The Baptist Foundation of South Carolina has a limited amount of funds available to award to churches or other ministries for “Kingdom Growth” ministry projects. Funds for grants are obtained from endowments administered by the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina for the purpose of providing grants as well as from a TITHE of the Foundation’s own endowment income.
Annually, 90% of available funds are awarded to fund “Kingdom Growth” ministry projects and the remaining 10% is set aside in a fund for emergency funds for disaster relief ministry.
Grant Eligibility
The intent of the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina’s grant awards program is to provide assistance to ministry projects that will have an impact on Kingdom growth. Therefore, impact on ministry will be the overriding standard in the evaluation process.
Grant requests will only be accepted from religious, benevolent, charitable, educational, or missionary institutions, agencies, or causes whose purpose is compatible with the purpose of the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina.
When considering grant requests from South Carolina Baptist and other ministries, priority will be considered as follows:
- South Carolina Baptist Convention departments, institutions, and agencies.
- South Carolina Baptist associations and churches.
- Other causes, as requested by the South Carolina Baptist Convention only, whose purpose is compatible with the purpose of the Foundation.
- Southern Baptist Convention institutions, agencies, and ministries outside of South Carolina.
Projects NOT Eligible For Funding
The following projects will NOT be eligible for grant funding through the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina:
- Requests for individuals – individuals seeking benevolent assistance will be referred to an appropriate church, convention, government, or community organization that may provide assistance.
- Requests to fund construction/renovation/other capital costs for buildings.
- Requests to fund salaried positions at churches/ministries.
- Requests from new church starts that have been established for LESS than two years (and are not a part of a SC Baptist Convention association).
- Requests to fund NON-Southern Baptist Convention projects (unless initiated and approved by a South Carolina Baptist Convention department or agency)
Applying for a Grant
In order to be eligible for a grant award, a ministry must complete and submit an application for grant funding. Funding can be requested for up to 80% of project costs. The application MUST include required documentation (ministry budget, project budget, and two letters of endorsement) before the application will be reviewed.
Click on the link below to access the Grant Funding Application. This application must be completed, printed, and mailed, with the appropriate REQUIRED documentation (see page 2 of the application), to the Foundation by the deadline.
Grant Application Deadline
The deadline for submitting a grant application and all required documentation is JULY 31 of each year.
Application Review and Award Distribution
The Foundation’s Development Committee reviews grant applications annually at their October meeting. Ministries will be notified in the fourth quarter of each year as to whether or not an award has been approved. Approved awards are then processed at year end. Ministries should expect to receive award checks by mid-January of the following year.
Repeat Requests
Guidelines for handling repeat requests for grant funding are as follows:
- An eligible request will be funded for no more than two consecutive years
- After a request is granted for two consecutive years, a recipient can apply again for the same grant two years after the last grant request was awarded.
- Any repeat request must include an accounting of how the funding was dispersed for the prior award in order to be eligible to be considered for another award.