Black and Indian Mission Office Grant Application

Grant Information

Please note: Application period will close on February 28, 2021

General Information

The Black and Indian Mission grant program assists with the funding of evangelization projects and programs serving the African American and Native American communities in our Archdiocese.  The purpose is to help support evangelization projects and programs that could not be offered without such outside help.

This grant program is funded from free-will offerings from the faithful, not only from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, but also from dioceses throughout the United States by their participation in the annual Black and Indian Mission Collection.  In our diocese this is part of the spring Combined Collections Program.  Decisions about the amount of funding to be allocated to the individual dioceses are made by a national board.

This grant program exists to fund archdiocesan mission activities such as pastoral programs, pastoral services, lay ministry training programs, and evangelization and formation programs within the Black and Indian communities.

Please note that while past success can be a positive factor, the Black and Indian Mission Office looks for creativity and a fresh approach in the evangelization initiatives that are proposed.   Programs that are repeated several years without updating or showing evidence of growth and other measures of success may not be deemed as the best use of this funding. 

Grant Guidelines
 

1. The Black and Indian Mission Office will only accept applications for funds that are approved by the Ordinary (Arch) Bishop of the (Arch) Diocese.

 Funding Interests:

• African American and Native American evangelization and ministry programs
• Stipends and salaries for priests, religious and lay persons running evangelization and other ministry programs
• Parish and Catholic Schools Religious Education Programs
• Faith formation programs for children and adults
• Rural parish subsidies

Please note that the above listing is not exhaustive and is meant to provide some guidance to those who complete the Grant Request Application.

2. Not Funded:

• Building projects (should be requested from the Diocese or from the Catholic Extension Society)
• Social service projects (should be requested from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development)
• Communications projects (should be requested from the Communications Collection)
• Ministry programs for African immigrants and refugees
• Travel expenses or any other expenses related to attending conferences or any other outside events
• Religious retirement expenses (should be requested from Retirement for Religious Collections)
• Diocesan Debt - Grant monies are not to be used to retire Diocesan Debt

3. Preference will be given to proposals that include multiple ministers, a proportionally high number of people served, and collaboration between parishes/clusters, and/or schools.

Terms of Funding

Funds are available only for those programs or projects meeting eligibility criteria and completing the necessary grant application.  Projects or programs will only be funded on an annual basis.  Written reports on the funded activities will be required along with a financial accounting at the end of the grant year that includes back-up documentation showing the distribution of the funds from this grant.  Back-up documentation includes copies of checks issued, invoices paid, the section of the parish’s chart of accounts that records income and expenses from this restricted account, etc.

Allocation of Grants

Notification of grant awards from the 2021 collection will be made early in 2022 and funds distributed in two equal payments within the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year (February 2022 and April 2022).

Grant Application Submission Instructions

1. This form should be filled out and submitted only electronically to Fessahaye Mebrahtu at the Black Catholic and Ethnic Ministries Office, mebrahtuf@archmil.org by February 28th, 2021.

2. Each parish/school may apply once a year. This is a single year grant. Grant applications need to be submitted for each grant year.

3. If an application is not submitted by February 28th, 2020 it will be assumed that aid is not needed.

4. Incomplete submission of all required information will cause a delay in the review of your grant application and possibly result in a grant not being awarded.

6. After review of the Grant Application - Part I - Grant Information and Guidelines, please proceed to complete the Grant Application - Part II by submitting individual program requests on the Part II PARISH/MINISTRY REQUEST FORM and/or the Part II SCHOOL REQUEST FORM. Please be sure to submit one PARISH/MINISTRY REQUEST FORM or one SCHOOL REQUEST FORM for each individual grant that you are requesting.

7. Naming of electronic grant application file

Please follow this format in naming your electronic grant file(s):

Fiscal Year in which funds will be used

Parish/School Name

Name of Program/Project

Example:  2020-2021 SaintXavierCongregation-RCIAProgram

Forms to be Completed

1. Part I - Grant Application Form

2. Part II -Parish / Ministry Form

3. Part II - School Form