By Mathy Milling Downing, Province III Representative, and Member of the UTO Grant Committee
You’ve written a grant and are excited about the possibility of the United Thank Offering funding your project. How long must you wait before you find out? Why does it take so long? Your grant application goes through a very specific review process by many people, so it takes a bit of time.
The following is a timeline of our 2026 grant process, and many of these dates will be similar for 2027, although in a General Convention year, Executive Council meets earlier so the UTO Board tries to condense its review process to give applicants as much time as possible to work on their materials.
July
Application materials become available for the following year’s grants. The sooner you begin the application process, the better. This ensures you have adequate time to submit to Heather Melton for a first check that everything is in order. If she returns your grant with suggestions or requests for revisions or clarification, make them and then have her recheck.
August–December
Open Office Hours are held every month. These are opportunities to meet with Heather to ask questions, get clarification, and receive help with your application. Please take advantage of them. In addition, there are videos online that explain in detail each portion of the application, including the Bishop’s Endorsement Form, budget, and timeline. You may also ask for guidance from your diocesan UTO leader or UTO province representative.
November
This is when we recommend dioceses have their deadline for choosing which grant proposal to support moving forward, if multiple have been submitted. We recommend doing this prior to the final Open Office Hours so the chosen applicant can receive additional support before the initial deadline.
January
The first deadline is always in January, when applicants need to submit only their application, budget, and timeline.
February
Final application packets are due in February. Applications from the Anglican Communion or from dioceses receiving support from the General Convention Budget are reviewed first by the Grant Committee to double-check that they are complete and their budget within criteria. Those applications are then forwarded to the full UTO Board for review, with members of the presiding bishop’s staff providing additional information and context. The Grant Committee then begins the process again with the remaining applications from The Episcopal Church.
March–April
The UTO Board begins reading all the applications that are complete and within criteria. Every board member reviews every application independently, using specific rubrics for each par, including focus, dual project, measurable goals, sustainability, level of involvement from other sources, and economical use of funds. Overall application scores can range from 0 to 100.
April
Scores for all applications are due after Easter. Staff members then compile the scores and rank applicants from highest to lowest. Any discrepancies in ratings are reviewed (for example, if someone accidentally enters a score of 19 instead of 91) and fixed as necessary. The Grant Committee reviews the list and uses the previous year’s Ingathering amount to determine which grants will get funded. Because we must distribute all funds we receive, we sometimes work with applicants to adjust award amounts so we can support as many projects as possible. From this list, staff members prepare six reports. These reports are given to the UTO Board to review and double check. This takes about two weeks.
May
In the first week of May, the UTO Board votes to approve the reports and the grant list. This is then sent to Executive Council, as all materials must be turned in six weeks prior to their meeting for translation and review.
June
Executive Council meets and reviews the reports and grant list. Typically, this goes through a committee before being voted on by the full council. As soon as the list is approved, UTO staff emails all applicants letting them know the status of their request. The list is then released via the Episcopal Church Public Affairs Office, and Grant Brochures are available in the UTO shop shortly thereafter. And then the cycle begins again!