Winning Grants to Strengthen Your Ministry - Paperback

by Joy Skjegstad (Author)

Ministry leaders possess the compassion, creativity, and knowledge about community needs that grant funders appreciate. Yet ministry groups are often less experienced than other types of nonprofit organizations in discerning which funding to seek, understanding how to build relationships with funders, and putting together proposals. This book offers a pathway to strengthening new and existing ministries. Joy Skjegstad is an experienced grant-proposal writer who has successfully raised money for a variety of nonprofits over the past 20 years, including a number of ministry organizations. She shows how fundraising can be an integral part of ministry--forcing us into deeper conversation with God, expanding our relationships with others, and building both our faith and our discipline. Providing detailed guidance on the practical aspects of seeking grants from foundation and corporate funders, Skjegstad describes approaches for researching potential funders, developing a case statement, putting together an effective grant proposal, and following up with grant makers. She explains the types of grants available and how to determine which are a good fit with your ministry. For faith-based ministries, faith is the groundwork for fundraising--the most important thing to consider while developing fundraising values and strategies. Skjegstad helps faith communities identify their own cultural beliefs, follow spiritual disciplines, and cultivate generous hearts as they work toward integrating their faith and their fundraising.

Author Biography

Joy Skjegstad is a national speaker and consultant on nonprofit management and ministry development. She has 20 years of experience starting and growing nonprofit organizations, with a special focus on faith-based groups, youth development and the arts. She has served as the President of Sanctuary Community Development Corporation, the nonprofit connected to Sanctuary Covenant Church in North Minneapolis and is a founder of the Institute for Ministry Leaders, a university-based training program that builds the management capacity of churches and other ministry organizations. She also served as the Executive Director of the Park Avenue Foundation at Park Avenue United Methodist Church and has held a variety of other leadership positions with nonprofits in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.