Search Through Local Government Grants in Maryland in the U.S.

Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a unique federal-state partnership providing social and economic support for a 13-state region stretching along the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi, including western North Carolina.

Established by the United States Congress in 1965, when Appalachia was considered "a region apart" from the rest of the nation, ARC has worked to bring Appalachia's 26 million people into America's economic mainstream.

Area Development Program

ARC’s Area Development program relies on a flexible “bottom up” approach to economic development, empowering Appalachian communities to work with their state governments to design impactful investment opportunities supporting our mission and investment priorities.

Within the scope of our Strategic Plan, ARC’s Area Development program makes investments in two general areas: critical infrastructure and business and workforce development. Critical infrastructure investments mainly include water and wastewater systems, transportation networks, broadband, and other projects anchoring regional economic development. Business and workforce investments primarily focus on entrepreneurship, worker training and education, food systems, leadership, and other human capital development.

A comprehensive strategic planning process involving federal, state, and local officials and citizens resulted in, Appalachia Envisioned: A New Era of Opportunity – ARC Strategic Plan 2022-2026, which focuses investments under these five general goals:

• Building Appalachian Businesses:
  • Strengthen and diversify the region’s economy through inclusive economic development strategies and investments in entrepreneurship and business development
• Building Appalachia’s Workforce Ecosystem
  • Expand and strengthen community systems (education, healthcare, housing, childcare, and others) that help Appalachians obtain a job, stay on the job, and advance along a financially sustaining career pathway.
• Building Appalachia’s Infrastructure
  • Ensure that the residents and businesses of Appalachia have access to reliable, affordable, resilient, and energy efficient utilities and infrastructure in order to successfully live and work in the region.
• Building Regional Culture and Tourism:
  • Strengthen Appalachia’s community and economic development potential by preserving and investing in the region’s local, cultural heritage, and natural assets.
• Building Community Leaders and Capacity:
  • Invest in the capacity of local leaders, organizations, and communities to address local challenges by providing technical assistance and support to access resources, engage partners, identify strategies and tactics, and conduct effective planning and project execution.

Chesapeake and Coastal Grants Gateway Proposal Solicitation

Maryland’s Chesapeake and Coastal Grants Gateway (Grants Gateway) was created to streamline the grant application process for government and non-governmental organizations as well as academic institutions. Grants Gateway provides a one-stop location for partners seeking technical and financial support for projects that foster healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies that are resilient in the face of change.

Maryland’s communities are faced with a future of higher intensity storms, increased populations and development, changing sea levels and flooding, and a growing demand for healthy places for tourism and recreation. These trends make the already challenging task of restoring the Chesapeake Bay, safeguarding people and infrastructure and managing natural resources even more complex.

To assist Maryland’s communities, the department will provide a single point of entry through the Grants Gateway for organizations seeking technical and financial assistance to restore local waterways, increase their resilience to climate impacts, strengthen local economies and develop the next generation of environmental stewards.

Grants are made possible with funding through the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund​​, the Waterway Improvement Fund, the Shoreline Erosion Control Revolving Loan Fund, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program. The Department supports comprehensive and integrated projects that achieve at least one of the below outcomes:

• Outcome 1 – Accelerate recovery and restoration of natural resources by implementing non-point source pollution reduction projects.
• Outcome 2 – Understand and enhance capacity to plan for impacts from coastal and precipitation-based flood events.​
• Outcome 3 – Design and construct habitat restoration projects to address erosion and ​flooding in communities and on public lands.
• Outcome 4 – Improve student ability to take action benefiting Chesapeake and coastal ecosystems through outdoor learning and stewardship.
• Outcome 5​ – Foster sustainable development and use of Maryland waterways with projects that benefit the general boating public.​

What does this program do?

Provides grants to qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction projects. Grant recipients supervise groups of very-low- and low-income individuals and families as they construct their own homes in rural areas. The group members provide most of the construction labor on each other’s homes, with technical assistance from the organization overseeing the project.

What is an eligible area?

Utilizing the USDA Eligibility Site you can enter a specific address for determination or just search the map to review general eligible areas.

How may funds be used?

• Give technical and supervisory assistance to participating families
• Help other organizations provide self-help technical and supervisory assistance
• Recruit families, help them complete loan applications and carry out other related activities that enable them to participate

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive.

Our Mission

To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.

Connectivity, Climate, Communities Fund

To make the highest possible impact on the climate and biodiversity crises, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is committed to advancing solutions and supporting partners throughout the Appalachians to connect and conserve vital wildlife habitat, build resilience to the impacts of climate change, and generate new job and recreation opportunities for communities.

Approximately one-third of the U.S. population lives in or within 100 miles of the Appalachians, including an estimated 36 million people that rely on the region for sources of drinking water. The landscape contains the world's largest remaining expanses of temperate broadleaf mixed forest and provides habitat to a wide diversity of plants of animals, many of which are listed as rare, threatened, or endangered. Conserving this landscape is critical for nature and for the people that live and work there.

However as climate change drives ecosystem instability, plants and animals are shifting their ranges northward, and people are having to find ways to adapt to complex and intertwined challenges. TNC and many others have been working to conserve vital Appalachian habitats for decades. Now we must ramp up our efforts and coordinate with partners across the Appalachians for maximum impact.

To succeed in these efforts, TNC’s Connectivity, Climate, Communities Fund offers two grant programs for conservation and community organizations, municipalities, Federally Recognized Tribal Nations, and local and state agencies in the Appalachians who are working to protect and conserve this region:

• The Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program
• The New York Climate Resilience Grant Program

Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program

The Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program provides grants of up to $100,000 for fee and easement acquisition projects throughout the Appalachians.

Equitable Conservation and Community Benefits

Conservation organizations are increasingly acknowledging the importance of incorporating social equity in their missions, partnerships, and projects and evolving how they work to have better outcomes for people and nature.

TNC defines community benefits as the positive outcomes that directly result from or are included within conservation projects as experienced by local communities and people. This is particularly important for historically marginalized communities, communities with limited access to nature, communities experiencing heightened impacts of climate change due to systemic underinvestment and poor infrastructure, and Indigenous communities. 

RCA program funding will support projects that demonstrate meaningful community engagement, work with those historically excluded from conservation, and lead to a fairer distribution of benefits for people and communities.

Some examples of community benefits include improved and greater access to nature, protection of drinking water sources, recreational and resource-based economic opportunities, flood mitigation, engagement in cross-cultural initiatives, or protection of lands that will meet community-defined conservation needs. We encourage projects with meaningful community benefits that are integrated with the land protection goals.

Project Evaluation

Projects will be evaluated  according to their capacity to deliver land protection outcomes aligned with the program goals, including:

• Location:
  • the project is located within TNC’s Appalachians Program boundary and is in or near a mapped focal area.  Projects outside of focal areas will also be considered.
• Resilience:
  • the percentage of the total project area that is part of the Resilient and Connected Network.
• Connectivity:
  • adjacency to protected lands or other attributes that will lead to landscape connectivity over time (e.g., the project is a necessary acquisition for advancing a local or regional plan that aims to protect a critical conservation corridor).
• Collaboration:
  • evidence of engagement with other organizations, community groups, or local governments (including, but not limited to, shared funding).
• Community:
  • project elements that directly engage and or benefit people, especially vulnerable or marginalized communities.
• Timeline:
  • the project will close within 12 months from the start of the grant agreement term.
• Feasibility:
  • likelihood that the project will close and the costs seem reasonable.

Maryland's Rural Legacy Program

The Rural Legacy Program provides the focus and funding necessary to protect large, contiguous tracts of land rich in natural and cultural resources from sprawl development. It also enhances natural resources, farms and forests through cooperative efforts among state and local governments and land trusts. Protection is provided through the acquisition of easements and fee ​simple estates from willing landowners and the supporting activities of ​​Rural Legacy Sponsors and local governments. The Program is administered by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).​

The Process

The Program encourages local governments and private land trusts to identify Rural Legacy Areas and to competitively apply for funds to complement existing land conservation efforts or create new ones. ​​Local Sponsors must apply annually to the Rural Legacy Board for participation in the Program and to receive funding.

The Rural Legacy Advisory Committee reviews all applications and makes recommendations to the Rural Legacy Board. The Rural Legacy Board, in turn, reviews the applications each year​ and recommends to the Governor and Board of Public Works which Rural Legacy Areas will be designated and funded. The Board of Public Works designates the Rural Legacy Areas and approves the grants for Rural Legacy funding.

Background

Mid Atlantic Arts was established to promote and support multi-state arts programming in a region that includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia. It is one of six regional arts organizations in the United States, and works in close partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and its member state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Mid Atlantic Arts distinguishes itself through its work in international cultural exchange, model programs in performing arts touring, its knowledge and presence in the jazz field, and its support of folk and traditional arts.

Mission

Mid Atlantic Arts nurtures and funds the creation and presentation of diverse artistic expression and connects people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond.

Vision

Mid Atlantic Arts envisions a future in which artists and creators are actively engaged with diverse communities to energize the transformative power of the arts.

Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grant

Mid Atlantic Arts’ Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects grants fund projects that support the vitality of traditional arts and cultures in the mid-Atlantic region.

Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects grants fund projects that support the vitality of traditional arts and cultures in the mid-Atlantic region. Non-profit organizations in DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, USVI, PR, or WV may apply for $1,000 to $7,000 grants. A 1:1 match is required.

Eligible project activities may include performances, public art collaborations, workshops/trainings, exhibitions, fieldwork/documentation, and creation of new traditional work. Mid Atlantic Arts encourages projects that cross state/territory borders, as well as projects that support or engage underserved or underrepresented artists, practitioners, traditions, or constituents.

Grant support range: $1,000 – $7,000

Environment Anne Arundel Fund

The Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County’s (CFAAC) Environment Anne Arundel Fund, established in 2014, supports Anne Arundel County nonprofit organizations working to protect and improve the environment in Anne Arundel County and the Chesapeake Bay.

Anne Arundel County is a place of natural beauty that can be enjoyed through two state parks and 70 county parks linked by an extensive network of recreation and transportation trails. With 534 miles of linear coastline, the county ranks second for waterfront in the state. The Chesapeake Bay is perhaps Anne Arundel County’s most treasured natural resource, constituting the largest estuary in the United States.

As outlined in the CFAAC Community Needs Assessment, Poverty Amidst Plenty VI: On the Road to Progress for All, Chapter 1 Environment, despite many efforts by federal, state, and local governments and other interested parties, indicators of the health of the Chesapeake Bay, including rates pollution, and protection of natural habitat and fisheries, continue to receive failing grades. The amount of pollution in the Bay does not meet existing water quality standards. Waterways are considered “impaired” because of excessive levels of major contaminants, which are largely a result of untreated stormwater runoff. Air quality and lead pollution in the drinking water is an issue for vulnerable residents.

Successful grant applicants will support projects that improve and green communities, address environmental issues such as stormwater, and/or increase student awareness and involvement in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay, local streams and rivers, and other natural areas. Local nonprofits, including schools operating in Anne Arundel County, will be eligible to apply for these funds.

Applications should demonstrate the non-profits’ ability to:

• educate the public on protecting the natural environment,
• raise awareness of the impact of public and private actions on the natural environment,
• engage citizens to help improve and protect the natural environment.

Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) Maryland is the State’s nationally recognized workforce solution. EARN Maryland is an industry-led initiative meant to ensure that employers have the talent they need to compete and grow, while preparing Marylanders for meaningful careers. The program encourages collaboration, funding Strategic Industry Partnerships comprised of employers, non-profits, higher education, local workforce investment boards, Registered Apprenticeship Sponsors, and local governments. Partnerships provide indemand, relevant training to Maryland’s workforce based upon industry identified needs.

EARN Maryland builds upon the Moore-Miller administration’s priorities of connecting Marylanders to jobs while increasing the State’s economic competitiveness. Generally, EARN Maryland is designed to:

• Address business workforce needs by focusing on industry sector strategies that seek long-term solutions to sustained skills gaps and personnel shortages
• Address the needs of workers by creating formal career paths to good jobs, and sustaining or growing middle class jobs
• Encourage mobility for Maryland’s most hard-to-serve jobseekers through targeted job readiness training
• Foster better coordination between the public, private, and non-profit sectors and the workforce, economic development, and education partners around the State

Description

The funding available through this grant program comes from savings resulting from reforms under Governor Larry Hogan’s Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA) here in Maryland.

JRA reforms are focused on safely reducing Maryland’s prison population by incorporating more evidence-based programming to improve reentry outcomes, reduce impacts of incarceration on communities, provide more resources to victims of crime, and connect nonviolent offenders with behavioral health needs to community treatment and support. Outcomes of PIGF funded programs will be monitored by the Justice Reinvestment Oversight Board and performance measures will be set by the Local Government Justice Reinvestment Commission.

Categories funded

• Contractual Services
• Equipment
• Operating Expenses
• Other
• Personnel
• Travel

Maryland Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC Grant

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) administers the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grant program to assist local education agencies (LEAs), non-profit agencies, city or county government agencies, community and faithbased organizations, institutions of higher education, and for-profit corporations in the State to provide activities outside of school hours that provide opportunities for academic enrichment which include providing instructional services to help students, particularly students who attend low-performing schools, to meet State and local student academic achievement standards in core academic subjects, such as language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities, such as youth development and engagement activities, substance abuse and alcohol prevention, service-learning, violence prevention, counseling, art, music, recreation, and technology education that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students.

Offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for literacy instruction and related educational development.

Funding

• Range of Grant Award:
  • Minimum Award: $50,000
  • Maximum Award: $400,000

Overview

The objective of the Rural Maryland Prosperity Investment Fund (RMPIF) is to help raise the overall standard of living in rural areas to a level that meets or exceeds statewide benchmark averages by 2030, while preserving the best aspects of a cultural heritage and rural way of life. Resources provided to RMPIF are designed to facilitate significant targeted investments in important economic and community development programs and promote regional and intergovernmental cooperation. These investments will also enable local and regional public and nonprofit organizations to leverage additional non-state financial and human resources to facilitate the realization of sustainable rural development objectives. The Fund will serve the interests of the entire State by:

• Encouraging the increase of entrepreneurial activity and commerce and a balanced economy in the State;
• Relieving conditions of unemployment and underemployment in rural areas;
• Assisting in the retention of valuable farm and forest land for productive use by present and future generations;
• Promoting intergovernmental cooperation and public sector/private sector partnerships in and between rural and other areas;
• Enhancing the deployment of housing, transportation, water, wastewater, and broadband communications infrastructure and services in rural areas;
• Supporting rural commercial center redevelopment and community revitalization efforts; and,
• Generally promoting the health, happiness, safety, employment opportunity, and general welfare of the residents of each of the rural counties and municipal corporations of the State.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure improvement – from traditional public facilities like roads and sewage treatment plants to such increasingly important amenities as workforce housing – are vital to healthy, flourishing communities. For instance, about half of the State’s major sewage treatment facilities and 90 percent of small community wastewater systems are located in rural areas, and many of these are experiencing difficult problems associated with aging collection and treatment infrastructure.

Rural regional infrastructure projects would provide matching grants for projects that involve two or more units of local government and are related to broadband, water, wastewater, transportation, workforce housing, and commercial/industrial facilities up to 25 percent of the total project cost. Workforce housing is defined as housing targeted to 80 to 120 percent of median income of the community in which the employees work. Other potential projects could include GIS services to modernize and improve utility infrastructure data and renewable energy facilities such as biomass, solar or wind electricity or thermal heat generators.

Operating Assistance Grant

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development is committed to assisting Maryland’s local governments and nonprofit organizations build capacity to achieve their community revitalization and economic development goals. Operating Assistance Grants include funding for Technical Assistance and Main Street Improvement Program Grant.

The Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) program assists local governments and nonprofits with operating costs associated with local housing and community revitalization efforts. The activities that funds are being requested for should be completed within one year.

Eligible Activities

Grants can be used for operating expenses only. Operating costs can include salary, professional services contracts, technology costs, or other costs related to administering the Technical Assistance Grant program. The requested funds should support projects and/or activities that align with the goals and outcomes of the applicant’s annual work plan and contribute to the transformation strategy of the community. All projects and/or activities should be completed within one year; a funding match is not required. 

Capital project costs are not supported through TAG; however, other DHCD programs do support capital costs, such as State Revitalization Programs​.

Additional consideration will be given to initiatives that address the overarching priorities of the Moore-Miller Administration, including ensuring that all those who want to live in Maryland can do so. In addition, priority consideration will be given to those projects and places that reflect the core objectives of MD DHCD, including to create great, lovable places and to right the wrongs of the past. Great places – lovable places– result from consistent targeted investment in locally-driven and inclusive community reinvestment plans.

About

The Preservation Leadership Forum of the National Trust for Historic Preservation is a network of preservation leaders — professionals, students, volunteers, activists, experts — who share the latest ideas, information, and advice, and have access to in-depth preservation resources and training.

Henry A. Jordan, M.D., Preservation Excellence Fund - Mid-Atlantic States

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Henry A. Jordan, M.D., Preservation Excellence Fund provides funding to deserving organizations demonstrating commitment to the protection of natural and cultural resources in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Jordan Preservation Excellence Fund was established in November 1996 in recognition of Dr. Jordan’s distinguished service to the National Trust and his visionary leadership of the national preservation movement. Applicants can apply for up to $5,000.

The fund awards programs and activities that:

• Facilitate positive dialogues between the diverse interests of historic preservation, land conservation, business development, transportation, and government in a search for common ground in protecting the environment
• Stimulate the development of local and state policies that protect the cultural landscape and its resources
• Heighten public awareness of or increase involvement in issues relating to the livability and sustainability of communities
• Encourage innovative partnerships and approaches to open space conservation and historic preservation

About if, A Foundation for Radical Possibility

if, A Foundation for Radical Possibility envisions an equitable and just region and nation in which Black people and people of the global majority live powerfully, abundantly and beautifully in healthy, self-determined communities free of social, economic and ideological violence.

We achieve our vision by centering the leadership and expertise of Black people and people of the global majority in the Washington, DC region who live at the sharpest intersection of systems of oppression, in particular race, class and gender identity. We build relationships to transform how philanthropic, nonprofit and government resources are deployed to disrupt institutions and structures that perpetuate anti-black racism and other intersectional discriminatory harms. We share power and decision-making and we support organizations that build the people’s power to demand and achieve justice. We take risks that others are not willing to take and we are comfortable seeding bold ideas and sparking innovation. We speak our truth and support platforms for communities to tell their own truths, and we heal ourselves and facilitate healing in our communities.

Within this framework, if is embedding community engagement in its Board structure, grantmaking and capacity building programs, communications, and healing justice work.

Funding Priorities

if will provide funding support for organizations that are:

• committed to racial equity and are operationalizing it
• undertaking community organizing or community engagement, and
• undertaking advocacy.

if will support the organizing of low-income patients/clients, workers, community members, immigrants, and others. if will also support community-based organizations and nonprofits that use advocacy strategies with a racial equity lens at the local, state and regional levels.

Advocacy for local, state, and regional policy change and systems reform is essential to achieve the change we envision. if defines advocacy as efforts to create local, state and regional policy change and systems reforms that benefit Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, and people of color communities in the Washington, DC region. Activities could include community engagement and organizing among residents in low-income neighborhoods, development of policy recommendations, policy implementation and monitoring, budget and policy analysis, coalition or network building, convenings, stakeholder engagement and collective problem solving among diverse groups, campaigns, media and communication.

Program Goals

The Capacity Building Grant Program is an annual program of the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network (CBFN). It seeks to support the capacity of organizations working at the intersection of natural resource and community well-being. “Organizational capacity” is defined as activities that strengthen an organization to help it better fulfill its mission. Organizations that are strong and healthy are more effective in carrying out their missions and are more consistent and sustainable partners.

What does this program fund?

Capacity-building projects should address challenges to improve an organization or local government’s long-term effectiveness. Applicants can focus on building their own internal capacity or building capacity for other organizations or local governments.

Examples include:

• Contractual support for organizational effectiveness assessments.
• Support for conducting enterprise risk management, including scenario planning.
• Strategic plan development or refinement.
• Fundraising plan development.
• Technology or database assistance.
• Operational process improvements.
• Staff training.
• Board development.
• Shared technical assistance models.
  • This category covers both technical assistance providers offering services to multiple nonprofits / local governments, or groups of organizations jointly seeking support for shared needs.
• Collaboration and mergers.

How much can be awarded?

Funding requests will generally not exceed $40,000 for non-profits and $150,000 for local governments. Requests may exceed these levels with additional justification.

Welcoming both those organizations with little to no experience presenting jazz and seasoned jazz presenters seeking to strengthen programming, application occurs annually through an open, competitive process. Once selected, membership is ongoing upon meeting annual requirements.

JTN expands the presentation of jazz throughout the mid-Atlantic region while ensuring regional programming reflects the vibrancy and diversity of the current field of jazz. Members take part in professional development activities and work together to block-book a series of jazz tours each year.

Description

Byrne Justice Assistance Grants support a broad range of state and local criminal justice initiatives critical to Maryland's ultimate goal of safe communities. Funds are intended to reduce existing gaps in service that impact violent crime, crime victims, enforcement, prosecution, adjudication, detention, and rehabilitation.

Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant application citizen review

The Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services is providing the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program draft application for public comment. This requirement can be found in the federal solicitation. Any comments or feedback should be directed to Quentin Jones, Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program Manager. The draft narrative may be found below under Additional Documents.

History

Byrne Justice Assistance Grants has its roots in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 passed by Congress to offer assistance to state and local governments in strengthening and improving the operation of law enforcement functions in the states. From there grew the original Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program (Byrne Formula). The original Byrne program encouraged states and units of local government to prepare comprehensive strategic plans based upon the evaluation of state and local problems of law enforcement and to conduct research and development on improving law enforcement and developing new and innovative ways to prevent and reduce crime.

In 2002, Congress funded (though never authorized) a separate Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program to provide grants directly to local law enforcement agencies. In 2005, Congress fused the two programs, creating the current Justice Assistance Grants.

The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services has administered the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants funds for over ten years.

For more than 20 years, The Baltimore Life Companies have viewed community involvement as our responsibility, not only through financial support of local organizations, but through our employees’ commitment to volunteerism. To further demonstrate our belief in good corporate citizenship, Baltimore Life has established a community grants program to help nonprofit organizations enhance the quality of life in communities—Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and the surrounding communities—where our employees live and work.

Grants of up to $500 will be awarded to multiple organizations. Our grants program is a continuation of Baltimore Life’s long-standing tradition of giving back to our communities.

About the Presser Foundation

The Presser Foundation was formally established in 1939 under various deeds of trust of the late Theodore Presser. In the charter of incorporation, The Foundation’s purposes are set forth to promote primarily the cause of musical education and musical philanthropy as follows: to provide scholarships for promising students; to increase the value of music education by erecting suitable buildings; and to administer aid to worthy teachers of music in distress.

While The Foundation’s priorities have evolved over time, it has provided much needed funding to further the cause of music for over 75 years. It has been said that Theodore Presser wanted to give back to music what he had made from it. When he died in 1925, he left no children. He had been widowed twice, and the bulk of his fortune was left to The Foundation.

The small staff and Board of Trustees continue to oversee the work of The Foundation. The Foundation is fortunate to have had a founder who clearly stated the purpose which he desired to achieve. The Board of Trustees includes prominent local and national leaders in music. All Trustees share a passion for music and all are committed to carrying out the intentions of the benefactor.

Special Projects Grants

Introduction & Purpose

The Trustees of The Presser Foundation created the Special Projects Committee to consider grant requests that fall outside the Foundation’s core grantmaking programs. Grant amounts typically range from $5,000 to $25,000 annually for music organizations operating in a broad range of music traditions, genres, and styles. In 2024-25, 9% of The Presser Foundation’s distributed funds ($320,230/$3.73 million) went to Special Project grants. This fiscal year (2025-26), the Special Projects Committee will consider applications for:

• General Operating Support for newly established music organizations (up to 5 years in existence).
• Resilience Grants for small music organizations impacted by government funding or policy changes. These grant requests of up to $7,500 are for organizations with operating budgets under $150,000. Organizations seeking support for the following are encouraged to apply:
  • Artistic and/or organizational development (e.g. workforce programming) projects that have been impacted by government funding cuts;
  • Organizations seeking legal, financial, fundraising, or communications guidance to navigate government funding or policy changes;
  • Efforts to share costs and collaborate* with another nonprofit organization to maintain financial stability for the organization; and
  • Other efforts to maintain your organization’s core mission and/or financial viability in response to the changing arts funding landscape will be considered.
  • *Not intended for one-time creative collaborations.

Purpose

The Grants for Organizations (GFO) program provides annual operating grants to organizations that produce or present the arts to the general public through public programs or services. The purpose of the GFO program is to strengthen the vitality and sustainability of Maryland’s cultural organizations to maintain a strong and stable arts infrastructure in the State of Maryland.

Description

General Operating Grants (GOG)

GOG provides operating support to nonprofit organizations whose purpose is producing or presenting the arts through public programs or services. Applicants must be arts organizations, organizations whose mission/purpose is producing or presenting the arts through public programs or services, such as art museums, orchestras, galleries, theaters, arts centers, etc.

Arts Program Grants (PRG)

PRG provides arts program support to nonprofit organizations whose primary purpose is other than producing or presenting the arts, but who provide ongoing public arts activities through public programs. The mission of these organizations is not specifically dedicated to the arts but they do have ongoing arts programming. These are considered non-arts organizations for MSAC purposes. Examples include: community centers, churches, non-art museums, libraries, universities, etc. These organizations may apply for an Arts Program Grant for the costs of their ongoing arts activities produced or presented for general audiences through public programs. Units of local government, colleges, and universities are also eligible to apply. 

Artistic Categories

Eligible organizations may apply for a single GFO grant per year in only one of the artistic categories listed below. Organizations should select the artistic category that most closely characterizes the predominant activities of their organization.  GFO grants are awarded in the following artistic categories:

• Dance
• Folk and Traditional Arts
• Literary Arts
• Multi-Discipline A
• Multi-Discipline B
• Music
• Music C
• Theater
• Visual Arts/Media A
• Visual Arts/Media B
• Service*

*Those organizations that fall in the “Service” category will answer alternative questions noted within the application

 Maryland Horse Board Grants Program 

The Maryland Horse Industry Board Grant Program was developed to promote, bring awareness to and help grow the state’s horse industry.

The main goals of the grant program are to:

• increase public awareness and participation,
• advance education and training in youth and adults,
• support and promote equestrian events, programs, and activities, and
• preserve access and use of public lands for riding in the Maryland horse industry.

Grants that align with action items outlined in the most recent Maryland Horse Forum Report will be given strong consideration as well as grants that aim to enhance diversity and inclusion in the Maryland horse industry. The grant program is supported by the Maryland Feed Fund.

Funding

Grant requests should not exceed $3,000. The average grant amount awarded is approximately $1,000 with total grant monies awarded each year --$30,000-$40,000. Grant funds for applicants to attend conferences, trainings, or certifications will be limited to $500 or less. In some instances, the review committee may recommend a grant amount less than what was requested.

Maryland State Arts Council

The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) advances the arts in our state by providing leadership that champions creative expression, diverse programming, equitable access, lifelong learning, and the arts as a celebrated contributor to the quality of life for all the people of Maryland.

The Council comprises an appointed body of 17 citizens from across the state, 13 of whom are named by the Governor to three-year terms that may be renewed once. Two private citizens and two legislators are appointed by the President of the Senate and by the Speaker of the House. All councilors serve without salary.

To carry out its mission, MSAC awards grants to not-for-profit, tax-exempt organizations for ongoing arts programming and projects. MSAC also awards grants to individual artists and provides technical and advisory assistance to individuals and groups. MSAC reserves the right to prioritize grant awards.

Mission and Goals

MSAC’s mission is to advance the arts in our state by providing leadership that champions creative expression, diverse programming, equitable access, lifelong learning, and the arts as a celebrated contributor to the quality of life for all the people of Maryland.

MSAC’s most recent strategic plan outlines five goals:

• Increase Participation: Broaden MSAC’s constituency, providing avenues designed to increase pathways to engagement.
• Provide Intentional Support: Embrace thoughtful and targeted approaches to serving known and yet to be known MSAC constituents.
• Build Capacity: Work strategically to further build organizational and governance capacity to ensure that MSAC is capable of vigorously delivering on its mission.
• Leverage Connections: Further enhance current relationships and involve additional collaborators, and constituents who will benefit from and advance the work of MSAC.
• Bolster Maryland Arts: Showcase the high caliber, diverse and relevant work of Maryland's artists and arts organizations; their contributions to community vitality and MSAC’s role as a catalyst.

Heritage Award Guidelines

Heritage Awards recognize long-term achievement in the traditional arts. MSAC defines traditional arts as community-based living cultural traditions handed down by example or word of mouth. Awards are given through the Maryland Traditions and annually recognize six recipients in each of three categories of Person/People, Place, and Tradition:

• Awards in the Person/People category are given to individuals or groups whose efforts demonstrate long-term achievement in:
  • Artistry
  • Community leadership
  • Creative practice
  • Documentation
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Presentation
  • Research
  • Performance

• Awards in the Place category are given to locations that:
  • Achieve long-term prominence over a period of generations
  • Serve as gathering spaces for community fellowship
  • Serve as sites for traditional practices

• Awards in the Tradition category are given in broad recognition of activities that connect communities to folklife through area such as:
  • Traditional practices
  • Recurring events
  • Occupations
  • Local knowledge
  • Cultural movements
  • Organizations

Background

This program provides grant funding to support the installation of solar systems that provide multiple uses for land and water. The program encourages efficiency in land use by focusing solar development activities on areas used for other functions. The grant may be used for Solar Canopies on parking lots and parking garages, which include the installation of at least four (4) Level 2 or Level 3 electric vehicle chargers under or around the solar canopy. As a pilot, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is adding waterborne solar systems. While solar canopies over parking lots and waterborne solar installations are specifically included, other dual use opportunities may be proposed for consideration.

Evaluation Criteria

The primary element of the evaluation is the overall cost per watt of nameplate capacity: The total project cost per watt installed in the solar PV system. ($5,000/total cost per kW)

Additional evaluation criteria include:

• Additional roof- or ground-mounted capacity installed in conjunction with a canopy system and located on the same real estate parcel.
• Additional solar capacity installed in conjunction with a floating solar system and located on the same body of water.
• The number and type of qualified EV chargers to be installed.
• Innovative project design and/or use.
• Located in a wastewater treatment pond, stormwater retention pond or private waterway. Any projects that propose installation on areas used for public recreation, water supply, or are generally considered navigable waterways must have the signed approval of each applicable regulatory authority BEFORE applying.
• Estimated accessibility of the proposed carport and the EV chargers to the public.
• The frequency of parking lot use.
• The geographic diversity of grants awarded.

Award Formula

MEA will provide up to $500 per kW-dc of new canopy mounted or floating solar PV installed per project, with a maximum award of $250,000 per project.

MEA will provide up to $200 per kW-dc for upgrading old (>20 years old) solar PV modules on an existing solar canopy structure, with a cap of $100,000 per project, where the previous solar canopy system had not received a solar incentive payment from MEA.

Anticipated Program Budget: $700,000. Projects will be given up to two years to be completed.

NEW: As a pilot for FY24, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has added a new incentive category: a parking lot solar canopy used as a community solar array, that provides resilient power to critical infrastructure, or to one or more business(es) or organization(s) that are important for community continuity and wellbeing in power outage and emergency situations. Community solar arrays that support Maryland Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI), overburdened, and disadvantaged communities are strongly preferred.

The Watershed Assistance Grant Program is a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Trust (Trust), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and – new this year – West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)!

This program provides support for watershed restoration project designs and permitting and for watershed planning and programmatic development. The ultimate goal of the projects funded through this opportunity will be improved water quality in:

• The entire State of Maryland
• The West Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Click Here to View Map of Eligible Locations

By funding the earliest phases of watershed restoration projects and planning, the funding partners aim to provide local governments and non-profit organizations the ability to position themselves to quickly advance implementation work. The funding partners hope the products of grants funded under this opportunity will enable grantees to:

• Leverage resulting designs, plans, or projects to craft future proposals for implementation funding to the Maryland Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, grant programs at the Chesapeake Bay Trust, or other sources of support;
• Develop deliverables that will support local planning efforts such as Financial Assurance Plans (FAPs), Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plans, county-wide Green Infrastructure Plans, watershed action plans, and State of Maryland Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) strategies and associated State Two-year Milestones.

The NRA Foundation: Maryland Grants

Grant funding provided by The NRA Foundation must meet all NRA Foundation requirements and be used to further a charitable purpose as defined by the Internal Revenue Code under section 501(c)(3) and accompanying rules, regulations, and other IRS law and materials. Eligibility and funding amount are determined solely by the Foundation.

Grant requests must conform to, and foster the purposes in, The NRA Foundation’s mission statement, such as:

• Promote, advance, and encourage firearms, the shooting sports, and hunting safety.
• Educate individuals, including the youth of the United States, with respect to firearms, firearms history, participation in the shooting sports, hunting safety, and marksmanship, as well as with respect to other subjects that are of importance to the well-being of the general public.
• Conduct research in furtherance of improved firearms safety and marksmanship facilities and techniques.
• Support activities of the National Rifle Association of America, to the extent that such activities are in furtherance of charitable, educational, or scientific purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code which includes activities that are charitable, educational, or foster National or International sports competition.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is administering three separate Community Safety Works grant opportunities to improve the livability and economic potential of Maryland communities through targeted investments in crime prevention that impact community safety.

This application is for grants between $35,000 and $100,000 for collaborations to address illegal and dangerous activities from communities through lighting, camera surveillance strategies and related community safety services and technology.