The Maryland Governor’s Grants Office and the Maryland Association of Counties released a statewide survey describing how each Maryland county, including Baltimore City, provides grant funds to local non-profit
organizations.  This was an update of a survey first conducted five years ago at the request of counties wanting to learn more about how their peers made decisions about fund distribution.

All jurisdictions provide some funding for non-profits.  The methods for making decisions range from the normal budget process to a free-standing application and review process that may be reviewed by community members not working for county government.  Seventeen jurisdictions report having a grant program in place that specifically budgets local funds for community non-profits, separate from any fee-for-service funding.  The remaining jurisdictions report that they allocate funds to non-profits through line items in the annual budget.

The survey can be found on the Governor’s Grants Office website under “What’s New.“