Domestic Hunger Grants: Now accepting letters of inquiry

Hurry! Letters of Inquiry are due May 31, 2023!

In 2023, ELCA World Hunger is partnering in new and continuing ways through domestic granting, thanks to the generosity of this church. Through this year’s partnerships, ELCA World Hunger is investing in long-term sustainable transformation in communities most vulnerable to systemic injustices that lead to hunger and poverty.

  • In 2023, 53 new Domestic Hunger Grants are awarded for a total of 149 grants across 57 synods, representing over $1.1 million in investment in partner ministries. The full list of award recipients will be posted online soon and can be viewed at elca.org/domestichungergrants.

  • We continue our commitments to twelve ministries that were awarded Big Dream grants last year. It takes a while to build big dreams and the sustainable funding needed to expand and grow organizations and capacity to serve. We will continue to accompany our grant partners and support their projects promoting access to affordable housing, racial equity, intersections of agriculture with faith, and more. We cannot wait to share with you all that was and is being built by the ministries.

  • ELCA World Hunger and the ELCA’s Ministries of Diverse Cultures and Communities is in its final year of granting support for communities affected by COVID-19. Over the past two years, the grants supported activities for communities around the country that are disproportionally facing food insecurity and access to care. While this is the final year of the grant, we continue to find ways to continue to support ministries providing important services to the most vulnerable.

For the past year, the ELCA World Hunger team has been evaluating the granting process of our domestic grants. We recognize that while the granting programs are critical to the valuable ministries of ELCA synods and congregations, we believe that we can do better in ensuring that our granting process is equitable and efficient. We listened to the feedback from grant applicants, and we inquired and learned about other grant processes from organizations with similar granting programs.

While the Domestic Hunger Grant Application is largely unchanged, we are implementing a new step in the process: submitting a letter of inquiry (LOI). We give thanks to the ELCA Deaconess Community for sharing their learning and for all of our grant partners who submit feedback each year. We hope that you welcome this change as it will mean applicants will know of grant decisions sooner. There will be less time required, we will handle ELCA Grantmaker access barriers early on in the process, and the LOI will yield many more benefits and efficiencies. Our goal with this change is to be more equitable in our grant process and partnerships. The letter of inquiry will be available via Google forms or in a Microsoft Word document upon request.

Prior to submitting a full grant proposal, grant applicants are asked to fill out a letter of inquiry (LOI) which briefly describes the project proposal. Registering on our granting portal, ELCA GrantMaker, is not required at this step. Link to virtual form.

Our DHG application Zoom webinar on May 3 at 2:00 p.m. CST will offer more information about the process. We will go over the new grant application process, how to submit an LOI, and answer questions from grant applicants. To join us for this virtual event, please register here. Participants will be provided with a link once registered. The webinar will be recorded and accessible via the Domestic Hunger Grant FAQ page.

The Domestic Hunger Grant application for 2024 awards opens May 1st, and we look forward to your collaboration in promoting the opportunity to ministries! Please refer to the new application cycle below and spread the word. Synod hunger and review teams are encouraged to reach out to ministries they would like to apply, and to work with them on submitting their letter of inquiry. If you have previously served as the review lead for your synod and you already know that you will/will not be the review lead for your synod again this year, please let us know at hunger@elca.org.

Application Timeline

  • Informational webinar for prospective applicants: May 3, 2 p.m. Central time

  • Letter of inquiry form open: May 1 – May 31, 2023

  • Letter of inquiry review: June – July

  • Response to the letter of inquiry (decline or accept): on or before July 31

  • Invited applicants to complete grant application in ELCA GrantMaker: August 1-31

  • Review and correspond between ELCA World Hunger staff and grant applicants on proposal: August – November

  • Awards notifications shared to applicants: November

  • Grant agreements signed and publicly announced: February 2024

  • 2024 Domestic Hunger new grants start date: March 1

The world faces complex challenges, but we know that God stirs up wellsprings of hope that inspire generosity and tireless efforts for peace, justice and a future filled with good things. Thank you for being a sign of hope through your support of and partnership with ELCA World Hunger. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us at hunger@ELCA.org.

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