Applying for Grants

PERC works with manufacturers, researchers, and government partners to strengthen technical knowledge, leverage funding, and maximize investments in developing new propane products for the agriculture industry. We encourage proposals for projects that align with the Council’s agriculture mission.

If you have questions you would like to talk about before preparing an application, get in touch with Mark Leitman, director of agriculture programs, at mark.leitman@propane.com.

Preparing your application

The first step to apply for funding is to complete a brief project summary describing your idea. This step serves as an idea screen, opening the door to a preliminary investigation of the project.

You will enter your project summary online using the Council’s Grants Management System.

Step 1 - Download the Idea Submission form, fill it out offline, and save it on your local computer. You will later upload the finished document as part of the online project summary submission.

Step 2 - Collect the information you will need to complete your submission.  You will need to include a brief statement (no more than 500 characters, including spaces) of the purpose of the proposed work. You will also need a timeline, a total funding amount including potential co-funding, and a list of project team members.

Step 3 - Submit your funding request using the Council's Grants Management System.

Deadlines & timing
With few exceptions, there are no fixed deadlines for submitting a grant funding request, and the review process of eligible inquiries can take up to eight weeks.

The Propel Process
The Council manages its research and development projects using a customized process, called Propel, which follows the principles of the Stage-Gate process. The process begins with an idea submission form; then, Propel divides this project process into a series of activities (stages) and decision points (gates). We encourage you to download the Propel Overview document to learn more about the criteria and methods used to assess the value and progress of proposed projects.

Each project is evaluated based on its fit with the strategic direction and resource availability of the Council. If the project progresses beyond the initial review (Gate 1 Review), a Council staff member is assigned to the project. The staff member will discuss with the grantee the activities and deliverables required through Propel and work with the grantee to ensure that the project deliverables are completed in accordance with the Council’s schedule.

Approval at the Gate 1 Review does not guarantee Council support or funding of the project.

We encourage you to download the Propel Overview document to learn more about the activities required at each of the stages and the criteria used at the gate reviews.