2024 Community Projects Fund Grant Program – Maryland

Deadline: 10/31/2023

Size of the Grant: $25,000

Grant Duration: 6 months

Details:

The goal of this program is to support small, community focused projects, initiatives, and events led by small, emerging, and volunteer led nonprofit organizations within Montgomery County with one-time funds. These small projects should target needs not directly addressed by other Montgomery County departmental efforts, that addresses critical gaps in specific communities, cut across traditional sectors, or that offer innovative and experimental approaches to complex issues. Community needs do not always fit neatly into a single department’s mission, have often complex multifaceted root causes, and require innovative and flexible solutions.

The 2024 Community Projects Fund Grants Program is intentionally highly flexible to allow nonprofit organizations, who have grassroots understanding of community needs, to design and propose small projects and initiatives that will best meet these needs. These funds may also support cultural and community events not traditionally supported by Montgomery County departments.

The Office of Grants Management expects a large number of applications and total funding requests that will greatly exceed the amount of resources available for 2024 Community Project Fund. To help applicants make their proposals more competitive, priority in awarding funding will be given to proposals that:

• Are from small, emerging, or volunteer led nonprofit organizations;
• Are from organizations based in or serving an Underserved Community;
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of their target population’s/community’s needs and an effective project strategy to effectively meets these needs;
• Provide services, advocacy, or other support to the target population/community that is not already funded by other County resources;
• Provide technically, culturally, and/or linguistically proficient services to the target population/community;
• Demonstrate a broad base of impact through their proposal to their target population/community; and
• Will be fully implemented in the next six (6) months.

The range of programming allowed under this Grant Program is intentionally very flexible. Examples of thematic priorities that have previously been funded by Community Grants include, but are not limited to:

• Development costs for a guidebook, curricula, or other resource to be used by the target community;
• Translation costs for a similar set of community resources;
• One-time activities such as a cultural festival, youth camp during a school break, senior job fair, or other community event;
• Short-term activities such after-school academic tutoring, youth development and mentorship sessions, accessibility focused projects, and courses; or
• Operating support for basic needs service providers targeting unique Underserved Communities;

This current cycle will also include an additional $100,000 in funding from the Department of Health and Human Services for the “FY24 Fentanyl Use, Overdose, and Death Reduction Grant Program,” which aims to reduce the number of persons using, overdosing and dying from the use of fentanyl in Montgomery County, MD.

Funding Information

Award sizes will vary with a minimum award of $5,000 and a maximum award of $25,000. The grant will be awarded for an up to six (6) month performance period, will be set by the applicant in their proposal. Programs must be run and be evaluated during this period.

Target Population

The target population for this grant program is Montgomery County residents. This Grant Program is intentionally very flexible and allows nonprofit partners to define their own specific target populations within Montgomery County. Priority to awarding funding will be given to projects that target Underserved Communities within Montgomery County.

The term “underserved communities” refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet all of the following conditions:

• The organization must have a Federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or be a collaboration between two or more entities with at least one having this status;
• The organization must be currently registered and in Good Standing with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT);
• The organization’s principal place of business must be located in Montgomery County; if a national or regional organization, it must have a location in Montgomery County through which it provides related services;
• All activities and expenditures under this grant program must be provided in Montgomery County OR be exclusively for Montgomery County residents if activities and expenditures occur outside of the County
• Current Montgomery County contract or grant award winners must be current on all reporting obligations for other awards and those reports must reflect substantial progress towards the goals of their awards; and
• Proposed expenses must be for a new activity, expansion of existing activities, or a combination of both. County funding cannot be used to supplant other funding for already planned activities.

For more information, visit Montgomery County.