Montgomery County Council

After discussions and focus groups with County and nonprofit stakeholders, Montgomery County is pleased to announce the FY21 Community Grants Application Process.  Please note that there are a number of changes to the grants process for FY21 as outlined below.

• The County Council and County Executive FY21 Community Grants programs, including the application process and corresponding budgets, will be combined, creating a single, streamlined process.
• The community grant application portal for FY21 grants opened for submissions on January 2, 2020 .
• The Community Grant application portal will close on January 29, 2020 at 12:00 noon .
• OMB and County departmental staff will review the renewal grant applications and make recommendations to the Executive, and the Executive will include specific recommendations for renewal grants in his FY21 Recommended Budget in March.
• The Executive will include in his FY21 Recommended Budget, subject to affordability, an amount of funding available for new and enhanced community grants programs.
• Due to timing constraints, recommendations for specific new and enhanced Community Grants will not be included in the FY21 Recommended Budget. Instead, OMB and Council staff will jointly develop a review process for new and enhanced programs. These recommendations will be transmitted to Council after March 15, 2020.

Community Grant application training workshops will be conducted throughout the County for nonprofit partners during the week of January 6, 2020. Register today to attend a Community Grants Information workshop. These are scheduled for:

• Tuesday, January 7, 2020 – Plum Gar Recreation Center at 10:00 am;
• Tuesday, January 7, 2020 – Wheaton Community Center at 2:00 pm;
• Wednesday, January 8, 2020 – Council Office Building at 5:30 pm; and
• Thursday, January 9, 2020 – Silver Spring Civic Center at 10:00 am.

Given the current fiscal climate and the intention to transition to a new Community Grants process in FY22, the County Executive will recommend prioritizing funding in the following order.

1. Renewing viable and effective FY20 Community Grants funded programs.
2. Renewing programs and funding levels for Community Grants from FY18 and FY19, if they were funded at a lower level or not funded for FY20.
3. Creating, as funding allows, a limited pool of resources for new programs or program enhancements.

The Community Grants application and review process for the Cost-Sharing Capital Grants process will not change so that State matching funds can continue to be maximized.

Additional changes to the grants process are being discussed for implementation in fiscal year 2022, there will be additional opportunities for the nonprofit community to have input in that process – those will be announced for Spring and Summer 2020.