Annual Award for Innovative Christian Outreach
Investing in bold ideas that share the good news of Jesus
Every year, Christian residential ministries create opportunities for people to encounter Jesus in fresh and meaningful ways.
The CRNet Innovative Christian Outreach Award exists to help turn those ideas into reality.
Thanks to the generosity of anonymous Christian donors, CRNet members can apply for funding to launch innovative evangelistic initiatives that help guests explore and respond to the gospel during their residential experience.
A total of up to £10,000 is available each year, with one or more Awards being made depending on the quality of applications.
The size of your project doesn't determine your chances of success. Whether your idea costs £500 or £10,000, applications are assessed on their potential impact and merit, not their budget.
Find out more:
- The Award/s will be made annually at the CRNet main conference each year and be awarded, payable to the charity or organisation (the applicant), for up to a maximum total of £10,000. There could be multiple Awards made in the same application year with the total remaining at £10,000. The Award/s must only be used directly to fund the initiative concerned. Any amount left over at the end of the year must be used to fund the initiative or similar initiative. Whether the initiative costs £500 or £10,000 is immaterial to the Award level. It will be based entirely on merit.
- The Award/s will be made by a panel to include the Chief Executive of CRNet and the anonymous donors. Their decision will be final. No appeals will be considered. The successful applicant/s and other CRNet members will be given the reasons for the successful Award/s being made to the applicant/s concerned. Unsuccessful applicants will not be given reasons for the outcome.
- The four criteria the panel will be looking for, are as follows:
Innovation – the outreach needs to be different from the ‘normal witness’ that the applicant carries out. Perhaps a particular new emphasis, initiative, volunteer training programme, employee role, new on line App, new displays, new welcome etc…
Outreach – it needs to be evangelistic in overtly sharing the Good News of Jesus in the context of the ministry in an appropriate way. The innovation needs to be focussed on giving people an opportunity to respond to the Gospel, for example; privately or with a staff member/volunteer, or through an online app.
Appropriate – the winner will be able to demonstrate that the new initiative is appropriate to either all those who have the residential experience or a specific targeted subset (e.g. age group, ethnicity or special need).
Sustainable – the initiative should not just be for the year of the Award, it should show, in the application, how it can continue and be funded (if required) beyond that period or evolve/be adapted for future ministry.
These pre-requisites will then be judged by the criteria below:
SMART – the objectives of the initiative should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed. The panel are not looking necessarily for ‘converts’, they are looking for genuine Christian spiritual development of guests before, during or after their residential stay with you, as a direct result of their contact with you in a residential context. You may wish to refer to the Engel scale https://www.eauk.org/great-commission/what-is-the-engel-scale) in deciding how to determine ‘Christian spiritual development’.
- The applicant will need to complete an online form.
- The deadline for applications will be 31st August each year. A report form will be required to be completed within 12 months of the innovation being commenced or August 31st of the following year whichever is the earlier. This will outline how the initiative has compared to expectations using the SMART criteria. A form will be provided.
- The first Award/s will be presented to the winning organisation at the 2028 CRNet conference and future awards will be made each year for an initial 3 year period.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
- Applications can only be accepted from paid up members of CRNet.
- Payment of an Award will only be made to a registered charity or company account. The proceeds will be considered as ‘restricted funds’ for accounting purposes and may only be used for the purposes outlined in the application. If the Award funds are not used in the year, they may be carried forward for similar work in future years but must be ring fenced for that purpose.
- All winning applicants must submit a completed report within 12 months of the start of the initiative and no later than August 31st of the following year to the Award being made. These should be submitted to the CE of CRNet on the report form provided by the office. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination of CRNet membership.
- The CRNet Chief Executive reserves the right to contact the applicant and their counter signatory to ask any further details that may be required to assess the application.
- Only one application per member will be permitted in each year. Successful applicants cannot reapply the following year.
- Application forms and these terms will be available to download from the CRNet website.
- The deadline for completed on line applications will be 5pm on 31st August each year.
- Any panel member with a personal, financial, governance, or operational connection to an applicant organisation must declare that interest and take no part in assessment or decision-making relating to that application.
- Applicants will be asked to confirm that all activities funded through the Award comply with current legislation including; current safeguarding, health and safety, GDPR etc…
- CRNet reserves the right to amend, suspend, or discontinue the Award programme subject to funding availability.
- CRNet reserves the right to; publish summaries of successful applicants, use photos/testimonials, present case studies and promote the initiative publicly using that material. Anonymity of individuals will be respected where requested.
