The Foundation’s grant program is a demonstration of how we fulfill the mission of having been sent in Jesus’ name with the power of the Holy Spirit. Each year The Foundation tithes anticipated revenue to help provide funding for ministry that is reaching out into the world. Grants support outward focused ministries - addressing the needs of the poor, lost, and marginalized - helping Annual Conference ministries to increase their relevancy to the world. That's what we're about, isn't it? Changing the world?
Webinar
Learn more about our grants program through our Grants webinar.
Guidelines: Awards are granted based on the following guidelines:
- Foundation grants are primarily intended to help initiate programs, projects or activities- especially those that are innovative, new or acutely needed
- Our priority is to fund activities in the conference that have the capacity of enriching many or all local churches' ministries. Foundation grants are not intended to provide for sustaining support or to fund the existing operational obligations of a church or agency. Grants are generally not awarded to pay for personal ministry expenses, local church building capital improvements, or maintenance.
- Foundation grants are not intended to provide for ongoing personnel costs, although limited start-up personnel costs may be considered (excluding Church's cost for compensation for the appointed or assigned pastor or minister.
- We will avoid becoming the perpetual funder for any ongoing program or ministry.
- We target our resources primarily to United Methodist programs and ministries of the West Virginia Annual Conference.
- We want to be targeted and strategic in our grant-making, preferring to make fewer substantial commitments, rather than diluting our impact by spreading our resources thinly over many small requests.
- We conscientiously attempt to communicate with conference leadership to better understand the Conference’s needs and opportunities.
Additional Information: The Grants Committee provides the following additional information to help in your application process:
- Grant recipient organizations must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization.
- We are unable to provide funding for international projects that have no United States connection.
- The following statistics are updated annually to help applicants determine an appropriate amount of funds for a request:
- The Foundation’s largest grant award was for $30,000.
- The Foundation’s average grant award is $6,247.
Forms: Forms can be downloaded at the following links.
- An informational flyer you can share with your ministry team can be downloaded here.
- Download our grant application forms at this link.
- Download forms you will need following a grant award at this link.
Deadlines and Submissions: The grant submission deadlines for 2023 are February 28th and July 31st.
Submissions can be made from our website by clicking this button:
Alternatively, you can email applications to info@umfwv.org or mail them to our address (P.O. Box 3811, Charleston, WV, 25338-3811).