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Montgomery County
Grant Opportunities Newsletter

October 8, 2024

The Montgomery County Grant Opportunities Newsletter provides grant seeking stakeholders with a concrete schedule of new, currently open, and soon to be launched grant programs as well as status updates for closed grant programs.  The newsletter also highlights the Office of Grants Management (OGM) events, non-County grant opportunities, and other events/news items of interest to grant seeking stakeholders.  For a long-term projection of County grant programs, download the most up-to-date version of the FY25 Grant Program Forecast.

Featured Nonprofit Training Opportunity

• Sustainable Success: Governance and Succession Planning for Nonprofits – Learn how to set your nonprofit up for long-term success by mastering governance and succession planning at our event, Sustainable Success! Hosted by the Black Collective on Tuesday November 12, 2024 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Currently Open

• FY25 Nonprofit Security Grant Program: Opened September 23, 2024 and closes October 18, 2024. The Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) is soliciting grant applications from nonprofit or faith-based organizations located in Montgomery County that are at a high risk of experiencing hate crimes. Funding may be awarded to augment costs for security personnel, planning, training, or security cameras. FY25 Nonprofit Security Grant applicants may request funding up to $15,000 per facility.

Coming Soon (Next 30 Days)

• FY25 Low and Middle Income (LMI) Electrification Grant Program: Estimated launch in early October 2024. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is soliciting grant applications from nonprofits for one competitively selected federally funded subgrantee to upgrade one or more low-income communities with energy-efficient electric appliances, heating, and hot water systems. The goal of the grant project is to complete fuel-switching activities in at least 30 single-family units or at least 1 multifamily building serving 15 units. The single award will total roughly $1.8 million.

NEW Non-County Funding Opportunities

• Citi Foundation Community Finance Innovation Fund Request for Ideas (RFI): Deadline November 5, 2024 - 12:00PM (noon) New York Time (Eastern Time).  The Citi Foundation seeks innovative ideas to advance the field of community development finance, specifically affecting CDFIs, in the United States. A subset of the organizations that complete this RFI will be invited to submit a grant application. Please review the Community Finance Innovation Fund (CFIF) FAQ, which provides guidance on the intent of the Fund and how best to approach completing this RFI.

• Building Upgrades Inspiring Local Transformation (BUILT Nonprofits) Program: Opened October 1, 2024 and closes on November 12, 2024. The US Department of Energy in partnership with TechWerx is accepting grant applications from domestic 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that own and operate their own buildings to make energy efficiency improvements. The grant aims to reduce energy use, lower carbon emissions, and generate short and long-term energy cost savings. The maximum grant award is $100,000 and requires a 20% cost-share. A BUILT informational webinar is on October 9, 2024. 

• Transformational Direct Air Capture Technologies and Remove Legacy Carbon Dioxide Program: The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to release a Notice of Funding Opportunity in late 2024 for Direct Air Capture (DAC) developers or commercial facilities. A DOE OCED DAC informational webinar is on October 10, 2024.

• FY25 Community Solar LMI-PPA Grant Program: Opened October 2, 2024 and closes at 3pm on November 29, 2024. This program is accepting applications to provide funding to partially reimburse Community Solar Subscriber Organizations for installation and operation of solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays that make Community Solar Pilots accessible to the Low to Moderate Income (LMI) community. Subscriber Organizations must be registered with the Maryland Public Service Commission (“PSC”). The maximum grant award is $500,000.

• Maryland Solar Access Program Grants for Residential Solar Systems: Opening soon. There is no closing date as it will operate on a first-come, first-served basis. These grants will provide up to $7,500 (at $750/kW) for new household solar PV systems. Eligibility is limited to households with a total income that does not exceed 150% of the statewide area median income. The application requires two phases, including an initial application to reserve funds. Please read the FAQs

Status of Closed, but not Awarded, Grant Programs

• FY23 Nonprofit Technical Assistance and Management Support (NTAMS) Grant Program: Decisions have been made on the FY23 NTAMS grant program and results will be distributed in the next two to three weeks as OGM clears out other grant programs and focuses on other critical administrative requirements. Recipients will be given the opportunity to rescope their proposals to fit the actual award timeline with considerable flexibility. Non-recipients will have the opportunity to have a feedback session on their application in October of 2024.  For FY25, OGM will be significantly changing the approach for nonprofit support to mitigate the delays and challenges of the FY23 grant program.

• FY24 Cost Sharing Capital Grants (CSCG): State Matched applications, both Arts and Non-Arts have been reviewed, scored, and results posted. Non-State Matched CSCG are still pending review due to similar problems with the FY24 Community Grants program and a shortage of available reviewers.  OGM is working with other County stakeholders to identify and recruit reviewers for the remaining applications for this grant program. For future grant programs in FY25, OGM will be focused on supporting department led grant programs where reviewer delays have not been a problem.

• FY24 Community Project Fund (CPF) Q3/Q4:Decisions have been made on the FY24 CPF Q3/Q4 grant program and results will be distributed in the next two to three weeks as OGM clears out other grant programs and focuses on other critical administrative requirements. Recipients will be given the opportunity to rescope their proposals to fit the actual award timeline with considerable flexibility.  Non-recipients will have the opportunity to have a feedback session on their application in October of 2024.  For FY25, OGM will be significantly changing the approach for CPF to mitigate the delays and challenges of the FY24 grant program.

• FY25 Community Food Assistance Program: The application window closed on Monday, September 23, 2024 and OGM is conducting its Administrative Review. OGM received 54 applications totaling roughly $7.5 million.  All applications are with reviewers with a deadline of Friday October 11, 2024. 

• FY25 EquiCare - Subsidy Seats Grant Program: The application window closed on Monday, September 30, 2024 and OGM is conducting its Administrative Review. OGM received 21 applications totaling roughly $4.6 million. OGM has completed its Administrative Review all applications and they will be assigned to Review Committee members within 1-2 working days for full review and scoring.

For a list of all grant programs from every fiscal year and award winners, visit the Office of Grants Management’s “Grants Program” page.