Startup Church Fund

Startup Church Fund is sponsored by Stratum Foundation. This multi-tiered grant program provides financial support to new and emerging worshiping communities (church plants) in the Bay Area.

Stratum | San Francisco, CA | Cause IQ Stratum is a Bay Area organization that provides innovative solutions for gospel-grounded leaders and institutions. It offers catalytic funding through the Church Plant Startup Grant to strengthen and support new churches, fostering a healthy gospel ecosystem in the Bay Area.

Additionally, Stratum provides a one-year training program called City to City Incubator for pastors in the early years of establishing a new church, offering in-depth contextualized training and relational support to establish healthy churches. Stratum is located in San Francisco, CA.

Catalytic funding - the church plant startup grant seeks to strengthen and support new churches as part of catalyzing and fostering a healthy gospel ecosystem in the bay area. This initiative provides financial support to a portfolio of church plants that reflect the diversity of geography, ethnicity, and church-planting models in the bay area.

Our matching grants are designed to create a catalyzing opportunity for a church plant to receive significant financial investment. We seek to work in partnership with the existing donors, networks, and organizations to bring needed financial resources to a new church. Since 2019, over 5 million dollars has been donated to new churches through our matching grant program.

Coaching - Stratum coaching is for bay area pastors and church planters. We facilitate small cohorts of leaders that meet together monthly for spiritual formation, practical ministry help, and personal care. The curriculum is designed as a jumping-off point to work through the decisions, challenges, and concerns that leaders are presently facing as people, partners, parents, and planters/pastors.

Our coaching cohorts pair 3-6 pastors and church planters with experienced bay area christian leaders. Coaching cohorts meet once a month for a half-day at our office in the retreat-atmosphere of san francisco's presido. Incubator - the city to city incubator is our one-year training program for pastors who are in the early years of establishing a new church.

We provide in-depth, contextualized training, as well as relational support, to help participants establish healthy and effective new churches. Participants in the program learn alongside other leaders of new churches for one day each month, in a retreat-like environment. Incubator is delivered to church planters through local bay area trainers, pastors and leaders with a track record of faithful and fruitful ministry.

Since 2018, leaders of 22 new churches have participated in our incubator. Grantee Grant description Grant year Amount Hue Church Matching Grant Campaign 2025-06 $142,491 Citizens Church of San Francisco Matching Grant Campaign 2025-06 $87,470 Redeemer Lutheran Church / Lutheran Redeemer School Matching Grant Campaign 2025-06 $83,153 ...

and 24 more grants made totalling $1,381,854 Grants from foundations and other nonprofits Grantmaker Grantmaker tax period Description Amount DAFgiving360 2025-06 Religion Related $78,200 Redeemer City To City 2024-06 Church Planting Development / Leadership Development $50,000 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund 2025-06 For Grant Recipient's Exempt Purposes $36,000 ...

and 1 more grant received Name Title Compensation Date of data Nicholas Parsons Managing Director $45,000 2025-09-29 Revenues FYE 06/2025 FYE 06/2024 % Change Total grants, contributions, etc. $1,553,456 $1,727,498 -10. 1% Program services $0 $1,000 -100% Investment income and dividends $12,319 $21,368 -42.

3% Tax-exempt bond proceeds $0 $0 - Royalty revenue $0 $0 - Net rental income $0 $0 - Net gain from sale of non-inventory assets $24,127 $15,752 53.

2% Net income from fundraising events $0 $0 - Net income from gaming activities $0 $0 - Net income from sales of inventory $0 $0 - Miscellaneous revenues $0 $0 - Total revenues $1,589,902 $1,765,618 -10% Fiscal year ending Date received by IRS Form PDF link 2025-06 2025-09-29 990 View PDF 2024-06 2024-10-31 990 View PDF 2023-06 2023-12-13 990 View PDF 2022-12 2023-09-05 990 View PDF 2021-12 2022-11-15 990 View PDF ...

and 1 more Form 990 Organizations like Stratum Organization Type Location Revenue The North Carolina Foundation for Christian Ministries 501(c)(3) Mount Olive, NC $942,194 Horn of Africa Mission 501(c)(3) Mountain View, CA $2,339,166 Pastors Study 501(c)(3) Minneapolis, MN $806,024 Chosen People International 501(c)(3) Alpharetta, GA $827,711 Christ Palace International Ministries 501(c)(3) Katy, TX $1,621,837 City Takers 501(c)(3) Atlanta, GA $2,190,073 Jerusalem Farm 501(c)(3) Kansas City, MO $968,041 New Creatures In Christ Ministries 501(c)(3) Dale City, VA $611,320 Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Myrrhbearing 501(c)(3) Brooklyn, NY $490,226 Extraordinary Church Collective 501(c)(3) Mason, OH $989,122 Identified 1 new grant, including a grant for $16,000 from Lowell Berry Foundation Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 Identified 1 new grant, including a grant for $50,000 from Redeemer City To City Identified 2 new grant, including a grant for $15,000 from Lowell Berry Foundation Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 Grantmaking organizations Charities Legally formed as corporation Religious Christian Provides grants Partially liquidated State / local level Tax deductible donations Address PO Box 29603 San Francisco, CA 94129 Metro area San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA County San Francisco County, CA Phone (415) 209-5434 IRS details EIN 35-2692988 Fiscal year end June Taxreturn type Form 990 Year formed 2020 Eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions (Pub 78) Yes Categorization NTEE code, primary X20: Christian NAICS code, primary 813110: Religious Organizations Parent/child status Independent Foundation prospecting with Cause IQ and Claude When do new nonprofits really start receiving grants?

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