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Montgomery County
Grant Opportunities Newsletter

May 5, 2025

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.  Past Newsletters can be found on OGM's About Us website.

New This Week

• FY25 Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Grants Program: (Closes May 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM). The department of Health and Human Services is soliciting grant applications that seek to implement innovative, community-based strategies that educate on the dangers of nicotine and other substances; promote cessation of vaping and substance use; and address the root causes and long-term impacts of e-cigarettes and other harmful substances.  $1.3 million in Juul and Altria settlement funds is available with HHS anticipating up to three awards ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 each.

Currently Open

• FY25 Emerging Business District Grant Program: (closes May 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM). The Community Engagement Cluster (CEC) is soliciting grant applications under the County’s FY 2025 Emerging Business Districts Grants Program, which aims to establish Business Improvement Districts or Urban District Corporations within Montgomery County by subsidizing the formation and support of non-profit commercial district management entities to conduct place making, place management, branding, and economic development activities in a designated neighborhood.

Coming Soon (Next 10 Days)

• FY25 Food Recovery Network Infrastructure Grant: (Anticipated Launch: Friday May 9, 2025): The Office of Food Systems Resilience (OFSR) and the Office of Grants Management (OGM) will solicit applications from eligible entities to support the purchase, installation, and/or repair of infrastructure, including transportation, cold storage, food waste recycling, and other innovative technology, that will expand food recovery capacity and sustainable management of recovered food to enhance food assistance services in Montgomery County. Funding will be prioritized to support proposals that reflect collaborative, shared use approaches that allow for capacity building of the overall network of food recovery operators; establish recovery relationships with new donors and/or that increase access to higher value and limited availability products; reduce the climate impacts of the food recovery and assistance network; and leverage external investment and/or resources to support the success of the proposed project. 

• FY25 Edible Food Recovery Pilot Grant Program: (Anticipated Launch: Friday May 9, 2025): The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Office of Grants Management (OGM) will be soliciting grant applications for the County’s Edible Food Recovery Pilot Grant Program, which aims to increase diversion and recovery of edible food from the waste stream by assisting Food Assistance Provider Organizations located in Montgomery County to purchase safe cold storage equipment that will facilitate increased diversion of edible food from the waste stream. A single, one-time grant for a total of $150,000 will be made available to an eligible assist Food Assistance Provider Organization(s) for the purchase of cold food storage equipment including a refrigerator truck, an outdoor/walk-in refrigerator cube, and up to eight (8) commercial refrigerators/freezers.

• FY25 Community Projects Fund Administration Grant Program: (Anticipated Launch: Friday May 9, 2025): The goal of this grant program is to compete out to a nonprofit provider the administration of the Community Project Fund pool of resources. The award winner will also be responsible for providing coaching, mentoring, and sustained technical assistance to small, emerging, and volunteer led nonprofit applicants and award winners for this pool of resources. $1.2 million is available for this grant program and OGM anticipates making a single award to one partner.

• FY25 Nonprofit Incubators Grants Program: (Anticipated Launch: Wednesday May 14, 2025): The goal of this grant program is to compete out funds to nonprofit providers for the administration of Nonprofit Incubators serving nonprofits throughout the County. OGM seeks innovative proposals that explore administrative shared serves, micro-grants administrative needs, common workspaces, as well as sustained coaching, mentoring, and community building for incubator participants. $1 million is available for this grant program with OGM anticipating 2-3 multi-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $500,000 per year.

• FY25 Nonprofit Technical Assistance and Management Support Grants Program: (Anticipated Launch: Wednesday May 14, 2025): OGM will seek innovative proposals that help prepare County nonprofits to independently and successfully apply for win, implement, and comply with County, other local jurisdiction, private, State, and federal awards.  This award may include a sub-granting component.  $2 million is available for this grant program with OGM anticipating 4-5 multi-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $500,000 per year.  Portions of this funding pool may be integrated into the FY25 Nonprofit Incubator and FY24 Community Projects Fund Administration Grant Programs.

Status of Closed, but not Awarded, Grant Programs

• FY25 Cost Sharing Capital Grants Program: Reviewers are conducting final evaluations and then OGM will begin analyzing scoring results.

• FY25 Place-Based Management Grants Program: Reviewers are conducting final evaluations and then OGM will begin analyzing scoring results.

• FY25 Fentanyl Use, Overdose, and Death Reduction (FUODR) Grant Program: OGM is conducting an Administrative Review of all submitted applications for completeness and legal eligibility.

• FY26 Cost Sharing Capital Grants (CSCG) Program - Stage One: OGM has finished its Administrative Review of submitted applications.  Stage Two will open in late May after the County Council passes their FY26 Approved Budget. No action is needed by applicants until Stage Two opens.

• FY25 Nutrition Benefits Outreach Grant Program: OGM has finished its Administrative Review of submitted applications.  Reviewers have been trained and are now evaluating and scoring applications.

Upcoming Training Events

• May 2025 OGM Community Forum – Tuesday May 13 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM: OGM staff will provide general OGM updates, forecast remaining County FY25 grant programs, cover "Understanding the County Grant Competition Cycle" as a special topic, and open up for questions. OGM is seeking feedback on special topics that community members would like covered.  We have currently exhausted the list of topics already requested.  Recordings and slide decks for all past OGM Forum events will continue to be posted on the OGM About Us website.

• State of Nonprofits Community Conversations: Sustainable Funding: Join Nonprofit Montgomery for an informal roundtable conversation to dive into the report recommendations and visualize a strong future for Montgomery County's nonprofits. Each event will have a short panel followed by a facilitated, solutions-oriented conversation.

   

  Each event will dive into one recommendation category. This session will focus on sustainable funding. It will be moderated by Kathy Stevens, President and CEO of Healthcare Initiative Foundation, and panelists include:

  • Mark Hodge, Chief Operating Officer at Montgomery County DHHS 
  • Rafael Murphy, Director, Montgomery County Office of Grants Management
  • Heather Bruskin, Director, Office of Food Systems Reliance
  • Tobi Printz-Platnick, Partner Consultant, Capacity Partners

  Where: Blackrock Center for the Arts, Terrace 12901 Old Towne Commons, Germantown MD, 20874

  When: Thursday, May 8, 3:30 to 4:30 pm

  This event is free and open to members and non-members of Nonprofit Montgomery. 

Non-County Funding Opportunities

• MDOT Urban Tree Program Grant (Fall Planting): Applications due July 15, 2025. The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Urban Tree Grant Program (UTP) is accepting applications for tree planting efforts in communities impacted by transportation projects. These grants are offered in partnership with the Maryland Urban and Community Forest Committee (MUCFC). A wide range of government, nonprofit, educational, and community groups are eligible to apply. The maximum grant is $5,000. Applications must be approved by the County Forestry Board before the application deadline for submissions to be accepted.

• Digital Art History Grants: Letters of Intent due March 1 and September 1. Nonprofit and academic institutions may indicate interest in digitization projects in the field of European art. Past award amounts have ranged from $2,000 to $100,000.

• Maryland Solar Access Program Grants for Residential Solar Systems: Grants are on a first-come, first-served basis; the application window Is now open and closes June 13, 2025. 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 (updated December 2024).  
• The Home Depot’s Veterans Housing Grants: Applications due March 21 or July 3, 2025. Nonprofit organizations that meet specific criteria are welcome to apply for support for construction or rehabilitation of housing for veterans (at or below 80% AMI). Awards typically range from $100,000 to $500,000, and cost-share must be at least 50%. 
• Montgomery County Job Creation Fund: Rolling applications accepted; Funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Employers based in Montgomery County that are company headquarters or national nonprofit organizations or who are in the targeted categories of Life sciences, advanced technology, cybersecurity, quantum computing or hospitality may be eligible for up to $500,000 in grant funding to create jobs and support their growth and expansion. Read the Montgomery County Blog Update about the opportunity.  
• Maryland Urban and Community Forestry Committee (MUCFC) Grants Program: Applications reviewed on our around February 15 and July 15 annually. Forestry Boards are welcome to apply for assistance with tree planting on public lands or for educational projects about trees in urban environments. The maximum grant is $1,000.

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