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Governor's Grants Office News

December 2007
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Greetings!

As the first segment of the new Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) takes effect on January 1, 2008 (the creation of a searchable website that includes all federal grants and contracts) the Office of Management and Budget is making a variety of changes related to how federal data is collected and reported.  A second phase of FFATA implementation (taking effect in 2009) will require increased reporting of sub-grantee information, which will impact many state agencies, along with some local governments and non-profits. The Governor's Grants Office is looking for ways to ease this process for all concerned parties and will keep everyone informed of our progress through these newsletters in 2008.

Happy Holidays!

Eric Brenner, Director
Free Seminars Show How Organizations Can Tap Into Maryland Volunteer Network
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Volunteer Maryland logoA strong local volunteer network can play an important role in completing a successful community project (and reduce the amount of money that must be raised through grants).  Public information sessions coming up in January and February around the State (see list below) will focus on how a trained Volunteer Maryland Coordinator can help your organization develop a sustainable volunteer program.

To register for a session, contact Volunteer Maryland at 410-767-6231 or email pbeverly@voluntermaryland.org. 

EASTON

January 18th 1:00 pm - 2:30pm
Easton Public Library
100 West Dover Road
Easton, MD  21601

LA PLATA

January 23rd 1pm - 2:30pm
La Plata Public Library
2 Garrett Avenue
La Plata, MD  20646

SALISBURY

January 25th 1pm - 2:30pm
The Community Foundation
of the Eastern Shore
1324 Belmont Avenue
Salisbury, MD  21804

SILVER SPRING

January 28th 1pm - 2:30pm
Maryland Nonprofits Silver Spring Office
8720 Georgia Avenue, Suite 303 (at Cameron St.)
Silver Spring, MD  20910

BALTIMORE CITY

February 5th 1pm - 2:30pm
Enoch Pratt Free Library/Orleans Street Branch
1303 Orleans Street
Baltimore, MD  21231

CROFTON

February 7th 1pm - 2:30pm
Crofton Public Library
1681 Riedel Road
Crofton, MD  21114
Maryland's Growing Network of Community Foundations Helps Citizens Bolster Local Projects:
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Growing ConceptCommunity foundations differ from other foundations in that they are public charities established to meet the needs of a particular geographic area. They provide a framework for individual donors to support charitable causes without having to create their own foundation.  In Maryland, community foundations are increasingly serving as an important link between local governments and non-profits as they try to match local resources with the most critical local needs.

For the first time in history, Maryland has a network of community foundations that cover almost the entire state.  The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG) houses the organizational arm for 13 community foundations throughout  Maryland.  An additional community foundation (Foundation for Community Partnerships), based in Queen Anne's County, serves the Eastern Shore in addition to both the Mid Shore Community Foundation and Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore.

The newest community foundation in Maryland is in Harford County (officially opened on November 6) and the largest is the Baltimore Community Foundation; it is larger than all but five of the 1,400 private and public foundations headquartered in Maryland.

A new report issued by the Foundation Center provides a nice summary of community foundations nationwide (only 1% of the actual grant making but 9% of all giving).

All Maryland foundations (not just community foundations) increased their giving by 7% and their assets by 5% between 2004 and 2005.  Individually, Marylanders continued their generosity commensurate with our state's relative wealth, according to a new report by ABAG, The "The State of Giving in Maryland, 2007."
 
Searching for Federal Grants
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For those of you who have been in the grants business for a long time, you know all about finding and applying for any federal grant via Grants.gov.  And, you probably share in the view that it is only in the past two years that the federal government has genuinely consolidated most grants-related information in this single location, with automatic email alerts generated to subscribers (free) when a new posting is made.  This represents considerable progress from the not-so-old days, when individuals had to search the hard-copy edition of the Federal Register each day for grant opportunities that might be relevant to the goals of their organization.  For people who don't want to be bombarded with daily email, Grants.gov now has a feature highlighting new announcements for the previous week.

One area where Grants.gov still aims to make progress is in the flow of feedback from
their "customers" (most of us) to the various grants managers in each federal agency. For those of you who have a particular issue or concern, participating in the regular Grants.gov stakeholder meetings, which are webcast, provides an opportunity to have your voice heard.  The next webcast meeting will take place on January 16, 2008.

When the IRS is a Friend:

Workshop for Small and Mid-Sized 501(c)(3) Exempt Organizations

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IRS logoThe Internal Revenue Service recently announced that it is offering one-day workshops (across the U.S.) for small and mid-sized section 501(c)(3) exempt organizations.

The workshop is designed for administrators, volunteers or tax practitioners who are responsible for an organization's tax compliance. The workshop will explain what 501(c)(3) organizations must do to keep their tax-exempt status and comply with tax obligations. Each workshop will cover the benefits and responsibilities of tax-exempt status and actions that could jeopardize that status; unrelated business income and gaming; employment issues; an explanation of Form 990 and the new "e-Postcard" filing requirement; and required disclosures. Workshop leaders also will discuss how the Pension Protection Act of 2006 affects exempt organizations.

The workshop will not cover how to apply for tax-exempt status or compliance requirements for non-501(c)(3) organizations.

The workshop is limited to 200 attendees and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The non-refundable cost is $45 and includes a text and other IRS forms and publications. Pre-registration is required.   The only seminar in our region will be held in Arlington, Virginia on April 1, 2, and 3. For more information and to register, go to  or call 1-800-521-3980.
 

Feds Simplify Reporting Forms, Cast Sunshine On U.S. Budget

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The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is accepting comments about their effort to consolidate and replace four existing financial reporting forms (SF-269, SF-269A, SF-272, and SF-272A) with a single Federal Financial Report (FFR). The purpose of the FFR is to give recipients of grants and cooperative agreements a standard format for reporting the financial status of their grants and cooperative agreements (hereby referred to collectively as awards). Federal awarding agencies developed the FFR as part of the implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (PL 106-107) to streamline and simplify award-reporting requirements.
 
The FFR standardizes reporting information by providing a pool of data elements to use for reporting purposes.  As a result, Federal agencies are not required to collect all of the information included in the FFR.  Instead, they will identify, prior to or at the time of the  award, the data elements that recipients must complete, the reporting frequency, the periods covered by each report, the dates that the reports are due, and the locations to which the reports are to be submitted.
 
Note that the establishment of the government-wide FFR will necessitate amendments to OMB Circulars A-110 (2 CFR 215) and A-102 which OMB subsequently will publish in the Federal Register.
 
Comments on the FFR consolidation project must be received by January 7, 2008.  Please go to the Federal Register Notice to review the Federal Register Notice in its entirety as well as the proposed FFR and FFR instructions.

U.S. Flag sunlit

On a related OMB note, the agency has fulfilled its duty (two weeks ahead of schedule) to implement the first part of the new Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (a "sunshine law") by creating a website any user can peruse to find out where U.S. budget dollars are spent. OMB officially launched USASpending.gov on Wednesday, December 12.  The site is modeled off a similar website created by the non-profit government watchdog organization OMBWatch.
 
 Notice of Available State Grants:
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The Maryland Higher Education Commission is accepting proposals for Maryland's College Preparation Intervention Program (CPIP); grants will be awarded to institutions of higher education to support eligible Maryland "GEAR UP - Focus on Math" sites.  Approximately $750,000 will be awarded on a competitive basis to eligible applicants.  Proposals are due February 13, 2008. (Go online to view the application or call 410-260-3207 for ore information.)


Certain nonprofit organizations or local government entities can apply anytime for a  Shelter and Transitional Housing Facilities Grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.  Applications are accepted any time of the year, and are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, pursuant to program funding availability and the project's readiness to proceed. To contact the Housing Grant Program Coordinator DHCD, call 410-514-7590 or 1-800-543-4505 or email  webb@dhcd.state.md.us.


The Maryland Arts Council offers many grant programs for organizations and individual artists.  Now in the offing: ARTvantage Grant Program. Deadline: January 10, 2008. Contact Shirley Howard, Program Coordinator, for more details, 410-767-6542. Application must be submitted via the Arts Council's egrant system online.

Maryland Traditions Project Grants: Deadline is January 2008. These grants support research and programming that add significantly to Maryland communities and organizations by documenting, preserving, sustaining, and presenting Maryland's traditional arts and culture. Maryland Traditions is a cooperative program of the Maryland State Arts council and the Maryland Historical Trust that receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Infrastructure Initiative.

Arts in Communities Grants Program helps community-based organizations produce and present arts activities in their communities. Organizations that have been denied a grant in Maryland State Art Council's (MSAC's) Grants for Organizations program are this year eligible to apply for an Arts in Communities grant. Furthermore, the Arts in Communities Grants Program now provides support for ongoing projects and programs. Deadline is January 16, 2008 for projects that will begin or take place between April 1 and June 20, 2008. 

The Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Awards (IAA) are grants awarded to Maryland artists through an anonymous, competitive process to encourage and sustain their pursuit of artistic excellence.  Next deadline is July 2008. The MSAC Individual Artist Awards Program is administered by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.  For more information, contact Joanna Raczynska at the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation at joanna@midatlanticarts.org  or 410-539-6656, ext. 101. 


The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund has been established as a program of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) to promote state-funded stem research. With a current $23 million budget for FY 2008, the Commission will support grants to public and private entities in the State. Applications for funding under these RFAs are due on Jan. 15, 2008. New this year is the requirement to provide a "Letter of Intent" to apply.  For more information about the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund and to view other TEDCO financial assistant programs, visit www.MarylandTEDCO.org.


The Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) offers a variety of business services and financing programs to assist the state's business community, including capital investment, credit enhancement, direct loans and guarantees, economic development incentives, women in technology programs, and other financing programs. You can view a full list of programs here here.

Partnership for Workforce Quality (PWQ) Programis an ongoing DBED grant program that provides matching skill upgrade training grants and support services targeted to improve the competitive position of small and mid-sized manufacturing and technology companies. PWQ matching grants are made directly to companies as well as through a number of manufacturing, software industry and ISO 9000 consortia programs working in cooperation with DBED.


The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) coordinates more than 40 technical or financial assistance programs which directly serve local governments, non-profit groups, and individual property owners.  Visit their brand new online grants and loan center.


The Maryland Energy Administration also has several grants programs available to residents and businesses.  View the full list here.


Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention

Project Safe Neighborhoods - Anti Gang Initiative, applications for the grant are due February 12, 2008. View the notice.  


The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Office of Child Care (OCC) offers the FAMILY DAY CARE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. This grant program exists to help registered child care providers offset some of the costs of operating their child care programs.  For more information call (410) 767-7831. Also at MSDE (same contact information as above), the CHILD CARE QUALITY INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM focuses on supporting projects related to training offered through the Credentialing Branch and improving children's school performance. Grants are awarded based on merit to eligible child care facilities on a quarterly basis, at the end of April, July, October, and January under regulations of State COMAR 13A.14.11. 


Job Opportunity in Williamsport, Washington County
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The City of Williamsport is recruiting for a Clerk/Treasurer to manage the office operations, including grants and preparation of the town's annual budget. (The person who most recently held this position had some nice wins for Williamsport and the Mayor may be open to other options besides rolling all of these functions into a single, full-time position.)

Call 301-223-7711 for more information or send your resume to Mayor McCleaf, Town of Williamsport, P.O. Box 307, Williamsport, MD  21795. 

Quick Links...
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Banner Governor's Grants Office
21 State Circle, Room 100
Annapolis, MD  21401
410.974.5090
www.gov.state.md.us/grants

Eric Brenner, Director
Merril Oliver, Deputy Director
Susan Casey, Research and Communications Manager