By Joyce Landers, UTO Vice President

The deadline for the 2022 grant applications is fast approaching. All applications must be uploaded by Friday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. The UTO Board strongly encourages all grant applicants to submit their application as early as possible but no later than Feb. 2, the deadline to have your application reviewed to ensure it is complete. Our UTO staff officer, the Rev. Heather Melton, is available to answer questions and provide editorial assistance (email Heather). We encourage you to make use of her assistance so that your application can be as strong and complete as possible. Please be aware of the deadlines on the “helpful hints” page of the application regarding how much help will be available to you. You will be given an opportunity to fix any issues she finds, so make sure that those listed on the application are available. The closer we get to the deadline, the less assistance you will receive. Any applications submitted on the last two days will be processed as received. 

The grant submission process is complicated because there are so many people involved in completing the application. Each time a person handles an application, another opportunity is created for a page to be deleted or a signature to be missed. The UTO Board highly recommends that grant writers request the diocesan office staff to send the completed application to them at the same time they upload the application to Formstack. This will provide you the opportunity to identify any issues before the deadline. When you receive the email from Heather saying your application was processed, be sure to click on all the links in the Formstack email to make certain that what was uploaded was what you intended, especially if you submit on the last two days.

It is often tempting to offer additional time to those who submit an incomplete application. We understand what your project means to you and how hard you have worked to prepare your application. Unfortunately, we cannot do that. We are committed to treating all applicants equally, so we must adhere to our deadline. By submitting early, you can ensure that your application will be complete. The UTO Board thanks you for your submission, and we wish you well. 

Please be sure to follow UTO on social media. During the final months of the grant process, Heather will post reminders, helpful hints, and information about the grant process on Facebook. She will also post about opportunities to meet on Zoom for an open-office session to work with you on your application. These posts are often in direct response to problems other applicants are experiencing as they complete their applications. As always, we encourage you to submit your application early so that Heather has time to review it and offer feedback. Please try to submit your application no later than one week prior to the deadline so that she can check to ensure your application is complete.