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18 Viable Grants · Amarillo + TX + Federal

Grants — ASAP Pipeline

Grant Research — Power Church / Amarillo Barrio Community Development

Summary

A bank-grade scan of local Amarillo, Texas-state, federal, and faith-aligned grant programs surfaced 18 viable funding sources Power Church or Amarillo Barrio Community Development (ABCD, EIN 47-4527312) can pursue right now. Estimated total addressable capital across the top 10 grants: $400K – $1.6M, with a realistic near-term capture target of $150K – $400K in the next 6 months by stacking small Amarillo foundations + corporate community grants. The single biggest move this week is to apply for the Pantex Grant Cycle (deadline May 1, 2026 — NOTE: this date may already be passed; if so, target the Catalyst cycle May 15) through the Amarillo Area Foundation portal. ABCD is the right entity for nearly every grant on this list because of its non-religious “alleviating poverty in East Amarillo” mission framing.

Date sensitivity warning: Today is May 5, 2026. The Pantex Grant Cycle deadline was May 1, 2026, which means Pantex is likely already closed. The first true ASAP target is the Amarillo Area Foundation Catalyst Grant Cycle (May 15, 2026). Confirm Pantex status by calling Raul Rodarte-Suto at 806.376.4521 immediately — if late submissions are accepted, file Pantex too.

TOP 3 ASAP — apply this week

1. Amarillo Area Foundation — Catalyst Grant Cycle

2. Mary E. Bivins Foundation — Community Grant

3. Walmart Spark Good Local Grants (multi-store strategy)

All Viable Grants (sorted by deadline, soonest first)

Pantex Grant Cycle (Amarillo Area Foundation)

Walmart Spark Good Local Grants (Cycle 2)

Texas Bar Foundation General Grants

Amarillo Area Foundation — Discretionary Grant Cycle #2

Walmart Spark Good Local Grants (Cycle 3)

Mary E. Bivins Foundation — Community Grant (Cycle 2)

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) — Texas FY2026

Project Safe Neighborhoods (Federal — DOJ direct via Bureau of Justice Assistance)

Youth Gang Prevention and Intervention Program (DOJ FY25)

City of Amarillo CDBG Public Services

USDA Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program

Home Depot Foundation — Community Impact Grant

Meadows Foundation (Dallas — Texas-wide funder)

Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) — Nonprofit Gateway

Wells Fargo Texas Grants Program

Texas Workforce Commission — Childcare Startup / Pre-K Partnership Grants

Pantex Community Investment Fund (separate from AAF Pantex)

Grants Where Eligibility is Marginal (apply if time permits)

National Fund for Sacred Places

Lilly Endowment — Direct Programs

Templeton Religion Trust

Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation

CH Foundation (Lubbock)

Brown Foundation (Houston)

Texas Capital Bank Foundation

EPA Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment & Cleanup Grants FY2026

HUD Section 4 Capacity Building

AT&T Foundation

Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas

Long-cycle Grants (6–12 month deadlines — for the second wave)

Amarillo Area Foundation — Discretionary Cycle #1 (annual)

Mary E. Bivins Foundation — Capital Grants Cycle

TxCDBG Community Development Fund (Texas Department of Agriculture)

Federal Project Safe Neighborhoods FY2027

USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant

Texas Education Agency 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Cycle 13)

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — Health Equity Programs

Hispanic Federation CORE Initiative

Texas General Land Office / Resilient Communities Program

Routing Strategy

Why two entities? Power Church is a faith institution; ABCD (EIN 47-4527312) is a non-religious community development 501(c)(3). Federal grants and many secular foundations have either explicit Establishment Clause restrictions (no funding “inherently religious activities” with government dollars) or de facto exclusions of houses of worship in their grantmaking practice. ABCD lets the project access these grants while Power Church remains the building’s owner/operator.

Routing rule of thumb:

Grant type Apply through Why
Federal (HUD CDBG, USDA CF, DOJ PSN, EPA, DOT, HHS) ABCD Establishment Clause distance. Federal funds cannot pay for inherently religious activities. ABCD’s secular mission fits cleanly.
Major secular foundations (Meadows, CFT, Wells Fargo, AT&T, RWJF) ABCD These funders often have de facto religious-org exclusions in grant practice; ABCD’s poverty-alleviation mission is the right framing.
Local Amarillo foundations (AAF, Bivins, Pantex) Either — prefer Power Church for capital projects and ABCD for community programming These funders explicitly accept faith-based applicants when projects benefit the community at large. Power Church’s 9 years of documented community service (food pantry, Barrio Bash, Community Watch) is a credibility moat.
Christian/faith-aligned funders (National Fund for Sacred Places, Lilly Endowment, Templeton, Foundation for Evangelism, Wesleyan grants) Power Church Faith framing required.
Corporate community grants (Walmart Spark Good, Home Depot, AT&T) Either — Walmart and Home Depot accept churches with community-benefit projects; AT&T is typically secular Apply to both Walmart and Home Depot under both entities to stack awards.
Childcare-specific grants (TWC) ABCD or a daycare LLC Licensed-childcare funding. Faith-based licensed daycares are eligible.

Critical compliance note: The IRS treats Power Church and ABCD as separate entities even though Pastor Manny founded both. They must maintain: - Separate boards (with overlap allowed but not 100%) - Separate bank accounts - Separate 990 filings (Power Church files 990 if required; ABCD files 990 annually) - Separate accounting for any grant funds received - Documented inter-entity agreements (e.g., if ABCD receives a federal grant for daycare programming and Power Church owns the building, there must be a written facility-use agreement at fair market rent)

Establishment Clause framing for federal grants (plain English): Federal grants can fund a community center where the church meets on Sundays IF the federal money pays only for the secular community programming (daycare, after-school, food pantry, computer lab, conference rooms used by all) and does NOT pay for sanctuary furnishings, pulpit, baptismal, religious instruction materials, clergy salaries, etc. ABCD applies, ABCD operates the secular programs, Power Church operates the worship use. Clean separation = clean compliance.

Application Materials Power Church + ABCD Will Need (reused across all grants)

Build these once, reuse for every grant. Have them in a Google Drive folder labeled “Grant Application Master Packet” before any submission.

Both entities should have: 1. IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter (already exists for both — pull from records) 2. EIN / Tax ID confirmation (Power Church EIN + ABCD EIN 47-4527312) 3. State of Texas Charter / Certificate of Formation (Texas Comptroller — comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/franchise/) 4. Most recent 3 years of IRS Form 990 (file with IRS or pull from Candid/GuideStar; ABCD’s 990 should be filed since 2019 IRS recognition) 5. Audited financial statements (last 3 years — if no audit, a board-certified compilation is acceptable for smaller grants) 6. Current operating budget (line-item annual budget) 7. Board of Directors list with bios (full name, title, professional background, term length, connections to the cause) 8. Articles of Incorporation + Bylaws 9. Certificate of Good Standing from Texas Secretary of State (sosdirect.sos.state.tx.us) 10. W-9 Form for each entity 11. DUNS / SAM.gov UEI Registration (REQUIRED for any federal grant — sam.gov; takes 2-4 weeks. DO THIS WEEK FOR ABCD.) 12. Mission statement (one paragraph — for ABCD: “alleviating poverty in East Amarillo”) 13. Project narrative — UA Theater Community Center (one master 5-page narrative covering the building’s community uses; tailor each grant to its specific funder) 14. Project budget (acquisition $3.8M + renovation $2M; show how each grant fills a specific gap) 15. Letters of support — collect 8–10 from: Mayor of Amarillo, Potter County Commissioner, Amarillo PD Chief, High Plains Food Bank ED, Renteria family (Barrio Bash organizer), other faith-community leaders, Amarillo ISD superintendent, Amarillo College president 16. Logic model / theory of change (visual showing how building → programming → community impact metrics) 17. Outcome metrics — concrete numbers (e.g., “1,500 weekly food pantry visits, 200 daycare slots, 300 after-school youth, 50 community events annually, 10,000+ neighborhood residents served”) 18. Photos / renderings of the new building inside and out 19. Recent press / news clips about Power Church’s community impact (Barrio Bash, Healing Walk, etc.) 20. Resumes of key staff — Pastor Manny De Los Santos + ABCD staff/board

Crowdfund + Capital Campaign Tools

Platform Fee Best for Notes
GiveSendGo 0% platform fee (donation-based “tip” model) Christian capital campaigns; sympathetic narrative Strong fit: explicitly Christian, no platform fee, viral capacity. Has built churches before.
Faithify Has 5% platform fee Unitarian Universalist projects Skip — wrong faith fit
Classy by Stripe 4.9% + $0.30 per transaction (lower for volume) Polished capital campaigns; multi-tier giving Strong UX; integrates with most CRMs; fee is high but conversion is best-in-class
Network for Good (Bonterra) 5% (DonateNow Lite) or fixed monthly fee Mid-size church campaigns Good donor management. Decent option.
Indiegogo Generosity DEAD — Indiegogo discontinued the Generosity platform in 2019. Skip.
Donorbox 1.75% platform fee + Stripe (~2.9% + $0.30) Recurring giving + one-time Lowest fee of the major nonprofit platforms; recurring giving is strong
Tithe.ly 2.9% + $0.30 (church-specific) Church campaigns Built for churches; lowest church-specific fees; can run a mini capital campaign module

Recommendation for the UA Theater capital campaign: Run a stacked campaign across: 1. Tithe.ly as the primary conduit for in-church giving (Sunday tithing → designated Building Fund), since the existing congregation is the largest single revenue source 2. GiveSendGo for the public/viral campaign with a story-driven page (Pastor Manny’s vision, the Barrio’s needs, the community impact) — share across all Power Church social channels 3. Donorbox or Classy for any institutional giving page on the church’s website with mid-tier giving options ($100, $500, $1K, $5K, $25K naming opportunities)

A realistic multi-platform capital campaign target for a 1,700–2,000-attendance church with engaged community: $300K – $1.5M over 12 months depending on campaign intensity, naming opportunities, and out-of-area diaspora outreach.

Resource Contact Purpose
Amarillo Area Foundation — Grants Officer Raul Rodarte-Suto, raul@aaf-hf.org, 806.376.4521 Pre-application consultation BEFORE every AAF submission; donor-advised fund introductions
Amarillo Area Foundation — General grants@aaf-hf.org, 806.376.4521 All AAF cycles
Mary E. Bivins Foundation — Grants Program Officer Tracy Selle, tracy@bivinsfoundation.org, 806.379.9400 Community Grant + Capital Grant questions
Mary E. Bivins Foundation — Senior Hunger Kat English, k.english@bivinsfoundation.org Rapid Response senior hunger grants ($5K, ongoing)
City of Amarillo Community Development Shaira Joyce, shaira.joyce@amarillo.gov, 806-378-6451 CDBG cycles + workshops
City of Amarillo Community Development — General CommunityDevelopmentGrantTeam@amarillo.gov, 806-378-3098 All CDBG questions
High Plains Food Bank hpfb.org / 806.374.8562 Partner agency status (already partner); pantry expansion grants from Feeding America (passed through HPFB)
Workforce Solutions Panhandle 806-372-3381 TWC childcare startup grants, employer-supported childcare initiative
Texas Rural Development State Office (USDA) 254-742-9700 USDA Community Facilities; check if 8275 W Amarillo Blvd qualifies as rural
U.S. Attorney’s Office — Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division (806) 324-2356 Project Safe Neighborhoods entry point with APD
Amarillo Police Department — Community Relations 806-378-3038 Existing 9-year relationship; PSN community partner; gang prevention grant pathways
Pantex Community Affairs pantex.com Direct CNS Community Investment Fund (separate from AAF Pantex Grant Cycle)
Texas Grant Resource Center (Hogg Foundation) tgrc.hogg.utexas.edu Database of statewide opportunities
The Panhandle Gives thepanhandlegives.org Annual Nov 23 – Dec 1 giving day (huge fundraising potential — register both entities)
Amarillo Chamber of Commerce — Nonprofit Council amarillo-chamber.org, 806-373-7800 Local business CRA giving introductions
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson’s office (TX-13) 806-322-2538 Federal grant introductions; congressional letters of support
TX Sen. John Cornyn / Sen. Ted Cruz Amarillo offices Cornyn 806-472-9013 / Cruz 806-353-8000 Federal grant letters of support

Bottom-line action checklist for this week

  1. TODAY: Verify USDA Community Facilities eligibility for 8275 W Amarillo Blvd via https://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=cf — if eligible, this is the largest single grant opportunity available.
  2. TODAY: Call Raul Rodarte-Suto at 806.376.4521 — confirm Pantex deadline status; pre-consult Catalyst Grant Cycle (May 15 deadline)
  3. TODAY: Email Tracy Selle at tracy@bivinsfoundation.org — confirm Bivins Community Grant fit (May 18 deadline)
  4. TODAY: Call Shaira Joyce at 806-378-6451 — confirm CDBG Public Services workshop/deadline status
  5. THIS WEEK: Register ABCD on SAM.gov (UEI registration; required for any federal grant; takes 2-4 weeks)
  6. THIS WEEK: Register Power Church AND ABCD on Walmart Spark Good (walmart.com/nonprofits) — verification takes 7-10 days; Cycle 2 is open
  7. THIS WEEK: Complete Communities Foundation of Texas Nonprofit Gateway Profile for ABCD (cftexas.org)
  8. THIS WEEK: Submit Wells Fargo Grant Interest Form for ABCD
  9. THIS WEEK: Pull Phase I Environmental Site Assessment from seller — check for contamination eligibility for FY2027 EPA Brownfields
  10. NEXT 30 DAYS: Build the master grant application packet (20 documents listed above) in a Google Drive folder
  11. NEXT 30 DAYS: Collect 8-10 letters of support from named local stakeholders
  12. NEXT 30 DAYS: Submit Catalyst (May 15), Bivins (May 18), Walmart Spark Good Cycle 2 applications
  13. NEXT 60-90 DAYS: Submit AAF Discretionary Cycle #2 (July 31), Texas Bar Foundation (July 15), additional Walmart applications as Cycle 3 opens (Aug 1)

Sources