Grant Criteria
The criteria were defined and approved in 2018, and are listed below. The Outreach Commission upholds its long-standing relationships with outreach partners in the community that support “the net of services” that assist low-income and homeless people and families, including: chaplaincy and support for newborns, job placement, substance abuse programs, support for foster care and at-risk youth, after-school academic programs, prison chaplaincy, homeless youth programs, food assistance and comprehensive homeless and housing support with organizations like The People Concern, St. Joseph Center and the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness. We understand that the social service agencies work together like the Body of Christ at work in the world, to care for vulnerable people at the margins of our society.
Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries reminds us: “Stand at the margins. That’s the only way the margins will get erased. Stand with the demonized and the disposable. If you go to the margins, we all find our rescue.”
St. Matthew’s Parish Grants Partner Criterion 2018
501c3 Status
Must be current and in good standing.
Accountability and Financial Transparency
As an important part of the grant requests we ask for budgets showing how grant money will be used, and verified accounting for how money has been spent in the past. All of our partners have volunteers within the Parish who can vouch for the way funds are being used. We look for organizations that are “lean” in how they use the grant funds, with more money spent in program expenses and relatively little on administration.
Parish Involvement and Long-Term Relationship
Parish interest in the partner’s mission is deep, wide and long-lived. The longer the involvement the better, the greater the resonance with the parish the better. Local organizations are preferable to distant ones because more people will have an opportunity to get involved. In adding a new partner, we look for a relationship that we are confident will receive Parish support decades or more into the future.
Excellence
The quality of work of our partners is equal to or superior to other service providers in the same field. Staff members are well trained and hold themselves to high standards.
Episcopal Affiliation
If the partner is endorsed by the Diocese or by another Episcopal organization such as Episcopal Relief and Development, this is a plus. Most of our partners have some version of an Episcopal endorsement or affiliation. The absence of an affiliation is not reason to exclude a partner that meets all other criterion.
Mission
The partner’s work supports the Parish mission, and helps us live into the Gospel. It is of tangible and measurable benefit to its clients, and the form and amount of the benefit is part of the grant application each year.
Significance of our Grant Funds to the Partner
Our grants are a meaningful component of our partner’s budget. We play a leadership role in encouraging other faith-based organizations to participate, and our partners leverage the relationship to gain additional support. Often we have a long history together that sustains the organization in a non-financial way and helps the partner grow their organization. However, our grants do not provide the sole or near-majority support for any partner.
Partner’s Program is Outreach Services
All of our partners’ focus is on outreach. Worthy organizations that also address social justice issues, environmental causes, mission service for adults or youth, or evangelism, deserve thoughtful consideration for support through ministries of the Parish like Adult or Youth formation, but do not meet the criteria for Outreach Grants.
Viability
Our partners are all established service providers run by professionals. Partners have plans for continuation and growth, and are well rooted. Our grant relationships are not start-ups or short-term commitments but are intended to give partners a dependable source of support, helping them stay viable for decades.
Where does the money come from?
- 6% of the Annual Budget is allocated to the Grant Fund.
- An average of $40,000 from the Thrift Shop to support four specific partners: OPCC, St. Joseph Center, SPY and Westside Food Bank (In 2017, $50,000 was given from the Thrift Shop)
- 100% of the proceeds from Sunday Services’ Offering Plate
- 100% of the net Christmas Faire revenue
- Special gifts designated to Outreach
- In 2017, this broke down as follows:
| Percentage of Operating Budget (5.5%) | $106,590 |
| Thrift Shop | $50,000 |
| Christmas Faire | $123,000 |
| Outreach Open Plate | $35,000 |
| Outreach Comm. Operating Fund | $6,369 |
| TOTAL | $320,959 |
| Unrestricted Reserve Fund $25,524.00 | |
Has the Parish always given that much money in grants?
The grant allocations have varied over the years:
| 2003 | $203,500 | 2008 | $310,000 | 2013 | $246,500 | ||
| 2004 | $210,000 | 2009 | $332,350 | 2014 | $250,511 | ||
| 2005 | $206,122 | 2010 | $291,000 | 2015 | $277,930 | ||
| 2006 | $356,500 | 2011 | $292,400 | 2016 | $294,000 | ||
| 2007 | $351,350 | 2012 | $283,400 | 2017 | $319,000 |
How does the Thrift Shop allocate their grants?
The St. Matthew’s Thrift Shop on Main Street in Venice is operated almost entirely by volunteers, and has a Board of Directors. They usually net between $80,000 - $120,000 and all the profit is dispensed in grants that are decided by their Board. The Thrift Shop grant recipients are different than the Parish grant recipients; however the Thrift Shop gives approximately $40,000 per year to the Parish Grant Fund in order to support four of the Parish’s grantees. Those four organizations are: St. Joseph Center, Safe Place for Youth (SPY), The People Concern (formerly OPCC) and Westside Food Bank.