FPC Foundation – GRANTS

GRANT PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

The Foundation serves First Presbyterian Church through a GRANT program.

SYNOPSIS:  At the beginning of each calendar year, a specific amount of funds from the Foundation’s GENERAL account are allocated for GRANT spending. The amount allocated for spending is determined utilizing the YALE formula. (The Yale formula is a combination of quarterly account balance averages, a 4% payout-multiple, weighted allocations and a consumer price index factor).

Any member of the FPC congregation is encouraged to work through and with a church committee to identify a project or need and complete a formal, written GRANT APPLICATION FORM (available at the bottom of this page).

All GRANT APPLICATIONS are initially vetted through FPC Session to help determine the appropriateness and timing of the project or need.

If favorably reviewed by the FPC session, the GRANT APPLICATION is then forwarded to the Foundation Board of Directors for official review and action.

If approved, the GRANT APPLICATION is forwarded to the Foundation Treasurer for funding authorization.

Details and information about the GRANT REQUEST PROCESS follow below.

INFORMATION & PROCESS to Request Funding from the FOUNDATION:

This process applies to grant requests to the First Presbyterian Church FOUNDATION. Requests for grants from the Foundation are usually intended for diverse and non-budgeted purposes, and are intended to enhance and encourage outreach activities of FPC. Foundation grants may be for large disaster relief projects, major medical outreach and support, FPC capital or maintenance programs and/or educational projects.  The FOUNDATION GRANT APPLICATION FORM is available for download.  (See Policies and Forms, next tab).

(NOTE:  In addition to FPC FOUNDATION grants, a second grant program exists known as Mission Support. Grants funded from Mission Support are intended specifically for mission or outreach purposes that are not included in FPC’s overall operating budget, and are usually supported by members or friends of FPC who want to do Christ’s work in the world.  More information is available from the church website).

The request and approval process paths are different for Foundation grants and Mission Support grants. Mission Support Grant Request Forms may be obtained from the FPC Church Office or from the Church website.  FOUNDATION Grant Request Forms are available on this website under the Policies and Forms tab, or from the Church office.

FPC Foundation Grant Request Process:

Grant applications requesting funding from restricted trusts or funds (such as the Millie Reeves fund) where the Foundation must approve the funding also follow this process.

  1. Requestor completes the Grant Application Form (GA) (see above to download the form), including requested information and any additional or explanatory information as an attachment. While any member or friend of FPC may submit a Grant Application, it is recommended, but not required, that grants be co-sponsored by an active committee of FPC.  In the event that the requestor does not seek sponsorship by a FPC committee, the GA is submitted directly to the Pastor (step 4.)
  2. Requestor submits the Grant Application to the Chair of the appropriate FPC committee: e.g. Adult Fellowship and Education, Youth Nurture, Children’s Nurture, Deacons, Worship, Stewardship & Finance, or Social Justice.
  3. If approved by the committee, the Chair (or designee) will forward the Grant Application to the Pastor.
  4. The Pastor will review all Grant Applications to determine that submission to the Session is appropriate, and may return the Grant Application to the requestor for additional information or to seek sponsorship of an FPC committee. The Pastor will ensure that all GA’s to be submitted to Session are on the docket for the next Session meeting and will give a copy of all GA’s to the church secretary for electronic distribution to the Session.
  5. Session will review all proposed GA’s to determine those to be considered for funding by the Foundation.
  6. If Session feels that a GA should be funded in the FPC operating budget, the GA will be forwarded to the chair of the appropriate committee overseeing that budget category.
  7. Those Grant Applications considered appropriate for consideration by the Foundation will be provided to the Foundation President by the Clerk of Session.
  8. The Foundation President will ensure that all Grant Applications forwarded by Session are placed on the docket of the next Foundation meeting (meetings held on the first Tuesday of every other month beginning February of each calendar year.)
    1. The Foundation Board of Directors will review each Session-forwarded Grant Application and either approve, reject or request more information or table the request for later action.
    2. The Foundation President (or designate) will advise the requestor of the Foundation Board’s decision.
    3. The Foundation President (or designate) provides the approved Grant Application with written approvals to the Church Financial Secretary as authorization to pay the grant. The Foundation President will indicate when funds of an approved grant are to be transferred to a separate account or fund in the Church’s ledger accounts.
    4. The Foundation Treasurer will update the schedule of approved grants.
    5. The Church Financial Secretary will prepare the grant check, notify the requestor when it is available and coordinate with the Foundation Treasurer to assure that the church is appropriately reimbursed from Foundation/ restricted funds.
      1. The requestor is responsible for sending the grant check to the proper recipient.
      2. The requestor will write a letter to the recipient, if appropriate, and the Church Financial    Secretary will include the letter with the check and mail the grant check to the recipient.

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