Community foundations are nonprofit organizations that support donors and help make the local areas better. They provide support to the people who donate to a local cause and give advice on charitable giving. The Christian Community Foundation applies this model through a uniquely Christian lens.

Background And Mission

Christian Community Foundation was founded in 1987 by a group of businessmen and pastors from central Indiana. They recognized the need for philanthropic organizations that would be aligned with biblical values and sought to further the gospel. Their mission was simple: strategically and faithfully mobilizing resources to meet community needs, expand the kingdom of God, and glorify Jesus Christ. Everything they do is grounded in core biblical values of faith, hope, and love.

Key Aspects

Some key aspects of their mission supported theological education, sponsoring local church planting and evangelism efforts, and providing international missions and relief work. People of this Foundation also see part of their purpose as simply being good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to Christian donors. Through wise management and strategic granting, more dollars can be put to use for ministry each year.

By partnering ministry needs with those called to give, the CCF aims to further gospel impact both locally and globally. They work to ensure donated resources are used to share Jesus’s love through both word and deed.

Services Provided

The CCF offers a variety of giving and charitable planning services to help Christians achieve their philanthropic goals:

• Donor Advised Funds allow donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax benefit, and then recommend grants over time to the qualified nonprofit organizations of their choice.
• Designated Funds allow donors to direct ongoing gifts to a specific qualified nonprofit, either anonymously or as a named fund.
• Scholarship Funds can be set up to provide financial assistance for Christian education.
• Organizational Endowments allow churches and ministries to set up long-term funding sources.
• Legacy Giving services like wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations help donors make an eternal impact through planned gifts. Experts can ensure wishes align with changing tax laws.
• Gifts of stock or closely held business interests provide additional tax advantages.
• Mission Grants are made annually to Christian nonprofits around the world and in local communities based on strategic funding priorities.

Partnerships With Christian Community Foundation

For over thirty-five years, the Christian Community Foundation has been strategically granting funds to Christian ministries and causes that proclaim and demonstrate the gospel. Through faithful donors, wise stewardship, and strategic partnerships, their collective impact has been reaching further around the world.

Distribution Of Grants

In 2021 alone, the Foundation distributed over $7 million in grants. This funding supported a diverse network of over 150 large and small ministry partners. Grants were allocated across several key areas: church planting, theological education, global missions, compassion outreach, and programs for youth and children.

Church planting continues to be a priority, with grants helping start over 175 congregations across five different countries since 1987. New churches are sprouting up in places like metro Atlanta, rural Indiana, and various cities in Europe and Africa. The Foundation recognizes that sustainable church growth is critical to spreading the message of Christ.

Theological Education And Humanitarian Relief

Theological education receives, on average, $1 million annually through the Foundation. Supported seminars include prominent institutions like Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as well as smaller Bible colleges. This funding helps train the next generation of pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders.

Global mission outreach stretches the impact of donor dollars across the earth. In 2021 alone, $2.3 million in grants was distributed to over 30 international mission agencies. This aided evangelistic efforts, humanitarian relief, and community development projects on every inhabited continent.

Local Communities

In addition to spreading the gospel abroad, the Foundation also strengthens the local communities of central Indiana through compassion grants. Last year, over $800,000 supported initiatives like inner-city youth programs, foster care, crisis pregnancy centers, and rehabilitation services for those struggling with addiction or homelessness. A social service nonprofit expressed that their partnership with CCF amplifies both the dollars and the cause of ministering to the ‘least of these’ in Jesus’ name.

Natural Disasters

When natural disasters strike globally, the Foundation provides relief assistance as well. Over $500,000 in special grants after the Haiti earthquake and Indonesian tsunami helped address immediate needs like food, water, and medical aid and later supported long-term community rebuilding. This aided countless ministry partners in rapidly expanding aid efforts and bringing hope in times of crisis.

Impact Of Christian Community Foundation

Beyond grants, the Foundation enhances impact through diverse partnerships.

• Ministry networks are bolstered as like-minded Christian organizations uplift one another.
• Planned giving development helps ensure resources can aid the Kingdom’s work for generations.
• The Foundation convenes leaders for thoughtful discussions on strategic topics and how to expand collaborative efforts.

After thirty-five years of faithful service, the collective impact of the Christian Community Foundation stretches around the world and throughout communities. Through God’s provision and multiplication of donor generosity, the gospel has sustained advance on every continent. The journey has only begun, and the Foundation’s aim is to see that progress continues to strengthen and multiply for many years to come.

Why Partner With CCF?

There are several compelling reasons why Christian donors and ministries may want to partner with the CCF in furthering their philanthropic goals. The most obvious is that partnering with the Christian Community Foundation allows both donors and ministries to leverage that expertise for greater kingdom gain.

Donors

Establishing a fund is a strategic way to make a lasting impact. Professionally managed funds ensure wishes are carried out according to changing needs and tax laws. Donors also receive ongoing stewardship support through grant recommendations tailored to their charitable interests.

Additionally, the Foundation handles all legal and administrative details, freeing donors to simply recommend grants and participate from a distance to the degree they choose. Working with a public charity also provides maximum tax advantages under federal law.

Ministries

Partnering with CCF opens the door to a broad network of like-minded Christian organizations and donors. This expands potential avenues of funding as well as opportunities for collaboration. Through advisory councils, ministries also have a voice in shaping strategic funding priorities.

The Foundation offers funding expertise, oversight, and accountability to ensure grants achieve maximum eternal impact. Their vetting process provides confidence that ministries properly steward resources to further gospel causes. CCF involvement may even help some ministries attract new donors and broaden their supporter base.

Conclusion

The Christian Community Foundation has served for over 35 years as a faithful steward of resources and a strategic partner for ministry. Through their efforts, lives are being transformed by the gospel locally and globally. As God’s kingdom keeps expanding, more people in desperate need experience love, hope, and new purpose through Christ. The Foundation invites all Christians seeking to multiply their eternal impact to join in sowing these harvests of souls. Partnerships with CCF ensure gifts are strategically mobilized to glorify God in all nations through word and deed for future generations.