for deadline reminders and update emails, please share your email address here:
https://forms.gle/R5p4tx6JGptLXAUi6

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Who can apply?

Active religious educators--you do not have to have a title or a specific job, but you do need to be a religious educator.

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What kinds of applications are we looking for?

We are especially interested in projects that:

• are for UU faith formation, obviously.  This one is a requirement.

• need the funding/don't have funding elsewhere.

• address areas of particular concern in faith formation right now (tell us about it! Why is your project relevant now?).

• are replicable across organizations, for example:

  • a curriculum that many congregations could use, 

  • or a plan for a community project that could be duplicated in other towns, with the documentation needed for that to happen.

• might address particular community needs as well as internal organizational needs, like the way OWL has become a curriculum that can be offered to communities and not just congregations.

• might address UU values-related community concerns, like a religious education program to foster media literacy (one of us attended a program like that at Unirondack one year).

• lights you up and has you excited.  We want to help you raise the profile of your work so you can do more, related work.

 

How do we accept applications?

• Historically, we have had a long list of questions and required paperwork.  We still have some of that: you can find the questions we want answered here, and you can just email us the requested materials.

• However!  We are aware that writing is not everyone's best medium.  If you need to answer our questions by video or audio or some other kind of adjustment so you can show us the best of you, please get in touch by emailing us at grants.usss@gmail.com, and we will be delighted to talk about how you can do that instead.  We are most interested in knowing you and your project.  

 

When are applications considered?

Unlike in previous years, moving forward we will have one round of applications, which opens at GA and closes on August 31 at midnight, US Pacific time.  If you would like email reminders and updates about important dates, please share your email address here: https://forms.gle/R5p4tx6JGptLXAUi6

 

Who considers the applications?

The USSS Board of Directors makes all award decisions.  You can learn more about our board here

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YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• This process is not a trap.  We are not lying in wait to see if you forget something.  If you send us all the answers and we still have questions, we will ask you.  Our goal is to find the best people and projects for fellowships, not to shame you for not reading our minds.

• If you decide to include supplemental materials such as writing samples or examples of work you have completed, please limit this to 10 pages. 

• We are  committed to inclusiveness and decolonizing wealth.  We know the original fund mostly came from exploitative sources, and while we are fundraising to shift the balance and support more robust giving, we are also examining our processes to improve our use of those funds.

• We really  really love Unitarian Universalism and UU religious educators.  And we really really want UUism and UU faith formation to be the best they can be.  We believe our faith formation to be a profound vehicle for changing the world, no joke, no exaggeration.  If you, too, feel that way, we are very excited to see what you're planning and figure out if we can help.