As our name states, the purpose of PHW is to partner with faith communities as they seek to live more healthy, whole, abundant lives. Through The PHW Collaborative, we are able to connect to faith communities across the state to fund and support their health initiatives.
The PHW Collaborative is open to any faith community that holds regular religious services in an established place of worship in the state of North Carolina. We welcome partnership with communities of all faith traditions.
The first step to joining The PHW Collaborative is to fill out our Collaborative Pledge Form (keep reading to access the form). By submitting this form, you are telling us that you are committed to continuing a journey of putting faith into action. We also use this to get to know you as a faith community so we can better walk beside you on your journey to health and wholeness.
Once your Collaborative Pledge is accepted, you will be eligible for a grant from PHW. We award grants to faith communities who have a specific project or program that needs funding. Learn more about our grant offerings here.
Join The PHW Collaborative
Here is a quick rundown of The PHW Collaborative Process from start to finish:
Our grant program is competitive and we are not able to approve every application. As a member of The PHW Collaborative, your congregation is entitled to specialized support from our team to fortify the work of your health ministry. Even if we cannot award grant funds to your congregation, we are committed to walking alongside you in the journey to health and wholeness.
Quick Links
Are you a returning member of The PHW Collaborative and already familiar with our process? If so, you can use our Quick Links to begin renewing your Collaborative membership. If you are new to the Collaborative, we highly recommend you continue reading the detailed instructions.
Detailed Instructions
Step 1: Collaborative Pledge Form
Collaborative Pledges are accepted on a rolling basis each year from January 15-November 30. Each faith community should appoint a health lead to serve as a direct liaison to PHW. The health lead should be the person in charge of filling out the pledge and grant forms and handling general communications with PHW.
The health lead will begin by filling out the Collaborative Pledge form. The purpose of the Collaborative Pledge is to ensure that your faith community and PHW are on the same page about being committed to health as a faith issue. We also use the information you provide us in the pledge to get to know what your health priorities are, and to be better equipped to walk alongside your faith community in your journey to health and wholeness.
Tips for filling out the Collaborative Pledge:
Consider the Collaborative Pledge as your opportunity to introduce yourself to us. We want to know what’s most important to your faith community with respect to our FOCUS AREAS. PHW currently has seven focus areas:
We want to know where your faith community plans to focus its energy or what areas you’re interested in learning more about. WE DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO BE ACTIVELY PURSUING WORK IN EVERY FOCUS AREA. Don’t feel like you have to impress us by doing something in every area. We are only interested in knowing what’s important to you.
Clergy Commitment Forms
We require all faith communities to submit a Clergy Commitment form along with their Collaborative Pledge. The Clergy Commitment must be filled out by a faith leader in your congregation. We ask for this so we know that your faith community as a whole is committed to the work of health and wholeness, and that your health initiatives are part of the greater mission of the church.
We recommend making sure that your Clergy Commitment form has been submitted BEFORE submitting your Collaborative Pledge. If we do not have your Clergy Commitment form on hand when we receive your Collaborative Pledge, your pledge approval will be delayed. You can find the Clergy Commitment form here.
Step 2: Wait for your Collaborative Pledge Acceptance
Once you’ve submitted your pledge, you will receive an automated email confirmation. This lets you know that your pledge was successfully received, but does not indicate if your pledge has been accepted.
Once we receive your pledge, we will process it and let you know whether or not its approved within three weeks. You’ll get an email from phwinfo@ncchurches.org indicating your acceptance, and, if a mini-grant cycle is open, a link to the mini-grant application. If we are not in an open grant cycle, we’ll reach back out when the cycle opens up (keep reading for info on our grant cycles).
The only reason we do not accept Collaborative Pledges is if we are unable to verify that your organization is a worshiping faith community in NC. We do this primarily through web presence (website, social media). If your faith community does not have a web presence, be prepared to offer proof that your community worships together in an established location in the state of North Carolina.
Step 3: Grant Application
Once you are accepted into The PHW Collaborative and we have an open grant cycle, you are eligible to apply for one of our grants.
You will receive a link to the grant application via email. If you cannot find the link, please email phwinfo@ncchurches.org. Remember, you must be active in The PHW Collaborative (meaning you submitted a Collaborative Pledge within the last 12 months) before you can apply for a mini-grant.
Tips for a Successful Application
1) Your grant request should be for specific project or program in your health ministry that is related to one or more of our focus areas.
BE SPECIFIC
“We will use the funds to create more opportunities to discuss mental health in our congregation.”
This is too vague. Instead:
“We will use the funds to hold a mental health symposium at our church on March 13, 2023. We will invite guest speakers, offer free counseling sessions, and serve healthy lunch to participants.”
This description references a specific event with planned components and an established timeline.
ALIGN YOUR PROJECT
“We want to start a food pantry for the needy.”
While we definitely uplift and recognize the legitimacy of this type of need in our communities, this project does not align directly with one of our focus areas. Instead:
“We want to start a food pantry that focuses on collecting fresh fruits and vegetables with fewer processed ingredients. We will also offer cooking demonstrations.”
By adding in the healthier food choices and cooking demonstrations, this project now aligns with our healthy eating focus area.
2) If applicable, we like to see that your project has a planned timeline. We recognize that some projects may be ongoing. Do your best to let us know how your project will progress over time.
3) We need to see how you will use the funds. Please provide an itemized budget for your project (estimates are OK). There are some expenses we do not fund, such as:
- Office Furniture: We do not fund
- Rent: We do not fund
- Utilities: We do not fund
- Salary: We do not fund
- Pamphlets: Needs-based – Many organizations offer low or no cost pamphlets
- Books: Needs-based – Please reach out to PHW about specific books
- DVDs: Needs-based – Please reach out to PHW about specific DVDs
- Door prizes & incentives i.e. T-shirts, awards: up to 33% of the total budget – If direct connection to health ministry is clear
- Copies: Needs-based – If direct connection to health ministry is clear
- Copier ink: up to 33% of the total budget
- Presenters: Needs-based – preference towards PHW staff, local specialists, or low-cost presenters
- Technology: Needs-based – If direct connection to health ministry is made clear
4) We want to know how you plan to measure the success of your project or program. What are your desired outcomes? How will you decide whether or not you achieved your desired outcomes? This data can be qualitative, quantitative, or both.
Surveys from your participants and attendance records are good ways to track your program’s success.
We are here to help you with your grant application and with the implementation of your project or program with your faith community.
Step 4: Wait for Your Grant Approval Notification & Accept the Grant Covenant
Like your Collaborative Pledge, you will receive an automated email when your grant is submitted. This does not mean your grant is approved. You will receive an email from phwinfo@ncchurches.org indicating the status of your grant application within four weeks from the date of submission. If your grant is approved, you will be asked to agree to the Grant Covenant (below).
Grant Covenant:
- Funds will only be used for the project submitted.
- Any major changes to the project submitted must be approved by staff.
- In the event that the submitted project cannot be completed, PHW will receive immediate notification and funds will be returned within 30 days.
- Complete and accurate records of how grant funds are spent will be kept and made available to PHW if requested.
- Funds may not be transferred to another faith community without prior approval from staff.
A link to confirm your acceptance will be included in your approval email (this is separate from your application and will only be available after your grant has been reviewed and approved). The Grant Covenant must be accepted before funds can be disbursed.
Once we have received your acceptance of our Grant Covenant, a check will be requested. You should receive your check at the mailing address you provided in this form within 4-6 weeks.
Sample grant applications:
Click here to view a sample denomination-specific grant application.
Click here to view a focus area-specific grant application.
Our grant program is competitive and we are not able to approve every application. As a member of The PHW Collaborative, your congregation is entitled to specialized support from our team to fortify the work of your health ministry. Even if we cannot award grant funds to your congregation, we are committed to walking alongside you in the journey to health and wholeness.
Steps 5 & 6:
All that’s left to do is wait to receive your check and to continue on your journey to health and wholeness.
Your PHW Staff is here for you every step of The PHW Collaborative process. Our partnership with you does not stop at sending you a check. We want to be involved with your health ministries to provide support and resources year-round!
You may direct any questions to phwinfo@ncchurches.org, or schedule a one-on-one virtual consult here.