Foundations That Give Grants to Churches (2026 Data)

This guide is for: pastors, church administrators, ministry leaders, and volunteers who want a real list of foundations that fund churches, not another list of big-name foundations that never give to congregations.

Full answer: Private foundations do give grants to churches, but mostly small ones and mostly to churches they already know. According to Grantsights analysis of tax-year 2024 Form 990-PF grant records from 3,972 private foundations, 1,188 foundations reported 2,937 grants to 2,533 churches and ministries, totaling $83.8 million. The median grant was $7,000. More than half of those foundations (632) gave to only one church, while 307 gave to three or more. The best way to find foundations that give grants to churches is to look at what they actually paid, on their own 990-PF filings, starting with funders near you that gave to several different congregations.

Data note: Grantsights checked these figures on October 15, 2026 against its table of grants reported on Form 990-PF, tax year 2024. A grant counts as a church grant when the recipient's name says church, parish, ministry, or congregation, or the stated purpose names a church. IRS rules cited below come from the 2025 Form 990-PF instructions, IRS Publication 1828, and IRS public disclosure guidance, all read on October 15, 2026.

Last updated: October 15, 2026.

If you're looking for the full map of church funding (government programs, preservation funds, security grants, and foundations), start with our grants for churches guide. This page goes deeper on one question: which private foundations actually give to churches, and how you find the right ones.

Foundation Grants to Churches in Tax Year 2024, by the Numbers

According to Grantsights analysis of tax-year 2024 Form 990-PF grant records from 3,972 private foundations, there were 2,937 grants to churches and ministries worth $83.8 million in all. That's an average of about $28,500 per grant, but the average is pulled up by a small number of large gifts. The median, $7,000, is a better guide to what a typical congregation should expect.

Here's how the 2,937 grants break down by size:

The honest reading: about 76% of foundation grants to churches were under $25,000. A church that needs $400,000 for a new roof won't get it from one foundation grant. A church that needs $8,000 for a food pantry freezer, a youth trip, or a year of utility help for its community meal has a realistic shot, if it finds the right funder.

Why foundations give at all matters here too. According to the Form 990-PF instructions, a non-operating private foundation must pay out a distributable amount based on its minimum investment return, which is 5% of the fair market value of its noncharitable-use assets. The IRS page on taxes on failure to distribute income says a foundation that falls short owes a 30 percent excise tax on the undistributed amount. Foundations have to give money away every year. The question is only whether your church is on their list.

Two more things stand out. First, 2,937 grants went to 2,533 recipients, so most churches that got a foundation grant got exactly one. Second, 1,188 foundations out of 3,972 in the dataset reported at least one church or ministry grant, roughly 30%. Church giving isn't rare among private foundations. It's just spread thin.

Where Foundation Grants to Churches Went: The Top 12 States

New York led with 300 grants from 131 foundations, followed by Texas with 226 grants from 112 foundations, according to the same Grantsights analysis of tax-year 2024 990-PF records. Every state and DC had at least one church or ministry recipient, but the counts track where foundations are concentrated more than where churches are.

A few patterns are worth noticing. Florida had almost as many foundations giving (129) as New York (131) but fewer grants, which means Florida's church funders tend to make one gift each. North Carolina's 129 grants came from just 68 foundations, so the average NC funder gave about twice. California, the largest state by population, ranks eighth, which is a reminder that a big state doesn't guarantee a big pool.

To see the count for your own state, plus two of the foundations that gave there, see how many foundations gave to churches in your state on our main church guide. That preview is free.

What Foundations Actually Pay Churches For

General or operating support was the most common purpose by far: 1,650 of 2,937 grants, with a median of $6,550. Grantsights sorted each grant's stated purpose into keyword buckets. Most 990-PF purpose lines are short and vague, so treat these buckets as a floor, not an exact count.

What this means for a church planning a request:

• Unrestricted money is normal. More than half of these grants were general support. A foundation that already gives that way isn't asking you to build a new program to qualify.
• Building money is scarce but larger. Only 88 grants, about 3%, named building, repair, or capital work. Specifically, their median of $22,617 was more than three times the overall median. For roof and repair routes beyond foundations, see our church building repair grants guide, and for buying or building a worship space, see church building purchase and construction funding.
• Food and youth grants run larger than average. Food grants had a median of $10,000 and youth grants $20,000. Both are small samples. Our guides to church food pantry grants and church youth program grants cover the government and network routes for those programs.
• Security almost never shows up. Just 2 grants named security. Churches looking for security funding should look at the FEMA program instead, covered in our church security grants guide.

Why One-Church Funders Matter (and Why Most Won't Fund You)

Of the 1,188 foundations in the Grantsights analysis, 632 gave to exactly one church or ministry in tax year 2024. That's 53% of all church funders. For a church looking for new money, this is the single most important number on the page.

A foundation that gives to only one church usually has a reason that has nothing to do with an open grant program. A family foundation may give every year to the parish where the founders worship. A foundation created in someone's memory may support the congregation that person attended. Those grants show up in a database search for "church," but they don't mean the foundation wants to hear from your church. Sending a cold request to a one-church funder is a common mistake, and it's one of the main reasons church grant lists feel useless.

The 307 foundations that gave to three or more different churches are a different story. A foundation that funds several congregations has, at minimum, shown it's willing to give to churches it doesn't belong to. Those are your first calls.

That doesn't make one-church funders worthless. Two situations make them worth a look:

1. The funder is local and the one church was a peer. Hypothetical: a small congregation in Ohio sees that a family foundation in its county gave $5,000 to a church across town for a community meal. If the two churches already run a joint program, that's a real introduction, not a cold ask.
2. Someone in your congregation knows the family. A foundation run by trustees who already know your ministry may consider a request even if it's never funded you before. The connection is the asset, not the database entry.

The rule we'd apply: rank funders by how many different churches they gave to, then by distance, then by grant size. A foundation 20 miles away that gave $3,000 each to five churches is a better target than a national foundation that gave $250,000 to one cathedral.

How to Find Foundations That Give Grants to Churches in 5 Steps

Private foundations report every grant they paid on Form 990-PF, so 5 steps built around those filings will find more real church funders than a keyword search for "church grants." According to IRS instructions for Form 990-PF, a foundation with assets of $5,000 or more must complete Part XIV, which includes the grants and contributions it paid during the year.

1. Start with funders that already gave to churches near you. Use the grant records, not mission statements. A foundation whose website says it supports "faith communities" may not have paid a church in years, while a foundation with no website at all may give to five churches every year.
2. Filter for repeat church funders. Look for foundations that gave to three or more different congregations. That's where the 307 foundations in our analysis sit.
3. Read the grant purpose lines. If the funder's grants to churches say "food pantry" or "after-school program," a general request may land worse than a program request. If they say "general support," ask for general support.
4. Check the application rules in Part XIV, line 2. This is where a foundation says whether it accepts unsolicited requests and how to apply. More on this below.
5. Match your ask to the funder's typical size. If a foundation's church grants ran $2,000 to $5,000, ask for $5,000, not $50,000. Our guide to reading a 990-PF covers how to find a funder's typical grant range.

Two other free routes are worth adding to the list:

• Your community foundation. Community foundations are public charities, not private foundations, so they don't file 990-PF and they aren't in our analysis. Many run local grant rounds that accept churches for community programs. See our community foundation grants guide.
• Your denomination. Many denominations run their own grant or loan funds for congregations. Those aren't in 990-PF data either, and they're often the first stop for building or new-ministry money.

How to Check a Foundation's 990-PF on ProPublica

ProPublica's free Nonprofit Explorer lets you search millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations, including Form 990-PF, and it also offers full-text search of filings. Here's the order we'd use.

1. Search the foundation by name or EIN. Open its page and pick the most recent filing. If the PDF or digital copy of the full return is linked, open it. Summary figures alone won't show you the grant list.
2. Go to Part XIV, line 2. According to IRS Form 990-PF instructions, a foundation checks the box on line 2 if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and doesn't accept unsolicited applications." If that box is checked, don't send a proposal. If it isn't, line 2 should list who to contact, the form applications should take, deadlines, and any limits on geography or type of recipient.
3. Go to Part XIV, line 3a. This is the list of grants paid during the year. Each line shows the recipient, its foundation status code, the purpose, and the amount. Count how many recipients are churches or ministries.
4. Look at the purpose and size of the church grants. Write down the smallest, largest, and typical amount.
5. Check more than one year. A foundation that gave to the same three churches two years in a row has relationships, not an open door. A foundation with new church recipients each year may be more open.

A useful trick: ProPublica's full-text search lets you search inside filings, so a search for "church" plus your city or county name can surface 990-PF grant lists that mention congregations near you. It's slow work, but it's free. Expect to read a lot of filings to find a handful of real prospects.

Why you can do this at all. According to the IRS public disclosure rules, an exempt organization must make its annual return, including Form 990-PF, available for public inspection for a three-year period. The same IRS page notes that, with the exception of private foundations, exempt organizations don't have to disclose contributor names and addresses. Private foundation returns are among the most open records in the nonprofit sector.

Why you can't do the same for churches. IRS Publication 1828 lists churches among the organizations that aren't required to file Form 990. So you can see what a foundation gave to a church, but you generally can't look up a church's full funding from its own filings.

What a Church Funding Directory Doesn't Tell You

Most "list of foundations that give grants to churches" pages are built from foundation names and mission statements. Five things they leave out:

1. Whether the foundation accepts applications. The 990-PF Part XIV, line 2 checkbox tells you whether a funder only gives to preselected organizations. A directory that lists a funder without that check is sending you to closed doors.
2. Whether the funder gave to more than one church. In our analysis, 53% of church funders gave to just one. A directory listing doesn't distinguish a family's home parish gift from an open program.
3. What a typical grant looks like. The national median was $7,000. A list that names a foundation known for seven-figure gifts doesn't tell you its church grants were $2,500.
4. When the data is from. A 990-PF for a given tax year is due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the year ends, according to the Form 990-PF instructions, and extensions push it later. Any list based on filings lags by a year or more, and a list with no year on it may be much older.
5. What the foundation won't fund. Many foundations that give to churches limit themselves to one city, one denomination, or one cause. That's often in Part XIV, line 2, not on a website.

Our view: a short list of 10 funders that gave to several churches near you beats a national list of 500 foundation names. The second list feels bigger. The first one gets grants.

How to Approach a Foundation That Gives to Churches

A first request to a private foundation is usually a short letter or call, not a 20-page proposal, and 3 pieces of preparation make it more likely to get read. If Part XIV, line 2 describes a process, follow it exactly. If it lists only a name and address, a brief letter of inquiry is the normal first step; our guide on how to write a grant letter of inquiry has a format.

1. Have your status documents ready. According to IRS Publication 1828, churches that meet section 501(c)(3) requirements are "automatically considered tax exempt" and don't have to apply for recognition. Many foundations still want proof before they pay, because they need to show the grant went to a qualifying charity. An IRS determination letter, a denominational group exemption letter, or other documents the foundation accepts can settle that. Ask the foundation what it needs. Our guide to how to apply for church grants covers documents in more detail.
2. Describe the community benefit plainly. Foundations that give to churches often fund what the church does for its neighbors: a food pantry, tutoring, recovery meetings, a senior lunch. Name the program, the number of people served, and the cost.
3. Ask for an amount in the funder's range. Use the church grants you found on its 990-PF. Asking for 10 times its usual gift is a red flag to a small family foundation with no staff.

Small churches face a particular version of this problem: fewer staff, fewer documents, and a smaller network. Our guide to grants for small churches covers what's realistic for a congregation under about 100 people.

Foundations aren't the only route. If your church runs a program with a separate nonprofit, the free eligibility checker can show which other grant programs fit your organization type, and our church grant path index sorts routes by project need. Government programs follow different rules, covered in our guide to government grants for churches.

How the $29 Church Funder List Helps (and Its Limits)

The Grantsights church funder list is a list of the foundations that reported grants to churches and ministries on their own IRS Form 990-PF filings, by state. It covers the same 1,188 foundations and 2,937 grants described above, from tax year 2024.

What's in it:

• Every foundation in your state that reported a grant to a church or ministry, and every other state as well
• What each foundation gave, to which church or ministry, and for what
• How many different churches each foundation gave to, so you can tell a one-church funder from a foundation that gives widely (three or more churches)
• A link to each foundation's filings, so you can check Part XIV yourself

It's one payment of $29, with no subscription, and a 30-day refund if it doesn't help. You can see how many foundations gave to churches in your state, and two of their names, before you buy on our grants for churches guide.

What it doesn't do. We'd rather you know the limits before you pay:

• One tax year, one dataset. It covers foundations in our 990-PF dataset (3,972 private foundations) for tax year 2024 only. A foundation that gave to churches in 2023 but not 2024 won't appear.
• It undercounts. A grant only counts if the recipient name says church, parish, ministry, or congregation, or the purpose names a church. A gift to "St. Mark's" or "Grace Fellowship" with a vague purpose may be missed.
• It doesn't include community foundations, denominational funds, or corporate giving programs. Those don't file 990-PF.
• It isn't an invitation to apply. Many listed foundations gave to one church only, and some only give to preselected organizations. The list shows who has given; Part XIV, line 2 shows who's open.

Common Mistakes When Searching for Church Funders

These 4 mistakes waste the most time, and each one comes from treating a foundation name as an open grant program.

• Starting with the biggest national foundations. The largest national funders rarely run open programs for individual congregations. The median church grant in our analysis was $7,000, which looks like a local family foundation's gift, not a national program's.
• Mass-mailing every name on a list. A form letter to 200 foundations, most of which gave to one church or accept no unsolicited requests, rarely produces anything and can burn a relationship you'd want later.
• Ignoring the purpose line. If a foundation's church grants all say "food pantry," a request for a new sanctuary sound system is a weak fit.
• Forgetting the paper trail. A foundation needs to know it's paying a qualifying charity. Have your status documents and a simple one-page budget ready before you make the first call.

Sources Checked

All sources were read on October 15, 2026:

• Grantsights 990-PF grants table, tax year 2024: 3,972 private foundations, of which 1,188 reported church or ministry grants (matching rule in the data note above)
• IRS Instructions for Form 990-PF (2025): Part XIV supplementary information, line 2 preselected-organizations checkbox, line 3 grants paid, filing due date, Part IX minimum investment return
• IRS public disclosure and availability of exempt organization returns
• IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations: automatic exemption for churches and Form 990 filing exceptions
• IRS taxes on failure to distribute income, private foundations
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: coverage of Form 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF filers and full-text search of filings