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 Trust grants) and Circle 555 Grants Committee members for support in reviewing and evaluating 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 by filling out a Ministry Profile 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 affect 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 sharing 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 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 are responsible for knowing the ministry and its leaders and providing information to the CLC and Circle 555 Grant Committees to ensure they are informed about how the Gospel is shared.
• Requests must be for projects within a ministry. Operations-based grants are available for discipleship ministries with no projects and an operating budget of $100K or less. This only applies to Community Trust grant requests.
• The range for a Community Trust grant request is $2,500 to $15,000.
• The range for a Circle 555 grant request is $1,000 up to $10,000. Each Circle 555 Coordinator and Grant Committee Chair/Co-chair sets the upper limit for grant requests. The upper limit is listed in the grant application.
• SCCF cannot guarantee funding year-over-year or that an entire request will be supported. Additionally, we cannot accept requests that span multiple years. 
• SCCF accepts applications from ministries with a Letter of Determination (501c3). We cannot accept requests from individuals, businesses, churches, schools, universities, or foundations. 
• SCCF supports local, Gospel-oriented programs in South Carolina. We are unable to support international missions.
• Ministries with more than one location may apply for funding for up to two locations during each grant process (Community Trust and Circle 555).
• If a ministry is invited to apply for both Community Trust and Circle 555 grant process in the same calendar year, the Circle 555 request should be for a different project than the one submitted to the Community Trust, unless the original request was not funded. 
• Documents required during the application process include:
  • Current registration with the SC Secretary of State. This is a South Carolina state requirement and must be applied for each year. More information can be found here.
  • Profit & Loss Statement (revenues and expenses)
  • Balance Sheet (assets and liabilities)
  • Operating Budget (for ministries applying for an operations grant via the Community Trust process)
• Each CLC Chair and Circle 555 Coordinator shares results with the SCCF President, who forwards them to the Board of Trustees for review and final approval.
• A final report must be submitted at the end of each grant cycle and is required before applying for a grant within the same process. 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.