Salt Lake City Grant Writing: Eccles Foundation, Sorenson, and LDS Charities Adjacency

The Eccles Family: Understanding the Anchor

Salt Lake City’s grant landscape revolves around the Eccles family foundations to a degree that would be unusual in a larger metro. The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation alone distributes more than $80 million annually, making it one of the most significant private foundations in the western United States. Combined with the Spencer F. Eccles Family Foundation, the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, and related family entities, the Eccles philanthropic footprint covers education, healthcare, arts, community development, and institutional capacity building across Utah.

For grant writers, the practical implication is that an Eccles application is likely the highest-value single proposal you will write in any given year. But the Eccles foundations are not open-call funders in the way many community foundations operate. They use a letter of inquiry process that screens for organizational strength, track record, and alignment with current program priorities before inviting full proposals. Cold applications from organizations without prior relationships or institutional track records rarely advance.

The approach that works: build a relationship with Eccles program staff over 12 to 18 months before submitting. Attend funder briefings, participate in community convenings where Eccles staff are present, and seek introductions through board members who have existing Eccles relationships. When you do submit an LOI, demonstrate that you understand the foundation’s current priorities (which shift) and can articulate measurable outcomes.

Sorenson, Miller, and the Second Tier

Behind the Eccles family, Salt Lake City’s private foundation landscape includes several funders that mid-sized nonprofits should know well.

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation, rooted in James LeVoy Sorenson’s entrepreneurial fortune, focuses on education, community development, and entrepreneurship. Sorenson’s grantmaking tends to favor programs that build self-sufficiency and measurable community-level outcomes. The foundation’s approach reflects the founder’s business orientation - proposals that articulate a clear theory of change, define success metrics, and demonstrate operational efficiency tend to perform well.

The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation draws on the Miller family’s automotive dealership and sports franchise wealth (including former ownership of the Utah Jazz). The foundation funds education, healthcare, arts, and community development across Utah. Miller grants frequently support organizations that serve broad community populations rather than narrow target demographics, reflecting the family’s orientation toward community-wide impact.

The Salt Lake City Community Foundation operates the traditional community-foundation model - holding DAFs, running competitive cycles, and serving as a community convener. It is smaller in total grantmaking than the private foundations but provides an accessible entry point for nonprofits that may not yet have the track record for Eccles or Sorenson applications.

The LDS Context: What It Means for Secular Nonprofits

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and its cultural influence on philanthropy is real but often misunderstood by outsiders. LDS Charities - the church’s humanitarian arm - operates globally and does not typically fund secular nonprofits through competitive grants. The church’s internal welfare and social services programs (Deseret Industries, LDS Family Services, Bishops’ Storehouse network) handle many functions that secular nonprofits fill in other cities.

What this means for secular nonprofits in SLC is nuanced. On one hand, individual LDS members are among the most generous donors per capita in the country, driven by the church’s tithing expectations and broader service culture. Many LDS business leaders contribute significantly to secular causes alongside their church giving. On the other hand, the church’s internal welfare infrastructure means that some social-service needs (food assistance, emergency financial aid, employment services) are partially addressed through church channels, which can affect how funders evaluate secular proposals in those areas.

The practical grant-writing implication: frame your work in terms of community strengths and pathways to self-sufficiency rather than pure deficit narratives. This is not about adopting religious language - it is about recognizing that the cultural context in which SLC funders operate values independence, family stability, and measurable progress. Asset-based community development language resonates well here.

Intermountain Health and Healthcare Philanthropy

Intermountain Health (formerly Intermountain Healthcare) is both the dominant healthcare system in Utah and a significant philanthropic actor. The Intermountain Health Foundation funds community health initiatives, health equity programs, and clinical research. For nonprofits working in behavioral health, food access, maternal health, chronic disease prevention, or health education, Intermountain represents a funder that combines grant dollars with potential partnership infrastructure.

Intermountain’s community benefit reporting (required under IRS Schedule H for tax-exempt hospitals) drives a portion of its philanthropic activity. Nonprofits that can demonstrate how their programs address community health needs identified in Intermountain’s Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) have a natural alignment point for grant proposals.

Writing for Mountain West Funders

Salt Lake City grant writing follows the same fundamental proposal structure as anywhere - problem statement, organizational capacity, project description, evaluation plan, budget - but with regional inflections worth noting.

Self-reliance framing. Mountain West funders, including secular ones, tend to respond to proposals that emphasize building community capacity and individual independence rather than ongoing dependency on services. This does not mean ignoring systemic barriers, but it means pairing systemic analysis with concrete pathways to measurable outcomes.

Efficiency and stewardship. Utah’s philanthropic culture values fiscal discipline. Proposals that demonstrate lean operations, strong governance, and responsible stewardship of restricted funds perform better than proposals that lead with scale or ambition without grounding them in operational reality. Track your restricted fund accounting carefully and be prepared to demonstrate it.

Multi-funder strategies. Because the foundation landscape is concentrated, SLC funders are aware of each other’s grantmaking. A proposal that acknowledges existing funding relationships and articulates how a new grant complements (rather than duplicates) existing support demonstrates sophistication. Funders talk to each other - contradictory proposals to different foundations in the same cycle will surface quickly.

Cultivation timeline. The Wasatch Front philanthropic community is relationship-driven and relatively compact. Plan on 12 to 24 months of relationship building before major proposals to Eccles, Sorenson, or Miller. During that period, attend community events where foundation staff are present, seek informational meetings, and demonstrate your organization’s work through results rather than promises.

Registration and Compliance

Utah requires charitable organizations to register with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection before soliciting contributions. The registration process uses a unified filing through the state’s online portal. Annual renewals are required, and organizations must file financial reports based on their total revenue.

For nonprofits receiving grants from multiple Utah foundations, careful attention to restricted fund requirements is essential. Eccles, Sorenson, and Miller grants frequently carry specific reporting obligations, and the concentrated funder landscape means that missed deadlines or sloppy reporting will affect your reputation across the market quickly.

Organizations also receiving federal pass-through funds via the State of Utah or Salt Lake County should maintain clear separation between private foundation restricted funds and federal subrecipient obligations. The compliance requirements differ in structure and timing, and combining them into a single tracking system without proper fund-level separation creates audit risk.

DEFINITION

Private foundation

A 501(c)(3) charitable organization typically funded by a single donor, family, or company. Files Form 990-PF, distributes approximately 5% of assets annually. The Eccles, Sorenson, and Miller foundations are all private foundations.

DEFINITION

Community foundation

A public charity that pools donations from many donors and makes grants within a defined geographic area. The Salt Lake City Community Foundation serves this role for the Wasatch Front.

DEFINITION

Letter of inquiry (LOI)

A concise concept summary (typically two to four pages) describing a proposed project and funding request. Most Salt Lake City private foundations use an LOI-first process to screen proposals before inviting full applications.