Discovery Phase · Pastors shaping what we build

You already love your neighborhood. Help us test how to fund it.

Three draft “Funding & Growth Pathways” for small and mid‑sized churches.

Not a signup page—a draft on the table. Your feedback decides what stays and what goes.

Which of these three would even be worth a 10‑minute conversation at your church?

Co‑Design in Progress · Not a Finished Product

Three Ways This Could Work in Your World

Donor pays. We get funded together. You invest in capacity. Scan the row below, then pick the pathway that feels closest to real life for your church.

Pathway

Who pays now?

Admin load / Control

A · Scholarship

Outside donor covers the Playbook + system.

Lowest admin for you · shared control.

B · Get Funded Together

Small community investment we apply for together.

Low admin · shared control and planning.

C · Capacity Builder

Church invests up front as infrastructure.

Highest control · moderate admin (inside your system).

Pathway A · Funder‑Funded

“Scholarship” Model

Quick read: Donor pays, you test the system with $0 from your budget.

• We go first to regional foundations / community investors.
• They underwrite the Playbook + system as a Community Capacity Investment.
• You get workflows, tracking, and simple reports with almost no extra admin lift.

Best if this sounds like you

“We have a strong vision and $0 new budget—and no extra staff for forms and reports.”

If A is closest (or clearly wrong), tick that box in Question 2 and tell me why.

Most interest so far

Pathway B · Co‑Application

“Get Funded Together” Model

Quick read: We apply together so small community investments cover both project and system.

• You pick a Playbook (Food, Housing, Education, etc.).
• We hit the “Get Funded” button together.
• I carry the technical / system language; you carry the vision and local relationships.

Best if this sounds like you

“We’re ready to work now, but we need help turning our vision into a fundable, low‑burden plan.”

If B feels closest to an answer to prayer, mark Pathway B in Question 2.

Pathway C · Church‑Led

“Capacity Builder” Model

Quick read: Church invests up front to own the system and signal seriousness to partners.

• You treat the Playbook as ministry infrastructure (like a sound system or building upgrade).
• You use it to recruit volunteers, track impact, and tell your story with data.
• You become “investment ready” for larger local donors and civic partners.

Best if this sounds like you

“We want to lead in our ZIP code and build internal strength instead of waiting on someone else to organize us.”

If C is your lane, choose Pathway C in the form so we know to keep building this track.

Not Just a PDF · A Simple Funding Path

What I Actually Mean by “Get Funded”

“Get funded” usually sounds like more forms, more reporting, more meetings. Here, the goal is much simpler: give you a system that funders trust, without handing you a second job.

What this has looked like in other places

Small church · Food hub

Used a simple playbook + data snapshot to secure a local “community investment” that covered a pantry coordinator and basic tracking for year one.

Historic congregation · Youth program

Framed an after‑school model as “capacity building.” A neighborhood foundation funded both the program and the system that kept parents, volunteers, and partners aligned.

Multi‑church collaboration · Housing support

Three churches shared one Playbook and co‑applied with a city partner, using shared metrics to report back without each church rebuilding the admin from scratch.

We Don’t Just Hand You a Plan and Wish You Luck.

Most small churches have the heart and the relationships. What usually stalls things is the part funders care about most: “Show me your system and how you’ll track what happens.” This is the gap the “Get Funded” button is trying to close with you.

1 · The Reality

“Grant” usually means long forms and confusing language. Here, the aim is one simple, church‑friendly way to explain your project and your system.

2 · The Playbook Advantage

The Playbook doubles as your community investment proposal. The need, goals, and evaluation plan are baked into the system—so you’re not staring at a blank screen trying to invent it.

3 · The Co‑Application

We move together: I carry the technical and reporting language; you carry the vision, people, and impact. The aim is to shrink the “paperwork wall,” not add another one.

In your world, it would look like:

1. Pick one lane: Food, Housing, Education, or whatever is actually pressing in your ZIP code.
2. Drop in your context: we pull neighborhood‑level data and plug your church’s story into a clear, one‑page case.
3. Approach a funder together: we co‑pursue community investment or micro‑capacity funding so the project and the system behind it are both covered.

Any outside funding flows to the project in your neighborhood. The Playbook shows up as a small “technical assistance” line item—often a relief to funders, because it signals the work is organized, trackable, and more likely to last.

3 Questions · About Your Real World

If We Were Sitting in Your Office for 10 Minutes…

…these are the three things I’d ask before I pretended any of this was helpful. Your answers here are the closest thing we have to that conversation.

Click a few boxes, write a couple of sentences. No right answers. No pressure.

Honest beats polite every time.

You’re not signing up for a program—you’re helping us not ship something that makes pastors’ lives harder. If you ever want to change your answers or push back on an idea, this feedback door stays open.

What Everyone Around the Table Is Really Hoping For

If This Works, It Has to Work for All Three

When a church project gets off the ground, there are a few unspoken prayers in the room. I’m trying to design this around those—not just around software features.

The Pastor

“Please don’t give me more work.”

“I want to love my neighborhood without becoming a full‑time grant writer or data analyst.”

If this doesn’t lower your admin load—intake, tracking, basic reports—it’s a miss, no matter how pretty the charts are.

The Funder

“Will this be easy to trust and renew?”

“I’m not just funding a pantry or event; I want to know there’s a real system and clean reporting behind it.”

Simple dashboards and consistent data make it easier for them to say “yes” again next year and tell their own impact story upstream.

The Community

“Are you still here next year?”

“We’ve seen a lot of flyers and one‑off events. We’re looking for something we can actually count on.”

Clear workflows and follow‑through help your church show up as a steady presence, not just a burst of energy that disappears after year one.

Any outside funding flows to the project in your neighborhood. The Playbook shows up as a small “technical assistance” line item—often a relief for funders, because it signals the work is organized, trackable, and more likely to last.