What Summit Collaborative does

Summit Collaborative (legally The Summit Network) is a Durham, North Carolina-based nonprofit founded in 2009 to equip and connect churches through leadership development, assessments, cohorts, and church planting support. It operates as a 'farm system' of over 70 affiliated churches across the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic), and East Africa (Kenya), with the vision of planting 1,000 churches in a generation originally declared by J.D. Greear of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham.

The organization's core offerings are a 9-month Church Planting Cohort (a 'finishing school' containing leadership residency, church planting incubator, gospel immersion, and intentional relationships components) and a set of leadership assessment tools (Development Grid, Ministry Leader Profile, Leadership Assessment Report, and the 'Closing the Gap' eBook by Multiplication Director Matt Love). These tools are delivered as PDFs and document templates rather than a technology platform. The Collaborative also runs the A18 Movement, a collegiate emphasis intended to build a long-term planter pipeline. There is no SaaS, mobile application, API, or disclosed AI component to the offering.

Revenue is generated through a 1% + 1% financial partnership model — each member church contributes 1% of internal giving to the Collaborative's direction and 1% to a new Collaborative Church plant — supplemented by individual donor contributions (online and mail, payable to 'The Summit Network') and an endowment fund being built over a 5-year horizon. The organization employs 11-50 staff and is governed by a board that includes teaching pastors from The Summit Church, executive leaders from member churches, and senior executives from organizations such as UNC Management Company. Select outcomes reported include a 94% planted-church success rate (roughly double the industry benchmark) and over 1,000 baptisms across Collaborative Churches in the most recent year.

Name

Summit Collaborative

Legal name

The Summit Network

Website

https://summitcollaborative.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Summit Collaborative is a Durham, NC nonprofit that equips and connects a network of 70+ churches through a 9-month Church Planting Cohort, leadership assessments, and member financial partnerships, serving church planters and existing churches primarily in the U.S.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Church Planting and Leadership Development

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Interfaith & Ecumenical Councils and Dialogue Organizations (BPAGAJAJ)

Keywords

• Church planting network
• Leadership development
• Church multiplication
• Leadership assessments
• Pastor training cohort

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Church Financial Partnership: Collaborative Churches contribute 1% of their internal giving to the Summit Collaborative direction and 1% of their internal giving to a new Collaborative Church. This creates a sustainable funding model where existing churches support church planting efforts.
2. Individual Donor Contributions: Individual donors can give online (including recurring donations) or by mail (checks payable to 'The Summit Network'). Contributions go to equipping future Summit Collaborative planters.
3. Endowment Fund Building: The organization is building an endowment fund (warchest) over 5 years to have ready capital for each church plant. This represents a long-term sustainability strategy.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Summit Collaborative is a family of churches that equips and connects churches through leadership development, assessments, and a 9-month Church Planting Cohort finishing school. It identifies and develops church planters through relationship-based assessments and supports church multiplication across a network of over 70 affiliated churches in the US and internationally.

Product overview

Summit Collaborative is a ministry organization focused on church planting and leadership development. They are not a technology or SaaS company. Their core offerings center on the Church Planting Cohort (a 9-month residency/finishing school for church planters), Leadership Assessments, Church Planter Assessments, and a collaborative network of over 70 churches. Key resources include the Development Grid (for identifying leadership gaps), Ministry Leader Profile, Development Plan templates, and the 'Closing the Gap' eBook. They also facilitate connections for planters, churches, and donors through their platform, and maintain an online directory and assessment portal for member churches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Church Planting Cohort: A 9-month 'finishing school' for leaders ready to plant a church, providing equipping through a family of leaders and a roundtable of like-minded planters.
• A18 Movement

Products and services

• Church Planting Cohort
• Leadership Assessment
• Church Planter Assessment
• Closing the Gap eBook
• Collaborative Church Network Membership
• A18 Movement

Quantifiable outcome

• 94% success rate in planted churches - nearly double the industry standard
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Summit Church (Raleigh-Durham)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009The founding church of the Summit Collaborative movement. In 2009, J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church, declared the vision to plant 1,000 churches in a generation. This vision created the need for multiplication and led to the creation of The Summit Collaborative as a family of churches working together.
• Churches in the Collaborative NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 70 churches collaborating together to plant more churches. Member churches include organizations like Biltmore Church, Mercy Church, Park Slope Community Church, and many others across the US and internationally. Each church serves as a 'farm' of leadership development and supports the family of churches.
• Sending ChurchescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChurches from which church planters come. The church where a planter is in residence becomes their sending church. This direct parent relationship is important to the collaborative model, ensuring each new plant has a direct connection to the family.
• Sponsor ChurchescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative churches that sign on to support external planters who are not currently serving in a Collaborative Church. The sponsor church ensures the new plant is grafted into the family in the best way possible and helps facilitate connections with Collaborative pastors in the target planting area.
• North American Mission BoardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLacey Villasenor serves with the North American Mission Board, supporting church planters across the nation. This connection provides additional support and resources for planters in the network.
• Campus Outreach RaleighminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollege ministry in the Triangle area. Matt Love served for four years on staff overseeing staff development and student mobilization before joining the Summit Collaborative in 2017.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Converge: Converge is a Baptist church planting and missions network with a similar member-church financial partnership model, assessment process, and coach-based planter support — directly comparable to the Summit Collaborative's structure and mission.
• NewChurches: NewChurches (associated with Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group) is a content and consulting platform for church planting and health — adjacent to the Summit Collaborative's leadership development and assessment offerings.
• Association of Related Churches (ARC): ARC is a large relational church planting and revitalization network that supports member churches through coaching, resourcing, and conferences — overlapping heavily with the Summit Collaborative's cohort, assessment, and mutual-support model.
• Acts 29: Acts 29 is a global church planting network with a similar evangelical DNA and member-church model, directly competing with Summit Collaborative for church planters, sending churches, and donor support across the US and internationally.
• Church Multiplication Network (CMN): CMN is an Assemblies of God church planting network that provides assessment, training, and coaching to planters — a denominational peer running a similar cohort and assessment pipeline to Summit Collaborative.
• Exponential: Exponential is a church planting movement and annual conference that convenes networks, planters, and sending churches around multiplication — comparable to Summit Collaborative's annual retreat and planter development strategy.
• Send Network (North American Mission Board): Send Network is the Southern Baptist church planting network with a structured assessment, residency, and cohort pipeline — directly comparable to Summit Collaborative's Church Planting Cohort and planter assessment process.

Regional players

• ABWE International: ABWE is a global church planting and missions organization with international footprint comparable to Summit Collaborative's Kenya, Canada, and Caribbean presence, though focused on cross-cultural missions rather than domestic US planting.

Emerging players

• Church at Clayton Crossings / Church Initiative: Church Initiative is a faith-based resource and event organization serving pastors and church leaders — thematically aligned with the Summit Collaborative's leadership development mission but oriented to broader church health rather than plant multiplication.

Broad incumbents

• Christ Fellowship (cf.church): Christ Fellowship is a large multi-site evangelical church with an established church planting and leadership development pipeline, comparable in mission and theological tradition to Summit Collaborative though operating primarily as a single large church.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/summitcollab
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheSummitCollaborative
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-summit-network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Summit Collaborative