Utah · Cooperative Marketing Grant · Tier 2 · 2026

Tell your county's story to the country.

From Bear Lake to Bears Ears — and every town between — Utah's tourism grant exists to bring out-of-state visitors to your community. We help small organizations get their fair shot at it.

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Why us

A small Utah firm for small Utah organizations.

The Cooperative Marketing Grant has funded 1,147 applications and over $69 million in tourism marketing since 2005 — but its application is forty-nine numbered fields and a 100-point rubric. We close that gap.

The Co-op Marketing Grant is one of the best-kept opportunities in Utah's nonprofit ecosystem. A modest local museum can put $100,000 of state cash and another $100,000 in matching funds against a single year's tourism campaign — enough to take a regional festival and put it in front of audiences in Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and beyond.

The catch is that the application is built for organizations with marketing departments and CFOs. If you're a volunteer-board-led nonprofit, a city clerk wearing five hats, or a tribal cultural center with a small staff, the runway from "we should apply" to "submitted by June 10" is long.

We've spent months getting fluent in the program: every field of the application, every clause of the standard Grant Agreement, every line item that's eligible and every one that isn't. We use AI to draft fast and a careful human read on every word that goes to the State.

Our practice is exclusively Tier 2. Our clients are Utah nonprofits, cities, and tribes — never out-of-state organizations, never for-profit attractions, never groups that don't fit the program. We tell prospects "this isn't for you" almost as often as we say yes. It's a feature.

Where we work

Every corner of Utah, on its own terms.

Tier 2 is open to nonprofits, cities, and federally recognized tribes anywhere in Utah. Each requires its own protocol — and each has its own story to tell.

Nonprofits

Museums, festivals, performing arts

From historical societies in Delta to opera companies in Logan to ballet associations in Ogden. Two-year 501(c)(3) status required.

Cities

Small towns with a single asset

A city with a discrete tourism draw — a heritage site, a recurring event, a recreational asset — can apply directly. Procurement Code applies above $50K.

Tribes

Federally recognized nations

Goshute. Ute. Northwestern Band of the Shoshone. Paiute. Tribal applications follow formal protocol — letterhead correspondence, council referral, chairman authorization.

The grant, by the numbers

A clear-eyed look at Tier 2.

No marketing dressed as math. Here's the program as it actually is.

$100K
Maximum grant request
1:1
Cash match required (non-state)
$650K
Total Tier 2 pool, 2026
50/50
Disbursement: half advance, half reimbursement

The reimbursement structure is the hardest part: applicants must carry roughly $100–150K of working capital for 12–15 months between project execution and the final payment in March 2028. If your organization can't carry that, the grant isn't the right fit, and the qualification call will say so.

Engagement

Flat fee. No contingency. The applicant is you.

We charge a flat fee for the application engagement, refundable if the grant isn't awarded. We do not charge a percentage of award. We never represent ourselves to UOT as the applicant — every interaction is on your authorization, with our role disclosed openly. You sign Q49.

If you'd like our help executing the marketing campaign post-award, that's a separate, flat-priced engagement you can choose or decline. Many clients use a different vendor; we encourage competitive quotes when our marketing services contract would be over $50,000 with a municipal client.

Records of every application we assist with are retained for the seven-year audit window. Your application, your scope of work, your final report — preserved, encrypted, ready for any GRAMA request UOT or the State Auditor sends our way.

What you can expect

  • 30 minutes for the qualification call
  • ~6 hours of your time over 8 weeks
  • ~41 hours on our side, total
  • One flat fee for the application engagement
  • Refundable if you withdraw before drafting
  • Optional bundled marketing post-award
  • No contingency. Ever.

Curious whether your organization fits?

The qualification call is honest, free, and short. If your project isn't right for Tier 2, we'll point you to better options. If it is, we'll tell you exactly what the next eight weeks look like.

Schedule a 30-min call →