Cornerstone is a free online generosity tool available to all Church of England churches. Developed by the National Giving Team, Cornerstone provides three services: Insights, Pathways, and a Grants Database.
Insights
Linked with Parish Returns data the Insights secion of Cornerstone helps churches develop a detailed picture of their financial situation. Users can see how this situation compares to other churches across the diocese and nationwide. This information allows churches to plan their fundraising efforts via the following Pathways and Grants section.
Pathways
The Pathways section of Cornerstone offers easy-to-follow step by step help through over 50 individual ways of encouraging giving or fundraising. Some offer simple quick projects with one or two steps. Others are more involved.
However big or small the funraising project, each Pathway is broken down into simple steps for the user and none of these take more than half an hour. With helpful links and instruction videos each step give churches an attainable goal for making process on multi stage projects. And if a church has already completed a step, or it's not relevent, it can be skipped. Cornerstone keeps track of your progress, enabling multiple staff or volunteers to work together without duplicating tasks.
Grants Database
The Grants Database is a curated and regulalry updated set of over 1000 grants available to churches. Users can filter this database based on purposes and geographics areas enabling them to find the right grants for their needs. Every grant is provided with a description and the relevent links to the grant giving body.
How do we sign up?
Contact Diocesan Giving Advisor Anna Hardy (anna.hardy@salisbury.anglican.org) - for details on how to access the Cornerstone platform. She will talk you through the process and provide support.
Or, you can email the Cornerstone team on cornerstone@churchofengland.org.