Investing in Covenant members who ideas can serve our city.
God calls us to be a love letter to the city of Austin.
At Covenant, one way we live out this calling is by investing in changemakers, dreamers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and start-ups to foster social change in Austin.
Our Guiding Principles
Spiritual Formation
The Love Letter Fund empowers people to live out their faith at work, inspiring them to grow their ideas and apply their expertise while following the example of Jesus.
Impact on Austin
The Love Letter Fund focuses on initiatives that directly benefit the Austin community to tackle unsolved and/or underemphasized problems.
Connecting Covenant
We provide a way for Covenant members to connect with and support the initiative, using their God-given financial, spiritual, social, and civic gifts to impact our city.
Sustainable Growth
The Love Letter Fund generates growth through sustainable, scalable solutions that last beyond the initial investment.
How it Works
The Love Letter Fund works as a business incubator, partnering with Covenant entrepreneurs, business people, and startups to address social problems in Austin.
Members of the Covenant community will provide support, guidance, and expertise to recipients.
Phase 1: Submit your Letter of Inquiry
Submit your idea through our Letter of Inquiry process by March 25, 2026.
Phase 2: Screening Process
Ideas are screened according to an objective set of criteria (listed in the FAQ below). Selected applicants move on to phase 3.
Phase 3: Finalists Preliminary Interviews
Phase 4: Develop your Proposal
If your idea is selected, you’ll work intimately with the Love Letter Fund committee to develop your full proposal. You’ll have access to dedicated resources and experts in your proposed initiative area to help fine tune and build out your idea to ensure it will serve the Austin community. You’ll then present your final proposal with business and financial plans to the Love Letter Fund committee.
Phase 5: Recipients Announced
If selected as a recipient, you may receive a grant of up to $50,000 based on the scope of your project. As a recipient, you’ll have access to expertise and resources, as well as spiritual support and mentoring, from the Covenant community.
Phase 6: Report Back
Provide regular reports to the Love Letter Fund review committee and the Covenant congregation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Love Letter Fund mission is to fund Covenant members with business or entrepreneurial ideas who want to make positive social change in Austin.
These investments include:
- Providing resources that enable people to follow Jesus where they live, work, and play
- Awarding financial grants
- Using Covenant members’ skills, experience, and networks to help launch new initiatives and scale existing products and services
Through these efforts, we’re changing the way we participate in God’s mission in and for the world.
The Love Letter Fund invests in opportunities that:
- Contribute to recipients’ spiritual formation so they can live out their faith at work
- Leverage Covenant members’ strengths and experiences to provide mentorship
- Demonstrate potential for long-term social impact on the city of Austin
- Accelerate or launch lasting, sustainable programs
When selecting recipients, we look for:
- Applicant must be a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church
- Overall fit with Covenant’s mission of following Jesus wherever you live, work, and play
- Ability to use Covenant congregation members’ strengths, experience, and expertise
- Capacity of applicant (and other team members, if applicable) to execute the project
- Potential for social impact by satisfying an unmet need with capacity for growth
- Opportunities to contribute to the applicant’s spiritual formation
- A working prototype (proof of concept) and financial model
The Love Letter Fund is an initiative of Covenant Presbyterian Church and is intended for members of the Covenant family.
A panel comprised of members of the Love Letter Fund committee will evaluate each application and project.
If the first application is approved, the applicant will be invited to answer a second round of in-depth questions. The final round includes an in-person interview.
Grants will be awarded for amounts of up to $50,000. Applicants are asked to propose the amount they need for their idea, and a panel will discuss that amount during the application process.
Applications are open through March 25, 2026 at this link.
Your application should include:
- Your contact information: Your name, address, email, and phone number
- Organization background: Your organization’s mission, overview, and a description of the project
- Plan for spiritual formation: A description of how the project allows you to live out your faith
- Summary of social Impact: A description of evidence of impact, such as objectives, metrics, and intended measures of success
- Funding request: A description of your funding request
Generally, the Love Letter Fund will not fund:
- Non-profit organizations except as a single impact grant
- Organizations with missions and visions in opposition to Covenant’s mission and vision
Ideally, Projects will have other funding in place, so as to avoid making Covenant the sole source of funding
We would love to hear your ideas, so please submit a letter of inquiry.
Covenant has designated financial resources to be used as Love Letter Fund grants through the Institute for Missional Formation.
Additionally, Covenant members and staff will provide general and spiritual support for the program.
Members of the Covenant community play a vital role in the success of the Love Letter Fund. They can contribute by
- Serving as skills coaches: Sharing general and/or industry-specific expertise and knowledge with entrepreneurs.
- Providing support and encouragement: Offering advice and prayer support to those involved in the program.
- Connecting entrepreneurs with resources: Providing connections to help entrepreneurs access the resources they need.
Please email Christian Antwi, , the Love Letter Fund coordinator, if you are interested in being involved.