities Foundation has shifted its grantmaking focus to encourage larger, more impactful grants, and this new process will be aimed at helping Episcopal parishes and their nonprofit partners create proposals that seek to engage in deeper work in their local communities.
“The Episcopal Charities Foundation is excited about our new direction” said board chair The Very Rev. Canon Lang Lowrey. “Not only will ECF be able to grant more money to make a larger impact benefiting people experiencing poverty and oppression, but we will also be able to assist our parishes who often do not have funds on hand to develop mission and outreach ministries.”
The Episcopal Charities Foundation (ECF) partners with Episcopal communities to serve people experiencing poverty and oppression throughout Middle and North Georgia. Eligible applicants will be nonprofit organizations with a substantial relationship with an Episcopal parish or the parishes themselves who are seeking to work with the nonprofits in their community. While there are many phenomenal efforts and ministries geared towards national and international efforts to relieve poverty and oppression that are supported by parishes throughout the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, ECF specifically focuses its funding on those working in our local communities in Middle and North Georgia.
The new grant application process will provide two different avenues for funding. The General Grant Application is a two-step process geared towards creating and supporting sustainable partnerships between Episcopal parishes and nonprofits in their communities. Twice a year, applicants can submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Apply for Funding; from this group of applicants, the ECF board will invite selected applicants to submit full grant applications which will then be eligible for site visits and funding. ECF has also created a new second grant program known as Small Acts of Charity. These grants are also held to the ECF eligibility criteria, but are intended for smaller opportunities. Requests are capped at $5,000 for the Small Acts of Charity grant, and will be awarded on a quarterly basis.
Those interested in applying for funding should visit ecfatlanta.org/grants for information regarding both funding opportunities as well as links to the applications. Applicants are encouraged to contact Lindsey Hardegree with any questions they may have regarding eligibility or their applications.