Lilly Endowment Grants: Open Initiatives, Church Eligibility and How to Apply

Lilly Endowment grants go mostly to Indiana, but the Endowment's religion grantmaking is national, and three national initiatives are taking concept papers due in January 2027. A single congregation cannot apply to those initiatives on its own behalf. It can seek up to $60,000 for its pastor's renewal leave, or send the Endowment a two-page preliminary letter if its project fits the published guidelines.

Quick Answer: Who Can Get a Lilly Endowment Grant?

Lilly Endowment funds charitable organizations, not individuals. Its community development and education grants stay mostly in Indiana, while its religion grants are national. Three national initiatives take concept papers in January 2027 from colleges with chaplaincies and from groups serving many congregations or campus ministries, and congregations can seek up to $60,000 for a pastor's renewal leave.

Which Lilly Endowment Grants Are Open Now?

Four programs connected to Lilly Endowment take applications this winter: three national initiatives with concept papers due in January 2027, and the Clergy Renewal Programs, which take proposals from congregations until March 17, 2027. The Endowment lists the three initiatives on its Open Initiatives page (Lilly Endowment, read November 2026).

Source: Lilly Endowment's Chaplaincy Initiative, Serving Neighbors and Campus Ministry Initiative pages, and Christian Theological Seminary's Clergy Renewal Programs page, all read November 2026.

Serving Neighbors, Due January 19, 2027

Serving Neighbors is the initiative that names congregations in its aims, and it works through intermediaries. The Endowment expects to award grants of up to $5 million each to help Christian congregations work with local charities on needs in their neighborhoods, with hunger relief, after-school programs, violence reduction and homelessness among the examples in the Request for Concept Papers (read November 2026). Eligible applicants are 501(c)(3) public charities that know how to work with groups of congregations, such as denominational agencies, faith-based service organizations, church networks, theological schools and church-related colleges. The Request states the limit directly: "Individual congregations and local charitable organizations seeking resources for their own programs and services are not eligible to apply for grants through this initiative."

Concept papers go in as one PDF through the form on the initiative page by January 19, 2027. Selected organizations receive planning grants of up to $50,000, expected in March 2027, and may then propose implementation grants that run for up to four years. The information sessions are full, and the Endowment says it does not release recordings; an FAQ built from the sessions is due on the initiative page in late November.

Campus Ministry Initiative, Due January 25, 2027

The Campus Ministry Initiative will award up to $150 million in grants of up to $7.5 million each to about 20 national and regional organizations that support Christian campus ministries at or near several colleges. Denominational agencies, campus ministry parachurch organizations, collegiate ministry associations and church networks are the expected applicants. "Individual local campus ministries, congregations that support students on a single campus, or Christian study centers based at a single university are not eligible to apply" (Request for Concept Papers, read November 2026). Concept papers are due January 25, 2027, about 20 organizations will receive planning grants of up to $50,000, and implementation grants can run for up to five years.

Chaplaincy Initiative, Due January 11, 2027

The Chaplaincy Initiative is for accredited four-year colleges and universities that are tax-exempt public charities and have a chaplaincy or an office of religious life. It plans about 60 grants of up to $2.5 million each, up to $150 million in all, with no minimum grant size (Request for Concept Papers, read November 2026). The Endowment's October 2026 announcement says the initiative is designed to assist private colleges and universities. Concept papers are due January 11, 2027, and up to 120 schools will be invited to the second stage in March 2027.

Thriving Congregations Sustainability and Scaling Grants

One more program is invitation only. Sustainability and scaling grants for organizations already in the Thriving Congregations Initiative are due July 1, 2027, and the Endowment says it is only accepting them from invited organizations funded in earlier rounds (Thriving Congregations Sustainability and Scaling Grants, read November 2026).

Can a Church Get a Lilly Endowment Grant?

Yes, in two ways: through the Clergy Renewal Programs, which take proposals from congregations directly, or as a participant in a program run by an organization the Endowment funds. A church outside Indianapolis is unlikely to get a direct grant for its building, operations or local programs.

Christian Theological Seminary runs the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs (read November 2026) with a grant from the Endowment (Lilly Endowment, Renewal Programs, read November 2026). The programs help Christian congregations in the 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico fund renewal leaves for their pastors, with awards of up to $60,000 each. The congregation and the pastor apply together. The pastor must be a pastoral leader in congregational ministry, whether part time, full time or bivocational, and must hold ordination when the proposal goes in; the seminary sets further rules for pastors without a Master of Divinity. There is an Indiana program and a National program, with one shared form.

The dates for the current round, called the 2027 program year, are set. The online portal opens January 4, 2027, proposals are due March 17, 2027, and decisions come on the last business day of August. Proposals are submitted the year before the leave. The money pays for the renewal leave and nothing else: the seminary tells congregations looking for help with building repairs or renovations to "seek out other sources for these types of financial needs."

The second way runs through intermediaries. Several of the Endowment's religion initiatives fund denominational bodies, seminaries and networks that then work with many congregations; the Thriving Congregations grants, for example, pay for programs that reach groups of congregations. On its 2025 return, a $100,000 grant to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church body in Charlotte, North Carolina, carries the purpose line "Supporting Hoosier Churches Init", and 53 grant lines name the Thriving Congregations Initiative (GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax year 2025). If your denomination's regional office, a church network or a seminary you work with applies to Serving Neighbors, ask how congregations will take part. For most local churches, that is the realistic door into a Lilly initiative.

A campus ministry decides the same way. A ministry that serves one campus cannot apply to the Campus Ministry Initiative, but the national or regional body it belongs to can, and the Endowment's announcement says those organizations may use part of a grant "to create or increase a pool of funds to provide greater financial support to local Christian campus ministries." A chaplain's office applies through its college to the Chaplaincy Initiative.

For direct requests, the Grantmaking Guidelines (Lilly Endowment, read November 2026) set the boundary: "Requests from organizations outside of Indianapolis that involve building campaigns, elementary/secondary education, arts and culture, human services, general operations or neighborhood development usually are declined, except as part of special initiatives." A church that needs money for a roof or a food pantry will do better with local and denominational funders. GrantCue's faith-based organizations grant page lists open grants for that kind of work, and the sample grant proposal for a faith-based organization shows how to present church-run community programs to a funder.

How Do You Apply for a Lilly Endowment Grant?

Outside the initiatives and the renewal programs, you apply with a preliminary letter of no more than two pages, sent by regular or overnight mail. The Endowment has no general online application, and it does not accept unsolicited requests through the Contact Us form on its website (Lilly Endowment, Grantmaking Guidelines, read November 2026).

A direct request moves through five stages, as the guidelines describe them:

1. Check the fit. Religion grants are national; community development and education grants focus on Indianapolis and Indiana, and most national work outside religion is by invitation.
2. Write the letter. In two pages, describe your organization, the project, the issue or need it addresses, and the amount you are asking for.
3. Mail it to Program Office, Lilly Endowment Inc., 2801 N. Meridian St., P.O. Box 88068, Indianapolis, IN 46208-0068.
4. Wait for a written reply. The Endowment answers every preliminary inquiry in writing and asks for a full proposal only when a request warrants it.
5. Plan for three to six months. A proposal goes from a program director to a division, then to the officers and the Board of Directors, which considers grants in March, June, September, November and December.

The Endowment warns that it "can only fund a small percentage of the grant proposals we receive each year." A short letter that names the need and the amount is the whole first step, and the letter of intent example and template shows how to fit that into two pages.

The initiatives work differently. Each has a Request for Concept Papers, a submission form on its page and a fixed deadline, and the Endowment chooses a small group for planning grants before it asks for full proposals. Much of the Endowment's work in education and youth outside Indiana is invitational, and the guide to RFP-only foundations and how to get invited explains how organizations get on a funder's list for that kind of program.

What Does Lilly Endowment Fund, and What Does It Not Fund?

Lilly Endowment funds three program areas: community development, education and youth, and religion. The first two center on Indianapolis and Indiana; religion is national (Lilly Endowment, For Grantseekers, read November 2026).

In community development, the Endowment funds human and social needs, neighborhood revitalization, low- and moderate-income housing, and arts and culture in Indianapolis, and runs statewide initiatives for Indiana community foundations and United Ways. In education and youth, it supports Indiana programs from early childhood through college and career, and youth organizations in Indianapolis. In religion, it aims "to deepen and enrich the religious lives of Christians in the United States, principally by supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations," along with pastoral leadership, theological schools and grants to cultural institutions and news organizations that build public understanding of religion (Lilly Endowment, Grantmaking Guidelines, read November 2026).

The guidelines list what the Endowment generally does not support:

• Loans or cash grants to private individuals
• Paying off existing debts of individuals or organizations
• Healthcare projects
• Mass media projects, except by invitation within its program areas
• Endowments or endowed chairs, except special initiatives or longstanding grantees
• Public libraries outside Marion County, Indiana, except special initiatives

The 2025 return shows how the money divides by kind of recipient. GrantCue tags each recipient by its name and the grant's purpose line, so the counts are an approximation and not every grant gets a tag.

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax year 2025.

What Lilly Endowment's 990-PF Shows

Lilly Endowment paid about $2.26 billion in 1,808 grants in tax year 2024 and about $3.86 billion in 2,285 grants in tax year 2025, the two years GrantCue has on file. Most of the money moves in very large grants, while most grant lines are much smaller.

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2024 and 2025. State codes count DC as one.

The size breakdown for 2025 explains the gap between the median and the total. The 569 grants of $1 million or more add up to $3.60 billion, about 93% of the year's dollars.

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax year 2025.

Read the grant count with care. On the 2025 return, 461 lines carry the purpose "Employee Matching Gift(s)", a matching gift program for employees and not something a nonprofit applies for. The most common purpose lines after that are initiative and program names: Summer Youth Program (256 lines), the Indiana Community Foundation Initiative (212), Pathways for Tomorrow (143), capital projects for residential camps for Indiana youth (133), the Teacher Creativity Fellowship (128), the Marion County K-12 education initiative (116) and the Christian Faith and Life Storytelling initiative (109). Most of the remaining lines name an initiative or a standing program, which is why the open initiatives above matter more than the general letter for most readers.

The 2025 return also names many new grantees. Of the 1,459 recipients GrantCue matched on the 2025 return, 745 did not appear on the 2024 return. The guide to reading a 990-PF grant list explains how to check whether a funder pays organizations like yours, and GrantCue's free Lilly Endowment profile shows its giving by year, its top states and its largest grants without an account.

Where Do Lilly Endowment Grants Go?

Indiana received about 56% of Lilly Endowment's grant dollars in the two tax years on file, and Washington, DC, home to many national organizations, came second. The guidelines say the Endowment "gives priority to efforts that improve the quality of life in Indianapolis and Indiana," especially in community development and elementary and secondary education.

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2024 and 2025.

Outside Indiana, the largest grants on file went to national institutions: the National Park Foundation ($103.1 million in four grants), Feeding America ($75 million in one 2025 grant), the National Trust for Historic Preservation ($67.2 million in two 2024 grants) and Duke University ($66.6 million in nine grants). Outside religion, the guidelines say national support of this kind is by invitation. For an Indiana nonprofit, GrantCue's list of Indiana foundations shows the other private funders in the state, many of them smaller and easier to reach.

How Is the Lilly Endowment Funded?

The Endowment was created in 1937 through gifts of stock in Eli Lilly and Company. Those gifts of stock "remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment," but it is a separate entity from the company, "with a distinct governing board, staff and location" (Serving Neighbors announcement, Lilly Endowment, read November 2026). Its latest return, for tax year 2025, reports about $105.9 billion in total assets (GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax year 2025).

The separation matters for grant seekers. The pharmaceutical company has its own corporate giving with its own rules, and nothing in this guide describes it. A request to the Endowment follows the Endowment's guidelines and goes to its Program Office, not to the company. Company-sponsored foundations, which usually depend on gifts from a business and often fund where the company operates, work differently from an independent endowment like this one. GrantCue's guide to corporate grants for nonprofits explains how those company foundations give.

FAQ

What Is the Lilly Endowment?

Lilly Endowment is a private foundation in Indianapolis, created in 1937 through gifts of stock in Eli Lilly and Company and run as a separate entity. It makes grants in community development, education and youth, and religion. Its 2025 return reports about $3.86 billion paid in 2,285 grants, with about 56% of its dollars over 2024 and 2025 going to Indiana.

Does Lilly Endowment Give Grants to Individuals?

No. The guidelines say the Endowment does not make loans or cash grants to private individuals and that virtually all grant money goes to charitable entities. Individuals benefit through programs it funds at other organizations: the Clergy Renewal Programs for pastors, run by Christian Theological Seminary, and the Teacher Creativity Fellowship for Indiana K-12 teachers and school staff, for example.

Can a Pastor Get a Lilly Endowment Sabbatical Grant?

Yes, through the congregation. The Clergy Renewal Programs at Christian Theological Seminary give congregations up to $60,000 to fund a pastor's renewal leave, and the congregation and pastor apply together. For the 2027 program year, the online portal opens January 4, 2027, and proposals are due March 17, 2027. The pastor must be ordained and serving in congregational ministry.

Is There an Online Lilly Endowment Grant Application?

Only for specific programs. A general request starts with a preliminary letter of no more than two pages, sent by regular or overnight mail to the Program Office in Indianapolis. The national initiatives take concept papers as a single PDF through a form on each initiative's page, and the Clergy Renewal Programs use an online portal that opens January 4, 2027.

Will Lilly Endowment Pay to Buy or Repair a Church Building?

Rarely, outside Indianapolis. The guidelines say requests from organizations outside Indianapolis involving building campaigns or general operations "usually are declined, except as part of special initiatives." Clergy Renewal grants cannot pay for building repairs or renovations either. A congregation raising money for a building should look to local foundations, denominational funds and its own members.

Where Can You Find a List of Lilly Endowment Grant Recipients?

Every grant appears on the Endowment's annual IRS Form 990-PF, which names each recipient, its city and state, the amount and a short purpose line. GrantCue's free Lilly Endowment profile is built from those returns and shows its giving by year and its largest grants. For tax years 2024 and 2025, that is about 4,100 grants to more than 2,000 organizations.

Next Steps for a Lilly Endowment Request

If your organization works with many congregations or campus ministries, read the Request for Concept Papers for the initiative that fits and put January 11, 19 or 25, 2027 on the calendar now. If you are one congregation, talk with your pastor about the Clergy Renewal Programs before the portal opens on January 4, and ask your denominational office whether it plans to apply to Serving Neighbors. For anything else, write the two-page letter only if your work sits squarely inside the guidelines.

Most local requests will be funded closer to home. A congregation can start with the guide to grants for churches, which shows how many foundations pay churches in each state. The guide to finding grants for nonprofits covers the other places to look. Browse Indiana foundations or the faith-based grants open now, search all open grants, and create a free GrantCue account to save the funders that fit, track their deadlines and get alerts when new grants open.