Grant Process FAQ

We will give up to three grant awards per year. All donations received (including corporate matches) will be distributed 60% / 30% / 10% to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, respectively, unless otherwise specified by a major donor. The size of our annual grant pool ranges, depending on how much money our members donate and how much we can raise through corporate matching and other additional sources, such as donations from family foundations. In 2025, we granted a total of $230,250. Since 2017, PYP Seattle has donated more than $1.5M to nonprofit organizations supporting King County.

Members interested in pitching a nonprofit (i.e., becoming a “Grant Champion”) should fill out the PYP Grant Request Form by 12 pm on September 4, 2026. PYP members who are paid employees or paid consultants to a nonprofit organization may not pitch that organization. Members must also have one full year of membership experience before being eligible to pitch. 

 

Up to four members can join together to pitch one nonprofit as a team. If more than three Grant Request Forms are submitted, members will vote to select which three nonprofits they want to have pitched to them. 

 

If you are selected to be a Grant Champion, you will get to: 

• Pitch to your fellow members at our annual Pitch Night, Wednesday, October 21, 2026
• Plan and host two follow-up events (both during the discovery period, one in-person and one virtual) for members to learn more about your nonprofit
• Provide PYP members with a 2-page overview with the most important information about your organization
• Attend the annual Grant Celebration as an honoree and, if you wish, deliver a short speech to PYP members and their guests

The PYP Seattle Grants Committee will support you every step of the way!

Pitches will be made by our Grant Champions to fellow PYP members at our annual Pitch Night, which we’re planning as an in-person event on October 21, 2026.  All pitches should be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation (or other visual presentation), which will be displayed during your pitch. Your pitch should include details about the nonprofit, the problem the nonprofit seeks to solve, and if applicable, the project, program, or effort for which you are seeking funding. You may display and/or hand out written, audio, and/or visual materials that you or the nonprofit have prepared.  

 

All pitches must be 15 minutes or shorter and will be followed by a 5-minute Q&A session. Representatives from the nonprofit who are not members are not allowed to be present at Pitch Night, though they may help provide information, resources, or materials for you to use in your pitch or handout to members. The PYP Seattle board is available to assist with your pitch preparation by providing feedback and advice on your slide presentation and we will host an optional practice session for all Grant Champions prior to Pitch Night.

The follow-up events are opportunities for PYP members to hear directly from the nonprofit (leadership, clients, volunteers, etc) about the work they do and the impact it has on the community. These sessions, one in-person and one virtual, are generally 1 to 2 hours in length and provide time to offer more in-depth background information and answer questions members may have. Virtual events should be recorded and links should be included in your organization 2-pager. The date, brief description, and format of the two sessions should be submitted to the Grants Chair by Monday, October 5, 2026. 

The events should occur between October 22 and November 30. A maximum of two follow up events per week can be scheduled.

The 2-page document is a high level overview of your organization that includes content you think is most important for members to read as they determine how they will vote. It should also include any links to virtual follow-up events. It can also contain any Q&As that came up during pitch night or during follow-up events.  

 

The document should be submitted to the Grants Committee by Monday, November 30, at 12:00 noon. It will then be shared with all members before the voting window opens on December 1.

Grant Request Forms are submitted and presentations are made 5 to 6 weeks later at Pitch Night, scheduled for Oct 21. Voting takes place online approximately 6 weeks after Pitch Night, on Dec 1-2. The time between pitching and voting allows the pitching member to field follow-up questions, host follow-up sessions, etc. All Grant Champions will be informed of the voting results after 5pm on Wednesday, Dec 2. The winning nonprofit will receive their check approximately 2 weeks after voting.  The entire process lasts between 12 and 14 weeks.

Congratulations! The nonprofit you pitched will receive their award check from PYP Seattle either via the mail or via hand delivery, as directed by the nonprofit. The Grant Champion(s) who pitched the nonprofit that wins the first place grant award will be asked to update the membership about the nonprofit at Pitch Night the following year.

All grantees must have 501(c)3 status and grant awards must be used to directly support the local King County community.

Grant Champions, regardless of award place, may pitch any year. Nonprofits may not be pitched more than once every 3 years.

Our board has developed a policy to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure fairness and equity amongst Grant Champions. The policy is as follows:

If a PYP Seattle Board Member becomes a Grant Champion in any grant cycle, or if it is deemed she/they has a vested interest in one or more of the nonprofits included in that grant cycle, she/they shall be considered a Conflicted Board Member (“CBM”) and removed from involvement in all administrative duties of that grant cycle. Vested interest scenarios include, but are not limited to: a board member who may be a client or recipient of services offered by a grant cycle nonprofit, a board member who may be a board member of a grant cycle nonprofit, or a board member who may be related to a board member of a grant cycle nonprofit. 

Administrative duties that will be removed from the CBM are the following: 

1. Communication to the Grant Chair and to the membership regarding the grant cycle
2. Communication to Grant Champions regarding the grant cycle on behalf of PYP 
3. Knowledge of follow-up events before they are shared with group
4. Board member responsibilities during the Pitch practice nights and feedback (NOTE: The CBM may be a participate in the practice night as a Grant Champion)
5. Voting process (no access to voting system or vote tallies until results are announced)
6. Winner phone calls and results announcement
7. Other duties as determined by remaining board members

The CBM may participate in all aspects of Pitch Night itself (with the exception of access to the other Grant Champions’ presentation slides), including:

1. Agenda, flow and process
2. Tech logistics

If the Grants Chair becomes a Grant Champion, either an interim Grants Chair will be appointed or Grants Chair duties will be assumed by remaining board members.  

The CBM will not have access to any PYP email, software tools (SurveyMonkey, JotForms), or online accounts for all items related to pitches and voting.

Yes. The Board may, at any time, determine an organization be suspended or ineligible for grant funding based on extenuating circumstances. These situations will be evaluated on a case by case basis and the Grant Champions will be notified as quickly as possible should a possible exception situation be deemed appropriate.

Yes. We’ve set up this process based on what we think will work best; but if something isn’t working in practice, we’ll address it.

Contact us at Grants@pitchyourpeersseattle.org

or PYPSeattle@gmail.com.