by Carrie Graham
Hello, beloved TCL community!
It's time for an important update.
This is not a fundraising letter, but it is about funding and our mission.
Bottom line: We are running out of funding for my (Carrie's) wages this summer and are looking for ways to pivot our organization to sturdier ground while staying faithful to the abundance of work for our wildly timely cause.
Here's what I want to address here:
How did this happen?
What are the hard numbers on this?
What have we done about it?
What's next for TCL?
How did this happen?
As you know, recent times have resulted in drastically less funding for US non-profits with USAID funding shutting down suddenly, along with many federal grants. This has had a trickle-down effect that put an already-saturated pool of grant applications getting even more intense. The trend over the last decade has also been that there is "more money" but from fewer and fewer funders, with now many more non-profits competing for relationships and resourcing from less sources. This has taken our already-tough chances of finding funding as a small, grassroots non-profit and plummeted them yet further.
On top of this, and most directly impactful, we have had multiple donors either lose their jobs or have unstable enough employment that they needed to stop giving. We have a much higher-than-average donor retention rate that hovers about 80%, so to lose multiple donors at once this last year was highly unusual and spoke to the realities of economic constraints that are hitting so many of us.
We have had colleagues who have had to close their non-profits that were on sturdy ground just months ago. At a time when needs are rising, most non-profits are cutting services and focusing on trying to retain as many employees as possible while spending within leaner means.
In fall 2025, it started to become clear that 2026 would be a wild ride for funding for TCL. We would not be immune to these trends.
In fact, for peacebuilding organizations like ours, the trend is not just national. It is global. Every colleague we know across the globe is seeing the need increase for help with peacebuilding, while ironically losing more and more funding for precisely this cause. This is true for us; there is no shortage of work to do; just a steep drop in funding for us.
The need is ultimately not about needing an extra donation or two, though that would always be very helpful. This is about pivoting to a new business model that puts us on sturdier ground. More about that below.
The Hard Numbers:
In 2025, our entire budget sat around $140,000. About $86,500 of that was supplied by generous donors, and the rest—approximately $53,500—was consulting work with our fellow non-profit and ministry partners.
In 2026, our entire budget YTD is $93,320. Our fundraised budget is $69,000. Our consulting budget is $24,000.
We anticipate getting more small consulting projects that will grow this by some margin, but not enough to fill in the gap for our full budget needs.
What have we done about it?
In early 2026, when the board adopted our budget, I had worked with the bookkeeper to crunch numbers in detail to make sure we had the funds to cover all anticipated bills and expenses for the year, including wages for our bookkeeper. It became clear that we could not afford our assistant at 18 hours per week, so we talked with Jillian about incrementally stepping down on hours over a series of months so we could keep her on so long as she wished and was able to, but at reduced hours. The only expense that remained was my wages, which would easily run out before 2026 was over.
Back in fall 2025, knowing rough seas were ahead, we applied for a program that would supply us with a series of sessions with a pro-bono executive coach. I met with her throughout the spring 2026, creating various contingency plans and deciding on what circumstances trigger moving from one to the next. Plan A, of course, was for the situation to somehow correct itself. Our internal operational health is strong, and has recently been confirmed by a CPA who conducted a financial review of our organization. So if environmental changes shifted the tide in time, there would be no issue.
Plan B is where we are now, which was triggered by not having 3 months' financial runway for my wages. Plan B involves continuing conversations with possible new funders and projects, as they often take a while to materialize. But in order to keep the door open to TCL being able to re-expand in a short time, should those conversations result in new and sturdier funding, I have volunteered (with no external pressure whatsoever) to take an unpaid Sabbatical in the fall. I will keep TCL's engine running by continuing to facilitate dialogue, take core meetings and continue conversations about funding and new projects. Otherwise, I will not work for the equivalent of 6 weeks' worth of wages, spread out throughout the fall.
This is highly unusual and antithetical to TCL's baseline dedication to honoring those who work for TCL. This is entirely due to unprecedented circumstances that keep my time and energy open to finding sturdier ground for TCL's operational model without my time and energy needing to also go toward a 2nd or 3rd job at this stage. Additionally, should TCL re-expand, the board may be freed up to consider retroactive pay for this time period.
Plan C would hit around the turn of the year if there is no sturdier funding in sight, when I would seek a 2nd or 3rd job to supplement a re-sized TCL.
Because the efficacy of TCL is not in question, nor the need, nor even the amount of work to do, there are no plans to close TCL.
On the other hand, if by the turn of the year, new funding sources and new types of partnerships have emerged or are promising, we will continue on with the trajectory of re-expanding TCL to the full form it has had for years.
In the meantime, assistant Jillian was accepted into a PhD program and is leaving her position as assistant at the end of July. We are very sad to see her go but are happy for the timing that allows her to pursue her passion around the time we would have a tougher time compensating her.
We are bringing on some help, though. Vocational resident Tracy Joosten from Iliff School of Theology will work with us from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027. She is highly qualified and experienced with our mission, and we are delighted to provide support to her learning goals and be the benefactors of her shared gifts.
What's next for TCL?
Through the summer and fall, I am not solely looking for additional funding sources, but also exploring operational pivots that are mission-centric. For example, I have been honored to receive a scholarship to the Institute for the Future's workshop on Experiential Futures, which I will attend online throughout July. I am also interested in obtaining a certificate or two in A.I. that would qualify me to look for jobs in what is called "red teaming," in which a professional with nuanced relational experience that also has A.I. competencies may be able to help A.I. platforms with ethical quandaries in the development of a given platform. This would gain me the experience to help TCL's ministry communities with the future of faith practice as it pertains to our changing world with artificial intelligence.
As you can imagine, this has been a very high-pressure and even high-volume year for the work I do for TCL. My Advisory Council has helped me to hone in on a plan for the unpaid Sabbatical such that I will focus on sustainable personal and professional rhythms, particularly around the theme of Joy. This might help me not just to pivot TCL's operational model, but also my approach to the work so it won't stay parked in an unhealthy pressurized zone. I am very excited about a reset that will help me gain wisdom not only for the operational shifts TCL needs, but also to harness the heart-and-soul of TCL's mission with exuberance through and beyond this challenging season for all of us.
Again, this is not a fundraising email. Of course, you are always welcome and invited to help us out by going to thechurchlab.org/give and setting up a new pledge or giving a one-time gift that is generous within your means.
Most importantly, whatever prayers and good thoughts and vibes you've got to send our way in such a challenging season, Team TCL and I would sure appreciate all of that! And of course let us know how we can be praying for you and rooting you on.
With gratitude for each and all of you,
Pastor Carrie