Special Announcement: Many Unitarian Universalist gatherings are happening virtually rather than in-person now and potentially into the summer due to the social distancing that curbing the Covid-19 pandemic necessitates. We want to skill up the young people of our movement by offering grant money that supports the training of UU youth and young adults in the leadership, planning and convening of virtual spaces.

This training for virtual spaces grant aims at centering trainings for: spiritual/worshipful leadership; for making virtual space as accessible as possible; and for continuing our work towards liberation.

Apply now for the Training For Virtual Spaces Grant

Additionally, our Grants for Young Adults program carries on as normal.

Grants for Young Adults

Supporting our Unitarian Universalist young adults means sharing financial resources. The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries offers grants for young adult groups and campus ministries planning projects together and to individuals pursuing leadership development opportunities.

Grant applications are considered for available funding on a rolling basis. Please apply at any time. Funding for these grants is provided by the generosity of our UUA member congregations via the Annual Program Fund or the GIFT Program.

Contact yayaministry@uua.org for more information or to indicate interest in receiving a Young Adult Ministry Project Grant or Young Adult Leadership Grant.

Young Adult Ministry Project Grants

Young Adult Ministry Project Grants are used to support local projects that offer Unitarian Universalist young adults opportunities to grow in faith, deepen in spirit, develop skills, experience leadership, and engage in service and justice work. Grants are geared toward developing dynamic, multigenerational communities. We offer specific grants for reusable projects, campus ministries and big ideas. For instructions and evaluation criteria, see the application form (PDF).

View a list of past recipients of these grants.

Young Adult Leadership Grants

Young Adult Leadership Grants can be used for a variety of opportunities from UU College of Social Justice events, service trips with the UUSC or the UUA’s International Office, regional/district trainings, camps and conferences, General Assembly and more! We believe that community support is vital to developing leadership so the Young Adult Leadership Grants will match a Unitarian Universalist community’s contributions up to $300. For instructions and evaluation criteria, see the application form (PDF).

Other Funding

Need more financial resources to make your vision a reality? Think about these other possibilities.

Congregational support

Local congregations may be able to raise money through a special Sunday offering, offer fundraising opportunities at church events, or might be able to donate non-money items such as rent-free space, food or books. Campus ministries can ask local congregations to buy them a campus ministry start-up kit and young adult groups of all kinds can ask for a donation of Becoming books.

College/university support

If your group is a campus ministry you may be able to receive a budget from your school, especially if you become an official student organization.

Chalice Lighter Grants

Many of our regions and districts have Chalice Lighter grant programs which provide locally sourced grants for UU projects. Contact your Congregational Life staff or check out your region's website for more information.

Faithify

This UU crowdfunding tool, Faithify, launched in 2014 and provides crowdfunding support to a wide variety of UU projects.

UU Funding Program

The UU Funding Program is a denominational grant making program provides larger grants for big ideas in Unitarian Universalism. They have four funds available: Unitarian Universalist projects, furthering UU involvement in social responsibility, international efforts and justice organizing efforts.