The Community Foundation of Utah's grantmaking reflects our desire to be innovative, inclusive and responsive to the needs of the state. Our grants include those that are open to nonprofit application and those that originate at a donor’s request.
Since our establishment, Donor Advised Funds at the Community Foundation of Utah have made grants nearing $100,000 to organizations and institutions that serve our community and region. Grants have been made to cultural and arts organizations, health and human services, advocacy, environmental and educational programs.
The grantmaking process
Donor Advised Funds
These grants are awarded at the recommendation of advised fund donors. Most support the general operations or standard programs of a nonprofit and rarely involve a competitive process. The foundation can assist Donors in learning about specific organizations that meet their interests, but more often the donor is aware of the good work of a nonprofit and recommends supporting it. Our donor advisers fund broadly, including advocacy, health and human services the environment, the arts and education.
Field of Interest Funds
These funds allow donors to come together and leverage their giving for a specific cause or area. Volunteer advisory committees, knowledgeable about a particular region or field, recommend grant awards through a competitive application process. The following funds are being established; grantmaking will occur when the funds have reached a designated size.
- The Social Innovation Fund
- The Environmental Stewardship Fund
- The Gay and Transgender Fund.
The Utah Fund
Utah needs a flexible, unrestricted fund that can respond quickly to local needs. In fact, the most important thing a community foundation can do is build a general endowment to serve for generations to come. These funds can be used to catalyze change and fund innovative solutions to Utah's most challenging problems, or serve as our charitable 'rainy day fund'. In other states these funds have been used to respond to natural disasters and have been lifesavers to many cultural and human service agencies during the economic downturn. The Utah Fund will be a permanent charitable resource that will grow with the support of today's Utahns and generations to come. Anyone can be a philanthropist and there is no minimum requirement on gifts. We look forward to providing this much needed resource to our community.
