Grants for faith-based organizations and churches
Can churches and faith-based organizations get grants?
Yes. Faith-based organizations compete for federal grants on the same basis as any other nonprofit, under the federal equal-treatment rules. The main condition is that direct federal funds pay for the program itself. Explicitly religious activities have to be separate in time or place and voluntary for participants. Private foundations, community foundations and denominational funders also support faith-based community work, from food pantries to housing to youth programs.
Last reviewed October 12, 2026.
Where the money sits
- Federal and state grants for community programs
- Housing, food security, addiction recovery, youth mentoring and reentry programs are funded across HUD, HHS, USDA and the Department of Justice. Faith-based applicants are eligible on equal footing. Funded services must be open to everyone the program serves, regardless of religion.
- Private foundations with a religious focus
- Some of the largest private foundations in the country fund religion and congregational life directly. Their 990-PF filings list every congregation and ministry they have supported.
- Community foundations
- Community foundations fund local programs run by congregations when the work serves the wider community. Their place-based focus means a local church-run program competes with far fewer applicants than in a national search.
- Denominational and interfaith funders
- Many denominations run their own grant funds for member congregations and community ministries. Interfaith coalitions often pool money for shared local work.
Find the funders who already back work like yours
Name a few ministries or congregations doing work like yours and Quillify shows the funders on file who back them, then which of those have not funded you yet. Quillify searches 4,400+ open grants alongside 129,000+ funders. Every federal, state and private opportunity sits in the same place.
When you find a fit, Quillify drafts the application from your own documents and checks it against the funder's requirements before you submit. Quillify for nonprofits.
Where to go from here
The landscape above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
Related fields
- Grants for housing and homelessness workWhat funding is available for housing and homelessness programs?
- Grants for youth and after-school programsWho funds youth programs and after-school programming?
All fields, or the guides.
See who would actually fund your work.
Browsing and keyword search are free, and there is no card required.