Willard L. Eccles Foundation Grants

The Willard L. Eccles Foundation is a private charitable foundation headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. With a philanthropic history spanning nearly 30 years, the Foundation has supported hundreds of organizations across its core areas of interest. These include education, environment, social services, basic science, and healthcare for underserved populations. Although the Foundation funds a broad range of organizations, its giving is highly concentrated within the state of Utah and generally favors entities it has supported in the past. It does not provide funding to individuals. The Foundation places particular emphasis on projects that address multiple areas of interest simultaneously, with a special focus on healthcare-related initiatives. For example, it has funded major postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Utah and Utah State University, supported the Natural History Museum of Utah with nearly $2 million in grants, and contributed to the establishment of the Willard L. Eccles Observatory. Environmental giving has prioritized land conservation and grazing rights retirement through The Nature Conservancy chapters in Utah, Oregon, and Idaho. Notable social service funding has supported the Your Community Connection shelter in Ogden and organizations like The Road Home and Friends of the Children. The Foundation does not operate on a fixed deadline system but instead accepts applications throughout the calendar year, following its fiscal year of January 1 to December 31. Applicants must now use the Foundation’s new online platform to submit their requests and are required to create a new profile regardless of prior affiliation. While the Foundation typically considers applications several times per year, prospective grantees are advised to contact the Executive Director, Steve Denkers, directly before submitting an application. There is no public-facing PDF application form or formal portal link provided, and access to funding is at the discretion of the Foundation’s internal review process. Grant sizes vary significantly, from several hundred dollars to more than one million dollars, depending on the scale and alignment of the project with the Foundation’s priorities. Major recipients include academic institutions, environmental trusts, health centers, and local arts and public service organizations. Approximately 35% of past grants have been directed toward education, with smaller but substantial portions allocated to environmental causes (20%), social services (15%), basic sciences (15%), and healthcare for underserved populations (10%). Eligibility is limited to nonprofit organizations operating primarily in Utah. New applicants or those not previously funded should be aware that the majority of the Foundation's giving goes to past grantees. Additionally, the Foundation explicitly does not fund individuals. Applications are evaluated internally, and there are no publicly disclosed review criteria beyond alignment with the Foundation’s stated focus areas and regional preference.

Contact the Executive Director before applying; prioritize applications with multi-sector impacts or healthcare tie-ins; new grantees should demonstrate alignment and readiness.