Making an Application

Over the years since 1987 the DCI Fund has provided buildings, books, camels, childcare, cycles, computers, clothes, cows, farms, films, food, goats, jobs, medicines, micro-credit schemes, missions to the poor or unreached peoples, seeds, schools, spectacles, tools, training, travel, water, wheelchairs, workshops and wells to many leaders in the developing world.

15th June 2009

We consider applications from our partners* with well established Schools of Mission, churches or projects for help in these areas:

1. Opening new Schools of Mission or similar centres.
2. Visiting people on the Joshua Unreached Peoples list.
3. New mission and church planting.
4. Micro-credit Banking for the Poor or income generating schemes.
5. Medical mission or other projects for the lost and the poor.

6. Emergency, life or death issues. This category is only open to known and trusted members of the DCI network who are facing sudden crises, for example following an accident or in serious illness. Click here to send us all the information and we will contact you.

At present we have no funds available for the following as we feel that these are the responsibility of the local church, school or project:

7. Requests to provide income, businesses, support, wages
or monthly expenses for personal use.
8. Building programmes or the purchase of cars or motor-bikes.

Changes will be announced on this page as the year progresses.

* Our first guiding principle is that sponsorship only ever follows relationship and friendship. Relationship begins through communication and working together, which leads to a two-way friendship and a growing mutual trust, which may then be followed by sponsorship if this is required to complete an agreed project. Click here to see how to begin a relationship with us, and when you have begun a project, write and tell us, and keep writing each month.

Our second guiding principle is that the DCI Fund does not provide "hand-outs" or aid, instead we consider "hand-ups" - that is giving a helping hand to pull people upwards into long-term solutions for their needs and opportunities. For example we will not buy chairs for a School of Mission or church but we will buy tools and initial materials to provide employment for a man or woman who can make chairs for the School and to sell in the market place.

The beneficiaries of your project may be all nationalities, all faiths, poor and richer, men and women of all ages.

The DCI Fund is a small, private fund sponsored by no more than 60 people and is a registered charity regulated and inspected by the Charity Commission of the United Kingdom government.

The Fund is comfortable with considering first-time grants for projects up to the maximum value of US $1000. We are not equipped to handle the large-scale projects and supervision normally undertaken by major charities, denominations, relief agencies and NGO's.

Before you think about making any application from this page please understand our requirements and procedures and be prepared to follow them with great patience. Our problem is that if we do not know you personally then we have to proceed with great caution. We do not want to refuse any genuine application but please try to understand that we have a very serious responsibility to ensure that funds from our supporters do not fall into the wrong hands or are used for wrong purposes.

Would you like to see some of our photos?
Click to see our Picassa Albums from around the world.
Choose one and then click Slideshow to see the display.

Click here for Schools of Mission around the world
Click here for Banking for the Poor projects
Click here for projects to help orphans and the poor
Click here to see some of the people in the DCI family

The following is the only way
to approach the DCI Fund.

1. Make an initial enquiry

Please carefully read the introduction again and apply ONLY if you qualify. If you do not qualify please do not go any further as we will not be able to help you and you will be disqualified from making another application for a year. You must build a relationship with us before speaking about money.

If you do qualify then please send us an initial enquiry in a maximum of TEN LINES IN ENGLISH through this secure page only. You will not be able to attach any files or photos.

1. Tell us who you are, your age and where you live.

2. Tell us the name of the School of Mission or affiliated church or project that you represent. Tell us if you are a leader, staff member, student or graduate.

3. Give us a brief description of your proposed project and the cost, which must fit into one of the priority categories given above. Please bear in mind that a first application has a maximum value of $1000 and you are advised to apply for much less.

Please do not tell us any more than this at the moment. We will reply to let you know if we can consider a full application or not, and if we have the funds available at this time. If we can help you we will then send you an application form or you may see a copy of it now to prepare yourself.

The board of the DCI Trust employs a zero-tolerance policy without any appeal in the case of the submission of any false information to apply for funding, and towards even a hint of dishonesty or fraudulent activity.

The DCI Trust cannot pay you or employ you to start a School of Mission. We look for your investment first, then for your faithfulness, communication, integrity and perseverance. We may be able to help you with agreed start-up costs that you cannot find yourself and we will hope to develop a partnership with you as the work progresses.

The Trust seriously regrets that it cannot help with long-term or monthly funding of orphans because we do not have the legal permission for this kind of activity. The Trust is not equipped to do the continual supervision and staff checks that UK law demands to protect vulnerable children. We might be able to help to launch an orphan care project with a one-off gift if the project is an activity of an affiliated School of Mission or church.

We will send packages of Christian books to the developing world but you must be prepared to pay all the local customs duties and the fees charged by the shipping agents at your harbour or airport. Please check the costs before you request books because these can be expensive.

If any sponsored project fails to submit a report within one month of the agreed time it will not be allowed to ask for extra funds in the future.

We will not provide funds for photocopiers as they always go wrong and are then often abandoned because no-one can afford the cost of repairs or replacement toner.