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Community Building Ideas

for Christian Churches in Montana

The Gianforte Family Foundation believes the local church plays a transformational role within their community. That’s why we offer pre-packaged grants (up to $3,300) for churches in Montana.

However, some churches have the capacity to launch bigger initiatives within their communities. If your church has a vision for implementing effective Christian Community Development or Outreach strategies in your hometown like affordable housing, career training, or mentoring at-risk children – tell us about it!

Your project may align with our funding strategies if its purpose is to:

Strengthen Marriages & Families

Strengthen Marriages & Families

Help Individuals Flourish Economically

Help Individuals Flourish Economically

Offer Addiction or Trauma Recovery Tools

Offer Addiction or Trauma Recovery Tools

To be considered for a grant you must:  

  1. be a Christian church operating in the state of Montana,
  2. identify a need in your community and determine how your church wants to meet the need,
  3. develop a plan and budget for the new or expanding (serving more people or new demographic) project,
  4. fill out the Contact Us form to see if your program fits with our funding strategies, and
  5. commit to actively promoting the program to your entire community, not just your congregation.

Please Note: Our funding will not cover all costs associated with running a program. Potential grant recipients should have a significant portion of their funding committed before submitting an application. However, the foundation would like to talk with your team early on in the process and provide you with valuable feedback.

Please Note x2: The foundation does not typically fund the remodel/expansion/new build of a physical Church building. We may consider other building projects that fit our funding priorities (example: Affordable Housing). We also do not typically fund childcare, vacation Bible school, or summer camps.

Download and Print Additional Ideas

Grant Ideas

  1. CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (CCD): is a philosophical approach to creating long-term solutions to the problems facing the poor, within a specific neighborhood, by utilizing grassroots, church-based ministries. The eight key tenets of CCD are designed to help biblically and relationally rebuild poor communities. Community Leadership and Development Institute, a Christian non-profit, in Billings, Montana has been “doing” CCD for the past 40+ years. (Read CLDI’s, Executive Director, Eric Bayse’s first, of a year-long blog series, on living out CCD work in Montana.) A philosophy can not be funded, however, the foundation would like to connect like-minded Christians across the state for the purpose of learning and encouragement. The programs created under the umbrella of CCD may be funded.
  2. CROSS PURPOSE: The Cross Purpose model helps churches or nonprofits address the relational, economic, and spiritual poverty in their communities through career development. Cross Purpose provides churches with the tools and training needed to choose and offer career certificate training that will help low-income, high-risk individuals earn a livable wage.
  3. SOBER LIVING HOME: Christian sober living homes provide men and women with a structured & loving environment to overcome their drug and alcohol addiction while learning more about Jesus. Many tried and true Sober Living models exist. If your church is interested in starting a home, we can provide a list of groups in this space.
  4. AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The affordable housing crisis in Montana has continued to escalate over the past several years. Many families find it difficult to afford rent, let alone afford a home of their own. Many churches are uniquely positioned to provide their communities with affordable housing options due to their access to parsonages, church-owned land, or a generous congregation. Again, if your church is interested in offering affordable housing, combined with relational ministry, we can provide a list of other groups working on this issue.
  5. RAM SERIES FOR PUBLIC MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOLERS: The PICK (Premarital Interpersonal Choices & Knowledge) Course is designed to provide a plan for youth (and adults) to follow their hearts (pacing a new relationship in safe and healthy ways) without losing their minds (exploring five key areas that foreshadow what this partner will be like in marriage). This course is Biblically based but designed for a secular environment. The PICK course is evidence-based and has been taught in public high schools to over 100,000 youth.
  6. YOUR OWN IDEA: Does your church have a different idea that may fit our funding priorities listed above? If so, reach out to the foundation staff using our Contact Us form.

Application Instructions

  1. Contact a Foundation staff person before applying
  2. Go to https://gianfortefoundation.org/
  3. Click “Grant Application Log-in”
  4. Click the “Create a New Account” button (if you do not have an account)
  5. Fill out all your account information
  6. Fill out the application (no code needed)

Eligibility Criteria

Tax status:  We only fund work done by organizations ruled to have tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Geographic location:  In most cases, our funding is limited to organizations in Montana.  We will occasionally provide funding to organizations that operate nationally, when their work aligns with our focus areas and impacts the nation as a whole.  We rarely fund work overseas unless we have a personal connection with the group doing the work.

Funding amounts:  We do not generally fund projects where we are the sole providers of funding, nor do we like to account for more than 50% of the budget for a project (and in most cases, less).  In addition, we prefer to start with smaller amounts for organizations that we have not worked with in the past.

Focus areas: We limit our funding to work that falls within one of our focus areas:

If your project aligns with our criteria, press the button below:

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