What is Cornerstone?
Cornerstone is a new online learning platform Developed by the National Giving Team, to support churches in all aspects of giving and generosity. A free-to-use tool, Cornerstone provides clear, step-by-step practical actions to grow giving and develop a deeper understanding of generosity. It offers three distinct functions: Insights, Pathways and a comprehensive Grants database.
Cornerstone is designed to help churches develop the most detailed picture they’ve ever had of their financial situation – whether that’s a source of joy or concern. Using Parish Returns data, Cornerstone identifies different types of giving and shares comparisons with other churches both in the same diocese and nationwide.
The information a church receives from the Insights phase gives them a picture of where they can focus their efforts. Some may only have capacity for one or two ‘quick wins’, while others are ready for a full-on campaign. A Pathway takes a single topic and breaks it down into steps, none of which take longer than half an hour. Templates and links to videos and instructions are provided.
All churches have completely free access to over 600 grants, curated for churches. Covering a range of purposes, values and geographic areas, this searchable, filterable database is updated weekly and is the biggest range of grants currently available to churches. Each grant is described and there is a link to the grant making body so you can read further and apply.
Using Cornerstone to support the Diocesan Improvement Program
Each church will take part in a Mission and Planning Review process over 4 years of our Diocesan Improvement Program. This gives every church the opportunity to;
- Review their missional health and impact
- Review their financial sustainability and produce a church budget
- Explore new income opportunities
- Apply for Funding the Future grants
- Benefit from deanery-wide resource hubs
The Cornerstone platform is one of the tools we are able to use to both support every church in the review process (using the insights, pathways and grants database).
Onboarding Workshops
From January 2026, we will be holding regular online workshops to onboard new users. These will be available on the events page soon.
Testimonials
From the Diocese of Leeds:
“What was most valuable was the ability to see the process we are about to embark on.”
“Identifying pathways helped us see where there can be quick wins.”
“We liked the practical ideas about communicating impact to all our worshipping community and electoral roll.”
Find out more:
Email – resources.team@liverpool.anglican.org, phone number 0151 705 2180