Leadership Education is most interested in supporting leaders who are at a critical moment for stepping back and reflecting on what has been accomplished in their work, what is changing and what is stable. Excellent proposals will clearly articulate why this is the right time for the leader to invest their energy in broadening their perspectives and gaining clarity about what needs to happen next. We invite you to review the Reflective Leadership Grants page for additional guidance as you craft your proposal.
Due to the competitive nature of this grant program, Leadership Education is not able to offer guidance about the substance of your proposal. If you have questions about technical matters, please send those questions to leadership@div.duke.edu.
Yes, an institution with a current grant from another institution may apply. As part of the application, we invite you to let us know of any similar grants you have received in the past and how the work you wish to do with a Reflective Leadership Grant is different.
Leadership Education does not intend for the Reflective Leadership Grant program to be a fellowship program for work toward an academic degree, including the doctor of ministry degree. It is acceptable for some part of the grant activities to involve travel and research pertaining to the applicant’s work and beneficial to determining next steps. However, if plans are strictly dedicated to work involved in the pursuit of a degree, Leadership Education advises applicants to find support elsewhere.
If you are currently enrolled in a degree program, you are welcome to apply for a Reflective Leadership Grant. However, funds from the grant cannot be used for the degree program’s research or travel.
The Reflective Leadership Grant Program builds on and extends Leadership Education’s efforts to create lasting change by strengthening the ecology of Christian institutions that enable U.S. congregations and pastors to flourish. Therefore, we discourage the submission of a proposal focused on religious leaders from other faith traditions.
Any faith-based charitable organizations in the United States are eligible to apply for a Reflective Leadership Grant on behalf of one of their employees. We encourage organizations to submit proposals in which the majority of the organization’s work occurs in the United States.
We encourage faith-based charitable organizations in the United States to submit proposals on behalf of applicants whose work primarily occurs in the United States. Therefore, we discourage the submission of a proposal focused on leaders not serving in the U.S.
This grant aims to support lay or clergy leaders whose work has made a demonstrable contribution to their organization’s mission. The intent of this grant program is to provide balcony time to any employee of a faith-based charitable organization whose work is at a pivotal point where time and space to reflect on next steps would be beneficial. Therefore, we encourage both lay and ordained Christian leaders to apply.
The Reflective Leadership Grant program is open to any employee of a faith-based charitable organization. We welcome applicants who serve in a range of leadership roles, from project director to senior administrator, and who are working in a variety of organizations, including denominations, seminaries, church-related colleges, consultancies, congregations, Christian nonprofits, Christian social enterprises and others. We are particularly interested in supporting leaders whose work contributes to healing and hope in their communities by strengthening congregations, social services, schools and other organizations.
Leadership Education anticipates notifying organizations of funding decisions by July 18, 2025. The Reflective Leadership Grant funds will be available to the selected organizations in September 2025, and the grant period is September 2025 - March 2027. Therefore, if awarded, you may begin your grant activities any time after September 1, 2025.
We encourage an organization to submit one proposal for balcony time for one leader per year. If, however, your organization consists of multiple entities, then you may submit one proposal for each entity, but each entity must have its own tax ID number.
The application process for a proposal includes:
Appendixes or additional documents will not be accepted.
Please review the Reflective Leadership Grants page for additional guidance as you craft your proposal.
We ask that you please provide a line item budget in a table format following the template provided on the Reflective Leadership Grants page. The budget uses the following categories:
a. Personnel (coverage of program team time for employees of the organization)
b. Contractors (meeting facilitator stipend; speakers; content expert; pulpit supply)
c. Tuition and/or registration costs (fees associated with attending events or conferences)
d. Travel, accommodations and meals (ground and air transportation expenses and meals)
e. Books and other materials (planning materials, etc.)
f. Equipment (may not exceed 10% of overall budget)
g. Other (childcare, etc.)
Your budget must total no more than $15,000.
Yes, Leadership Education plans to offer this opportunity in 2026. Applicants not selected in 2025 are encouraged to apply the next year.
While there is not a tenure requirement for this grant program, we are looking for leaders whose ministry has accomplished significant goals and who are thus ready to design the next chapter in their ministry. You may be at a point where you realize that your work needs to be framed or re-framed in a way that cultivates new supporters and allies. You might have developed colleagues as staff or volunteers to further the ministry in such a way that more can be accomplished, and you need time and perspective to chart out next steps for an enlarged vision. A critical element of the application is articulating why this is a pivotal moment for you and your ministry: what is the opportunity, and how might a season of structured reflection help gain perspective?
The funds for a Reflective Leadership Grant must go to a faith-based charitable organization, not an individual. Therefore, the senior officer of your organization makes the official request for the funding on behalf of the applicant.
The organization is the fiscal agent for the grant; therefore the senior officer of the organization must submit a signed letter of request and support on behalf of the applicant. A letter from the applicant’s board of directors or advisors will be acceptable if the applicant is the senior officer. The applicant is unable to submit their own letter of support.
Yes. Applicants are asked to commit to attend a convening in Durham, North Carolina. This convening will bring all recipients together for a collaborative learning experience as they begin their balcony time. All reasonable expenses for the retreat will be paid separately from the grant.
If the grant director remains within the organization from which they applied, they will be able to continue the grant proposal. If the grant director leaves the grantee organization/institution, the remaining grant funds will be returned to Leadership Education.
Some organizations require payment on the receiving funds; this is known as "indirect funds." If your organization requires indirect funds, the applicant should specify this in the "Other" category of their budget. The final budget amount should not exceed $15,000. Indirect costs cannot exceed 10%.
The grant application must be from an organization that has a 501c(3) tax status. The grant director should describe in the application how the director’s work is related to the organization receiving the funds. This can be found in question two of the narrative. The letter of institutional support should also indicate the relationship of the grant director to the organization.
The church is able to receive the grant as long as it has a tax ID number.