How It Works
ECF offers grants in the spring and fall of each year.
Letter of Intent
Initial Conversation
Each ECF grant begins with a conversation with our Executive Director prior to beginning your LOI. This ensures that your proposal addresses our current funding, geographic, and thematic priorities, and that your ministry and parish are currently eligible to apply.
Parish Statement of Support (nonprofit applicants only)
For our nonprofit applicants, you’re required to have a substantial partnership with one of our parishes. That parish will need to complete the Parish Statement of Support form which addresses the nature and history of your partnership as well as how the parish is enriched by your partnership.
This Statement is due at the same time your LOI is due, so the sooner you email us the contact info for your primary contact at the parish the better!
Submit an Online Letter of Intent
Our grantmaking program has a two-step application process: a Letter of Intent (LOI) followed by an invite-only application. This allows the LOI to serve as an eligibility screening opportunity, making a much more efficient process for both ECF and for the applicants themselves. LOIs are accepted twice a year.
LOI Review
The ECF Board of Directors Grant Review Committee will review all LOI materials and determine which applicants will receive an invitation to the full application. Occasionally we may need more information to accompany your LOI; if so, we will contact you during this time with clarifying questions.
All applicants who submit an LOI will be notified at the time we extend invitations to the full application, including any applicants whose LOIs are declined.
Application
Complete An Application
Applicants who are invited to submit the full application will have approximately 6 weeks to complete their application. Your invitation will include the link to the application form, any feedback that the Grant Review Committee has regarding your proposal, and information about scheduling your site visit.
Download Application Instructions
Download Logic Model Template This is an example, you can use your own model if you choose.
Site Visit
Each invited applicant will receive a site visit from ECF’s Executive Director and a member of the Grant Review Committee. Applications will be considered incomplete until the site visit has been conducted.
Site visits typically take place at the applicant’s office or primary service location. Someone representing the church’s leadership is REQUIRED to attend the site visit. Preferably this will be the parish’s lead clergy (rector, priest-in-charge, etc.) and the primary contact(s) for the ministry.
Grants Awarded
Funding Decisions
The Grant Review Committee will utilize the LOI, the application, and the site visit to draft a funding recommendation. The ECF Board of Directors reviews this recommendation and votes at their February and August board meetings to determine grant approvals and distributions.
Each applicant will be notified after the board meeting with decision information. For grants that are approved, this notification will include the amount and purpose of the grant funding as well as a copy of the grant agreement outlining specific terms, reporting deadlines, and communication/marketing requirements.
Grant agreements will be circulated for electronic signatures, and funds will be distributed once the agreement is executed by all parties.
Reporting
To properly steward our resources, ECF requires reporting for all funded grants, the details of which will be outlined in your grant agreement. At a minimum you will be required to submit a final report as well as be available for periodic check-ins with someone from ECF. There may be additional reporting required throughout the grant period; in these cases, this is typically discussed to some degree at the site visit prior to grant approval.
Please note that we will not consider future grant proposals from grantees who have not submitted a satisfactory final report for previous grants in a timely matter. If we determine that your report needs additional work/information, we will let you know as soon as possible.
Waiting Period
We encourage our grant recipients to stay in touch with us after your grant has concluded! Upon receiving your satisfactory final report, a member of ECF’s team may follow-up with you as we increase our storytelling efforts around grants we have funded.
For all applicants (both funded and declined) there will be a waiting period before you are eligible to reapply. Your eligibility is determined by the receipt of your final report, how recently a parish has received funding, and other factors. You can review our reapplication guidelines at any time, but you DO NOT need to calculate these dates yourself! ECF tracks this information, and you can ALWAYS simply contact us to ask when you are eligible to apply again.