Throughout the country, faith-based organizations have been organizing programs to assist those most in need in our communities, including abused women and children, at-risk youth, and newly released prisoners. A typology of faith-based programs is presented that includes three main categories of programs: faith-linked, faith-based, and faith-filled. The differences in these types of programs are described followed by a discussion of why faith-based groups should be funded by philanthropic organizations, which draws a distinction between the type of support offered by social workers and other professionals and the type of support offered by faith- and community-based workers. The next section provides a series of examples of effective partnerships between faith-based programs and philanthropic organizations. The report closes with guidelines for private funders interested in establishing relationships with faith-based programs; recommendations include the advice to work with faith-based organizations that have similar community goals and visions and to establish clear guidelines about the type of support to be offered. Endnotes, bibliography