By UTO Grant Committee

The UTO Grant Committee is pleased to announce the focus and criteria for the 2025 UTO grant process. 2025 represents the last year of our three-year commitment to Matthew 25. This year, 100% of all donations given to UTO will be given away next year to support innovative mission and ministry projects addressing the theme of water.

The 2025 grant focus is on water, based on Jesus’ words, “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.” UTO will fund projects focused on water, including but not limited to projects that:

• Address water issues such as desalinization, access, care of water sources, water rights, and education about water resources.
• Increase water awareness (drought tolerance, flood prevention).
• Address health issues directly related to water quality (formula access for babies, aftermath of contaminated water, etc.). 
• Address water needs of unhoused people (laundry, showers, bathrooms, drinking water). 
• UTO recognizes that many water access issues today stem directly from historic trauma and harm done to marginalized people. Projects that encourage truth-telling, acknowledge historic trauma around water, and establish pathways toward healing also fit this focus.

For those of you who like to use the UTO grant focus to inspire giving, we hope this helps with your efforts. We will have a Coordinators Check-In on Saturday, March 2, at 10 a.m. Eastern time to talk about the focus and ways to use it during the year to promote UTO and gratitude (register here). The theme for this year also goes perfectly with our Vacation Bible Camp program, “Waves of Gratitude,” which you can download and use for free here. 

As always, we recommend not waiting until the last minute to begin working on your application. With that said, the application materials will be available in June and due early in 2025. We’ll post information here in the newsletter when the application and timeline are available. In the meantime, we hope you’ll join us in giving thanks for all the ways water supports our lives and listen for God’s call to find new ways of caring for and sharing this vital resource.