The 2020 granting cycle is moving into the next phase. Applications were due Friday, March 6 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Now it is time for the board to roll up our sleeves and get to work reading your great applications. Our decisions will be difficult. Although we will celebrate with all of you who are funded, we will also feel the disappointment with those who are not funded. Remember that the more money we receive, the more projects we can fund, so don’t forget to deposit your prayers of thanksgiving into your Blue Box! The grant review process takes time, and we ask for your patience. We anticipate the grant announcements to come out the second week of June.

Although the 2020 granting cycle is still in progress, we recommend that you begin thinking about next year. It is never too early to start developing your next project. The 2021 grant applications will be made available on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. The focus has already been chosen and is Act: Turn love into action by caring for God’s creation to protect the most vulnerable who will bear the largest burden of pollution and climate change. We highly recommend that anyone interested in applying for a grant begin work as early as possible. This will give you a chance to fully research your idea as well as ask for advice from your diocese and the UTO Board. In the past, those who have asked for assistance have been able to submit a much stronger application and have increased their chance of funding.

UTO Staff Officer Heather Melton is available and willing to offer you any help you need until the month prior to the deadline, so please plan and work ahead. She can be reached at hmelton@episcopalchurch.org. We will be hosting several webinars that will give you the opportunity to ask us questions and learn more about the granting process. The dates, times, and link will be published with the application materials. We want to remind all grant writers that Heather’s availability to answer questions and provide editorial assistance decreases the closer we get to the deadline. We thank you for your understanding and your respect for her time.

The UTO Board thanks you for your participation and support of this important ministry. We understand that without all of you, we could not accomplish anything. We value all the coordinators as well as those who work diligently to make the ministries that we fund possible. Working together, we have helped to spread the kingdom of God here on earth.