Ministry Guidelines

Guidelines

The information listed below will help guide you in the application process. If you have any questions on these guidelines, email admin@SCChristianFoundation.org.

• SCCF relies on Community Leadership Councils (CLC) (for Community Trusts) and Circle 555 Grants Committee members to review and evaluate applications. Members are hand-selected based on evidence of God’s redemptive work in their lives. We ask our members to use discernment through prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
• Community Trust grant requests are open to any demographic. Circle 555 grant requests support women, children, and families only.
• Ministries must register with SCCF before applying for a grant. Each year, an invitation to apply will be sent by email.
• Ministries are required to agree to SCCF’s Statement of Faith with each grant application submitted. This is part of the online grant process.
• Sharing the Gospel is paramount to receiving a grant. We advocate for ministries where the Gospel and mercy meet.
  • Mercy is any act of service demonstrating God’s heart of love like that expressed by the humility and work of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the direct, intentional, and relational verbal or written communication of God’s redemption of sinful humanity as articulated in SCCF’s Statement of Faith.
  • Therefore, Evangelism is Mercy and the Gospel coming together. We can give Mercy to someone and never effect a heart change; likewise, we can try to share the Gospel without meeting physical and emotional needs and not get a hearing. So, the two must work together. Mercy and the sharing of the Gospel equal Evangelism.
  • Through Evangelism, God alone begins the work of changing hard hearts and dark minds to hearts of love and minds open to the truth of God’s Word. Discipleship is the process by which we cooperate with God and grow in demonstrating that love (Mercy) and applying that truth (Gospel).
  • Evangelism and Discipleship are two key elements of every evangelistic effort.
  • Therefore, the objective of any ministry applying for financial support from the SCCF should be to clearly articulate how monies granted will promote and provide for the applicant’s evangelistic purpose and efforts.
• In some instances, sharing the Gospel might be a detriment to the counsel of a person in a ministry’s care. SCCF staff is responsible for knowing the ministry and ministry leaders and providing information to the CLC and Circle grant committees to ensure they are informed of how the Gospel is shared.
• Requests must be for programs within a ministry. Operations-based grants are available for discipleship ministries with no programs and an operating budget of $100K or less, but only for Community Trust grant requests.
• The range for a Community Trust request is $2,500 to $15,000, whereas the range for a Circle 555 request is $1,000 to $10,000.
• SCCF cannot guarantee funding year-over-year or that an entire request will be supported. Additionally, we cannot accept requests for funding spread out over multiple years in a row.
• Preference will be given to ministries who have not received a grant. Ministries that have received a grant for five consecutive years must skip one year before being considered for another grant.
• SCCF accepts applications from ministries with a Letter of Determination (501c3). We cannot provide grants to individuals, businesses, churches, schools, universities, or foundations.
• SCCF supports local, Gospel-oriented programs in South Carolina. We are unable to support international ministries.
• SCCF cannot fulfill requests for capital campaigns, funds directed to debt reduction, fundraising events, scholarships, or sponsorships.
• If a ministry is invited to apply for grants from both the Community Trust and Circle 555 processes in a calendar year, the program request for a Circle 555 grant should be different from the request submitted to the Community Trust grants process unless the request is not funded through a Community Trust grant. 
• Documents required during the application process include:
  • Current registration with the SC Secretary of State. This is an annual requirement of South Carolina – more information can be found here
  • P&L Statement and Balance Sheet
  • Operating Budget (for ministries applying for an operations grant via the Community Trust process)
• Each CLC Chair shares results with the Board of Directors. Circle 555 Coordinators share the results with the Circle 555 State Coordinator, who forwards them to the President of SCCF for Board approval.
• A final grant report is required at the end of the grant cycle. Results may be shared with the SCCF President, Board of Trustees, CLC members, and Circle 555 members.

If you have any questions, contact SCCF at Admin@SCChristianFoundation.org or call 864.949.5800 for additional assistance.

These guidelines will be reviewed annually and are subject to change. Ministries will be notified of any changes to the documentation before the application process.