As a general rule, Gospel Future Fund does not support the development of property and plant for Christian organisations. We are more interested in supporting the development of intangible activities that will be undertaken in the property and plant.
Have a read of the following FAQs to help answer any questions you may have about the application process and the types of grants and churches we work with. Please ensure you have read these FAQs before contacting us with questions.
The applicant should have a clear understanding of its vision and mission, which is clearly articulated. This mission should be based on their calling by God and thus be based on a Christian motive.
The applicant should demonstrate good corporate governance, strong leadership and professional management principles.
The applicant must be endorsed by the Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient (Item 1) (DGR) or, if it is not a DGR entity, it must be endorsed as an Income Tax Exempt Charity and Tax Concessional Charity (TCC).
The project should be specific and strategic within the mission of the applicant and the general development of the Kingdom of God. Once implemented, the project should produce some multiplier effect. The project should plan to become self-funding in a reasonable time.
- Tax restrictions: Gospel Future Fund can only distribute to organisations that have Deductible Gift Recipient (Item 1) (DGR) status or organisations that have Income Tax Exempt Charity and Tax Concessional Charity (TCC) status.
- Geographic restrictions: The Gospel Future Fund only allow organisations based in Australia and New Zealand.
- Amount of funding: We like to see a well thought out, discussed, prayed over and approved (by the governing body) growth plan for the organisation for at least three years. The larger the grant request, the more detail we would expect. The funding must be for a specific project that will grow the ministry to a new sustainable level, with measurable outcomes. We expect the grant to reduce over the years of the project as the self-sustainability is increasing.
Other exclusions:
- Generic public fundraising appeals
- Capital or endowment funds established to provide a corpus for institutions
- Where Gospel Future Fund would constitute the sole funder of an initiative
- Construction and refurbishment of buildings
- Part-time staff (our criteria is 3+ days pw)
- Emergency requests and disaster appeals
- Travel and accommodation costs alone
- Organisations that have a capacity to obtain significant corporate or community support
- Organisations with internal funding available
The conditions of the grant are broadly:
- The grant is to be used exclusively for the project.
- The grantee must use their best endeavours to complete the project in the specified time.
- The grantee will advise Gospel Future Fund of any material change in the project.
- The grantee will show the grant separately in its accounting so that the use of the funds can be reported to Gospel Future Fund.
- There will be no acknowledgement of Gospel Future Fund in published material, without prior consent.
- The grantee will provide a receipt promptly after each grant payment they receive.
- The grantee is to provide an Annual Report as at 30 June or 31 December each year (to be received within 3 months of that date), using our one page Annual Report format.
- The grantee is to provide a Final Report as at the 30 June or 31 December following completion of the project (to be received within three months of that date), using our one-page Annual Report format.
As a ministry relying on regular fundraising income, your unique ministry strategy for sustainable and scalable growth should be detailed in a strategic plan. This document should address the four key pillars of effective fundraising: acquisition, conversion, cultivation and retention. Your plan should complement your operational growth plan, and show consistency with the ministry outcomes.
At a minimum, an effective fundraising strategic plan should address:
- A biblical foundation for your fundraising
- Diversified streams of revenue
- Overarching brand strategy
- Acquisition:
- An integrated communications schedule, outlining regular communication as well as campaigns and their integration across different channels
- A plan to acquire new donors
- Conversion:
- A strong conversion process i.e. Names converting to donors, and then to regular giving.
- Cultivation:
- An established CRM system, or the plan to implement one
- Retention:
- A donor care policy to keep attrition low
The following questions would help to address the recommendations above:
- What is your core message and point of difference in the marketplace?
- Who is your target acquisition demographic (e.g. high net worth, professional, retired etc.)?
- How does your brand “connect” your purpose into the mind of the potential donor?
- How is your brand positioned in the marketplace, and what is your point of difference to other ministries in the Kingdom, and in your sector?
- Do you have a donor care policy or CRM in place? What is your donor management system?
- What is your integrated communications strategy (e.g. regular newsletters, campaigns, events, lunches/dinners)? Do you apply unique communication to data segments?
- Do you have (or do you intend to employ) staff dedicated to the implementation and execution of fundraising efforts? If so, what skills do/should they have (to match the outlined integrated fundraising)? Suggest including drafted job descriptions and KPIs.
- Have you engaged consultants in developing the strategic plan, or for supporting the execution of the fundraising strategy?
- What are your fundraising targets and budget?
- Who in management will be responsible for the plan and its implementation?
- How is prayer integrated into your ministry, as well as your fundraising?