Over the years we’ve done quite a lot of fundraising for churches and other faith-inspired charities, including a number of charities supporting Jewish communities in the UK.

While many of the same principles apply, there are some important differences to fundraising for secular causes, including the need to choose potential grant funders carefully.

Just as with Christian churches, there are many grant making trusts and foundations out there who specifically want to fund Jewish causes. In fact there are over 500 grant making trusts that have Jewish causes amongst their priorities. One of our associates has recently launched a great website called Jewish Grants, which provides a simple, easy to use (and affordable) search tool that should help you find appropriate funders for your Jewish charity.

Equally there are many “secular” funders who are eager to fund good projects that fit their criteria regardless of whether or not those projects will be run by a faith-based charity. However, many secular funders can be nervous or even hostile about funding faith-based organisations, even when the project proposed is “religious”.

When pitching a project to be run by a faith-based charity to a secular funder it is important to use the right approaches to avoid misunderstandings, including:

• Being honest about whether you fit the funder’s grant-making criteria, looking at what they have previously funded can help you interpret these. If you are not sure, give them a call.

• Being clear about what charitable outcomes will be achieved and articulating them clearly (and early) in your bid.

• Avoid using religious language and jargon (any jargon really).

• Being careful to present a budget for your project that is just for the project and does not import budgets associated with “religious” activity.

If you would like to discuss whether and how to tailor your fundraising practice in a faith-based context we'd be delighted to hear from you. Simply contact us at julian@almondtreeconsulting.co.uk to arrange free initial telephone discussion.