Training and Capital Grant Opportunity for Philadelphia Congregations

Partners for Sacred Places invites Philadelphia congregations who host, manage, or support ministries that serve the poor to participate in New Dollars/New Partners for Your Historic Sacred Place (New Dollars/New Partners). This training opportunity is designed to help congregations of all sizes:

Develop a compelling case statement for funding
Network with other faith leaders committed to social outreach
Learn new techniques for community fundraising
Grow the impact of your outreach ministries

Congregations who participate will be eligible to receive matching grants up to $5,000 in support of their ministries.

About Partners for Sacred Places

Partners for Sacred Places is the only national, non-sectarian nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation, sound stewardship, and active community use of sacred places across the United States. For over three decades Partners has delivered services to more than 1,000 congregations, helping them build fundraising capacity, achieve sustainability, and maximize the value and impact of their historic buildings for ministry.

What is New Dollars/New Partners training?

New Dollars/New Partners is a capacity-building training program that transforms how congregations see themselves and their place in the community. Through the training, clergy and lay leaders learn to identify, cultivate, and leverage new relationships with supporters in the community, setting the stage for dynamic fundraising appeals and successful community-wide capital campaigns. These new approaches to fundraising and partnership can support efforts to restore and maintain their historic buildings and grow the impact of important social outreach ministries. Congregations that participate in this training will graduate with the tools they need to cultivate passionate new partners, advocates, supporters, and donors by highlighting and leveraging the civic value of their church’s ministries and buildings.

The training includes four consecutive modules:

Module I: Making the Case for Your Sacred Place
Module II: Developing New Community Partnerships
Module III: A Capital Campaign Primer
Module IV: Tapping Community-Funding Resource

How do congregations participate?

New Dollars/New Partners brings together a group of congregations to four workshops, held on Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with meals, snacks, and other hospitality provided. Training is led by Partners’ experienced staff and expert consultants. Congregations who participate must commit to sending a team of three to four to each training module. Each congregation’s team should include the clergy/faith leader along with 2-3 lay leaders. The four training modules will begin in Fall 2019 and end in Spring 2020 and are spaced over several months to allow congregations to put their newfound skills to work between each session. The first training will be held Saturday, November 16, 2019. Please hold this date. Future dates TBD. As part of the training congregations will also receive a valuable library of references and printed resources to help them continue to put what they’ve learned into action!

Congregations selected to participate in New Dollars/New Partners must make a $500 deposit to hold their place in the program. The deposit amount will be refunded to congregations that complete the training by attending all four training modules.

Who Should Apply?

Partners for Sacred Places invites applications from Philadelphia-area congregations interested in leveraging the value of their buildings as assets for ministry among the poor, the food-insecure, and those experiencing homelessness in their communities—or who actively support ministries like these hosted by partner congregations.

Capital Grant Support

Congregations that successfully complete the New Dollars/New Partners training will also be eligible for matching grants up to $5,000 to support capital needs for their outreach ministries. This additional opportunity is made possible with special support from private foundations.