The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) provides grants to rural-serving nonprofit organizations that promote statewide and regional planning, economic and community development, and agricultural and forestry education.
Donor Name: Rural Maryland Council
State: Maryland
County: Allegany County (MD), Calvert County (MD), Caroline County (MD), Carroll County (MD), Cecil County (MD), Charles County (MD), Washington County (MD), Wicomico County (MD), Worcester County (MD)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/16/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
The Fund’s goal is to increase the overall capacity of rural-serving nonprofit organizations and community colleges to meet a multitude of rural development challenges and to help them establish new public/private partnerships for leveraging non-state sources of funding. The Rural Maryland Council (RMC) serves as the administrative agency in receiving the applications and disbursing the grants to the successful applicants.
For Fiscal Year 2026, the RMC, as the administrative agent, is encouraging applications that address the following:
- Agriculture Forestry
- Energy
- Rural Broadband
- Youth Engagement & Leadership Development
- Economic Development
- Community Development.
Funding Information
- For Fiscal Year 2026, the State has allocated $599,735 in General Funds for the MAERDAF program.
- Grant awards are subject to funding availability, with a maximum award amount of $45,000.
Grant Period
August 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026.
Eligible Expenses
- MAERDAF grant funds do not generally fund ongoing staff positions, as these are considered unsustainable beyond the grant period. However, staff time may be included as part of indirect costs, up to a maximum of 15%. MAERDAF does allow funding for consultant services that are essential to the success of the project
- Construction and renovation of buildings are eligible expenses. Acquisition of land is not.
- The purchase or rental of vehicles are eligible expense
- Meals are allowable if the costs are reasonable and a justification is provided that such activity maintains the continuity of the meeting and to do otherwise will impose arduous conditions on the meeting participants
- Indirect administrative costs are capped at 15%.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) IRS tax designation or similar and serve a regional or statewide rural constituency. Trade associations are not eligible. Community Colleges, Career Technology Centers, Regional Councils, and Libraries are eligible applicants. The applicant does not have to be located in a rural area or in the area it serves
- Rural counties: State-determined rural counties are Allegany, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester. Regional projects may include non-rural counties but the majority of service must be provided in rural areas
- The State Rural Recognized Regional Councils are eligible entities to apply for RMPIF competitive funds. These projects are encouraged to have co-applicants and multiple sources of funds
- All applicants must include an official IRS-issued W-9 form with their application, allowing RMC to verify the organization’s name, address, and tax identification number. The address on the W-9 must match the organization’s grant award address. If they do not match, payment processing may be delayed.
For more information, visit RMC.
