Resources for Stewardship and raising funds

We find that congregations that have stewardship on their agenda every year benefit substantially. It helps their members to understand their role in the wider ministry and health of the church.

Your stewardship consultants are your key contacts for any questions relating to a stewardship programme. They provide excellent support as your congregation works through the various planning stages of any Church of Scotland stewardship programme.

If you are working with a consultant or just wish to feature stewardship as part of your congregation's annual focus on stewardship, we can help you. We have a number of useful resources available to download from this page to assist you with stewardship. These include gift aid, worship, planning guides, and posters.

For Treasurers, you can find more information on finance resources.

Resources for Stewardship

To download your resources, click on the resource that you require and you can download it:

Claiming Gift Aid

Community Buildings Schedule
Encourage higher rate taxpayers to maximise their Gift Aid
Gift Aid checklist
Gift Aid declaration Gift Aid Declarations are available to order. Please email us your request. providing your name, church and address details and the number of leaflets required. Let us also know when you need them by.
Gift Aid donation record
Gift Aid Schedule
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme
Information on how churches and congregations can claim a Gift Aid style top-up on small cash donations.
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme - Case studies
Gift Aid summary

Resources for raising funds

A congregation that is focusing on stewardship regularly is more likely to be financially healthy too. Because they are able to plan ahead, they are less likely to get caught out by sudden costs such as repairs. We encourage congregations to focus on stewardship each year.

However, there are times when certain projects require additional financial resources. Often, this applies in the case of building projects or other large community-facing projects that cannot be covered by the funds that you currently have in your bank. Congregations can apply for grants from the General Trustees. To make repairs, congregations may be able to access funds from their consolidated fabric fund (held on their behalf by the General Trustees) for the intended work before they consider using funds from their own account. Read more about how the General Trustees can support you. If you still require funding, we can help you to find external funders that might fund your project. Read more below.

Grants from External Funders

To help you find funding for your large project, the Stewardship team uses GRANTfinder to plough through the 1,000s of possible grants or trusts and identify the ones that could potentially support your project.

Key steps:

We ask you to complete a simple pre-search form
We then run a search and provide you with a list of potential funders including their contact details where you can obtain application forms, closing dates, and useful information to include in your application
Your congregation can then apply and await their decision.

Find basic information on how to apply for a grant here.