Baptist Community Ministries

What Baptist Community Ministries does

Baptist Community Ministries (BCM) is a faith-based, New Orleans-based private philanthropic foundation founded in 1995 from the proceeds of the Southern Baptist Hospital sale. Operating from 1320 Saint Charles Avenue with a staff of 11-50, BCM serves the five-parish Greater New Orleans region through three principal program areas: a multi-track grants platform, chaplaincy services, and the Congregational Wellness initiative, all underpinned by a Baptist faith orientation. The organization also anchors YouthShift, a coalition of 200+ organizations working on youth outcomes, which extends BCM's reach well beyond its direct payroll.

The grants platform is the primary capital deployment channel and is structured across seven tracks: Strategic, Core Funding, Opportunity, Transom, Discretionary, Capacity Building, and Trustee-Advised Donations. Visible 2025 grant commitments span recipients such as NOBTS ($1M), BCHS ($500K), Agenda for Children ($495K), Giving Hope ($400K), Marillac ($200K), Dillard ($100K), and CrescentCare ($80K), among others. Chaplaincy services place personnel with police departments, hospitals, and nursing homes, while Congregational Wellness delivers health programs through a network of 94+ active partner churches. Since inception, BCM has deployed more than $208 million into community initiatives.

The business model is endowment-funded philanthropy rather than revenue generation: the founding hospital-sale proceeds and investment returns on the resulting endowment fund annual grants and direct program operating costs. BCM extends program reach disproportionately to its headcount by leveraging dense partner networks (churches, nonprofits, coalition members) rather than scaling internal staffing. The foundation also responded to exogenous shocks with new funding mechanisms, including COVID-19 emergency rounds in 2020 and the Katrina 20 anniversary program, indicating a willingness to adapt capital deployment to community need.

Name

Baptist Community Ministries

Legal name

Baptist Community Ministries

Website

https://bcm.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Baptist Community Ministries is a faith-based, New Orleans-based private foundation founded in 1995 that grants capital and delivers chaplaincy and congregational health programs across the five-parish Greater New Orleans region through a network of 94+ churches and 200+ nonprofit partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Philanthropy and Chaplaincy Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious Organizations (8131), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Healthcare Ministries (Hospitals, Clinics, Medical Missions) (BPAGAJAH), Faith-Based Humanitarian Aid & Relief Ministries (BPAGAJAF)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Faith-based chaplaincy
• Community health programs
• Congregational wellness
• Nonprofit foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

New Orleans

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Others, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grant-Making: BCM is a philanthropic foundation that makes grants to nonprofit organizations in Greater New Orleans. BCM does not generate revenue from products or services but rather distributes funds to community partners addressing health, education, and public safety priorities. Since its founding in 1995, BCM has invested over $208 million into local nonprofits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Baptist Community Ministries is a faith-based Christian philanthropic foundation that distributes grants to nonprofit organizations in the Greater New Orleans five-parish region and directly delivers chaplaincy services to the New Orleans Police Department, hospitals, and nursing homes, alongside congregational wellness programs (church nurse training, lay health promoters, STAR weight-loss project, pastor behavioral health support, and Mental Health First Aid) delivered through partner churches. Since 1995, BCM has invested more than $208 million into local nonprofits and now operates across three programmatic pillars: Grants, Chaplaincy Services, and Congregational Wellness.

Product overview

Baptist Community Ministries (BCM) is a faith-based philanthropic organization serving the Greater New Orleans area through three primary pillars: Grants, Chaplaincy Services, and Congregational Wellness. The grants program includes Strategic Grants, Core Funding Grants, Opportunity Grants, Transom Grants, Discretionary Donations, and Capacity Building Grants targeting health, education, and public safety. Chaplaincy Services provides board-certified chaplains to NOPD and healthcare facilities. Congregational Wellness operates faith-based health programs including the STAR weight-loss project, Church Nurse Education Program, Congregational Health Promoter Program, Behavioral Health Initiative for Pastors, and Mental Health First Aid Training. BCM also leads the YouthShift initiative, a collective-impact approach involving 200+ organizations to improve outcomes for youth ages birth to 25.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic Grants Grants supporting projects related to BCM strategic priorities in Community Behavioral Health & Wellness, Early Childhood Education, and Prevention & Diversion including Youth Development & Reentry Support, awarded by invitation only.
• Core Funding Grants Unrestricted general operating funds supporting an organization's general infrastructure over an extended period, awarded by invitation only to eligible Baptist and/or Christian organizations.
• Opportunity Grants Grants supporting projects and organizations working on particular issues of interest to the BCM Board of Trustees, typically responding to urgent community need or time-sensitive requests such as natural disaster relief and COVID-19 relief.
• Transom Grants Open application grants available to qualifying organizations through BCM's open-application process.
• Discretionary Donations Flexible funding grants available through an open application process.
• Capacity Building Grants Grants designed to strengthen the organizational capacity of BCM's nonprofit partners, awarded by invitation only.
• Police Chaplaincy Services Board-certified professional police chaplains providing 24/7 emotional and spiritual support to New Orleans Police Department officers at crime scenes, during personal loss, and in times of extreme violence and stress.
• Healthcare Chaplaincy Services Chaplaincy services in hospitals and nursing homes providing spiritual care and support to patients, families, and medical staff, with chaplains placed at sites such as West Jefferson Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Touro Infirmary, Tulane Medical Center, and Lakeview Hospital.
• STAR (Strategies To Trim and Reduce) Project A 13-week faith-based initiative helping church members achieve weight loss and reduce high blood pressure through healthier eating, exercise, cooking techniques, and spiritual wellness.
• Behavioral Health Initiative for Pastors (BHIP) Program supporting pastors' mental health through workshops, retreats, self-care tools, and mental health resources, addressing burnout, stress, and compassion fatigue.
• Church Nurse Education Program (CNEP) Training program for registered nurses to become faith community nurses serving their congregations as health educators, advocates, and resource persons.
• Congregational Health Promoter Program (CHPP) Program training lay health volunteers to promote disease prevention and connect community members with affordable healthcare and social services.
• Mental Health First Aid Training Training program teaching congregants to identify warning signs and risk factors of mental health issues and substance use challenges, and how to help someone in crisis.
• YouthShift Initiative A collaborative movement of over 200 local nonprofit organizations working together to achieve positive change for young people ages birth to 25 in New Orleans across six priority areas: health and well-being, economic stability, learning, space and place, safety and justice, and youth voice.

Quantifiable outcome

• 102,164 ministry contacts by chaplains in 2016 (72,683 hospitals, 11,599 nursing homes, 17,882 NOPD)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020BCM partnered with LPHI to fund an assessment on the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and substance abuse needs in the Greater New Orleans area. The assessment studied behavioral health providers and clients from the five-parish region and offered strategies to address challenges and increase resiliency.
• Greater New Orleans FoundationmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020BCM partnered with Greater New Orleans Foundation in the first round of COVID-19 emergency grants totaling $500,000 in March 2020 to provide community relief.
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and AcadianamajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020BCM provided $400,000 in additional funding to Second Harvest to help pay for increased demand to get meals to families in need, especially seniors and children during the pandemic.
• United Way of Southeast LouisianamajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020BCM partnered with United Way for COVID-19 emergency funding totaling over $900,000 across multiple grant rounds in 2020.
• New Orleans Business AlliancemajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020BCM partnered with New Orleans Business Alliance in the first round of COVID-19 emergency grants totaling $500,000.
• City of New Orleans / NOHSEPmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020BCM partnered with the City of New Orleans, NOHSEP, and Hanes Apparel to distribute 9,000+ masks to 121 churches across Greater New Orleans during COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Data CentermajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015BCM provided a three-year transom grant to fund The New Orleans Youth Index 2015, providing baseline data for the YouthShift initiative. The Data Center (formerly Greater New Orleans Community Data Center) produces reliable data for community planning.
• Foundation for LouisianaminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2015BCM partnered with Foundation for Louisiana to operate the Youth Program Quality Initiative (YPQI) and leveraged additional funding from Campbell Foundation, EMPLOY, Entergy, and United Way.
• Forum for Youth InvestmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBCM partners with the Forum for Youth Investment as part of the YouthShift backbone organization team to help coordinate the youth development initiative.
• Volunteers of America Greater New OrleansminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBCM supported the Fresh Food Factor program through a health transom grant to Volunteers of America, which serves 1.4 million healthy meals annually to area school children.
• Baptist Community Health Services (BCHS)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerBCM provided early funding that was integral in helping BCHS define areas of most need and expand from primary care into mental health care and FQHC status.
• Collegiate AcademiescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerBCM is one of the earliest and largest supporters of Opportunities Academy, providing funding and playing a founding role in a comprehensive advisory council.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Greater New Orleans Foundation: Regional community foundation serving the same Greater New Orleans geography with both grantmaking and field-building initiatives. GNOF co-led COVID-19 emergency response rounds with BCM and competes for the same high-performing nonprofit partners.
• Foundation for Louisiana: Regional philanthropic foundation operating statewide with a focus on equity, youth, and economic opportunity — overlapping BCM's YouthShift and behavioral-health portfolios. Direct co-funding partner on YPQI.
• Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland: Faith-based Catholic foundation with combined grantmaking and direct-service programs in health, education, and poverty alleviation. Comparable faith-rooted identity, regional scope, and mixed model.
• Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas: Faith-rooted (Methodist) healthcare foundation operating both grantmaking and direct clinical and wellness services in South Texas. Closest functional analog to BCM's chaplaincy + congregational wellness + grantmaking triad.
• Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans: Faith-affiliated direct-service and housing nonprofit receiving BCM grants (Fresh Food Factor, reentry). Operates comparable community-delivery model in the same five-parish region with overlapping beneficiary populations.
• Baptist Health Foundation of Greater Louisville: Faith-based healthcare philanthropy created from the sale of Baptist Health hospitals, mirroring BCM's origin story and grantmaking-plus-direct-services hybrid model. Comparable scope, faith identity, and hospital-system origin.

Broad incumbents

• Kresge Foundation: National foundation with major place-based and health-equity portfolios. Frequently co-funds in Gulf Coast regions and overlaps with BCM's community-development, early-childhood, and disaster-resilience priorities.
• Lilly Endowment: One of the largest U.S. faith-based (Christian/Protestant) private foundations, historically focused on religion, education, and community development. Represents the scaled-endowment benchmark for Baptist-heritage philanthropy.
• Conrad N. Hilton Foundation: Faith-rooted (Catholic) global foundation with major investments in early childhood, housing, and behavioral health — closely aligned with BCM's strategic grant priorities and faith-based identity.

Others

• Forum for Youth Investment: National youth-development intermediary serving as a backbone technical-assistance partner alongside BCM's YouthShift. Comparable collective-impact orientation and youth-systems focus, though operating as a TA provider rather than funder.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bcmnola
• Facebookfacebook.com/bcmnola
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/baptist-community-ministries
• Instagraminstagram.com/bcmnola/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Baptist Community Ministries