The Foundation funds 501(c)(3) or 509a nonprofit organizations, government agencies, or fiscally sponsored projects serving Baltimore City. In some cases, the Foundation will award grants to organizations that serve as fiscal sponsors for other projects or organizations. The Foundation can not provide funding to individuals.
The Foundation’s programs of interest include health and human services, community development, education, workforce development, criminal justice and addiction, environment, and arts. Within these areas, the Foundation provides seed funding, support for ongoing community programs and services, general operating support, and funding for capital projects, research, and program-related investments.
The Foundation typically does not fund individual scholarships, sponsorships, deficit financing, or endowments.
501(c)(3) refers to the section of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that defines an organization as a tax-exempt, nonprofit entity. For more information about the code and how to obtain a 501(c)(3) designation, click here. Applicants are also welcome to apply for funding in partnership with a fiscal sponsor with nonprofit tax status and will be required to submit evidence of that partnership through a memorandum of understanding or similar documentation.
While most browsers are expected to be compatible with our grant portal, Chrome is preferred. Download the latest version here.
If you are using Chrome and still have issues accessing the portal, please contact our grants team at grants@abell.org.
We are happy to answer any questions you may have about our grant application, but we do not offer assistance with the grant writing process.
Please contact Robert C. Embry, Jr., President.
The Abell Foundation typically has a 10% limit on indirect costs for academic institutions. We do not have a limit/allowance for non-academic organizations.
The Foundation considers small grant requests of $10,000 or less on a rolling basis. There is no deadline to apply, and you do not need to speak with a Foundation staff member or submit an LOI in order to submit a small grant request. See more information about our small grants process here.
For new grant requests greater than $10,000, we recommend you speak with a staff member to discuss your idea, or email grants@abell.org with a short LOI addressed to Robert C. Embry, Jr., President. Your letter of inquiry should include:
We will reach out to you via email to let you know if the project fits within our scope and areas of interest. To learn more about applying under our regular grants process, click here.
We encourage you to use our grant portal for all application submissions. To access the appropriate links for starting a new application and returning to a saved application, please visit our Grants page.
If you are having trouble accessing or navigating the portal, you may download and complete the templates provided here, and email your completed documents to grants@abell.org.
Our grant portal has separate links for starting a new application and returning to a saved application.
To start a new application, please use one of these links, depending on the size of your request:
Once you have started and saved your application, you can use this link (likely the page you’re looking at now) to return to your saved application.
You can always refer back to the Grants page of our website to find those links in the future.
We do not require a letter of inquiry if you have previously applied to the Foundation, or if you have been in contact with the president or a program officer to ensure that the proposed project meets the Foundation’s criteria. We also do not require letters of inquiry for grant requests of $10,000 or less. We consider these small grants on a rolling basis and there are no deadlines for small grant applications.
Please see Where We Focus for an indication of the size and distribution of our grants. For more information, you can also view our Past Grants (which you can filter by program area and year, or search by keyword) and Annual Reports.
You can expect to receive a response from the Foundation 7-10 days after submitting an LOI. If you have not received a response from the Foundation after 10 days, please email us at grants@abell.org.
Please submit your interim and post-grant reports by logging into our grant portal and clicking the “Requirements” tab on the top left of your screen. If you do not see your reports, please contact us at grants@abell.org.
If you are having trouble accessing or navigating the portal, you may download and complete the templates provided here, and email your completed documents to us at grants@abell.org.
Please check your spam/junk folder. If you do not receive a password reset email after 10 minutes, please contact our grants team at grants@abell.org.
On the Foundation’s grant portal, applications and requirements are associated with and only visible to the set of login credentials used at the time of submission. For larger organizations, it is common for a grant application to be submitted in the portal by one team member and for another team member to need access at a later time. We often suggest that organizations transfer all request records to a single, central email address (for example, info@, development@, or grants@). In order to transfer the submission to a new email address, please contact our grants team at grants@abell.org.
If you do not see your reports after logging into our our grant portal and clicking the “Requirements” tab on the top left of your screen, please contact us at grants@abell.org.
If you are having trouble accessing or navigating the portal, you may also download and complete the templates provided here, and email your completed documents to us at grants@abell.org.
You are always welcome to include us in any donor listings or recognition materials as “Abell Foundation.” As a general rule, we prefer any publicity to focus on the work (for example, the individuals served, what the program is and how it operates, and outcomes/impact) rather than the particular Abell Foundation grant award. We also request the opportunity to review any press releases or communications that mention the Foundation in advance. Please email grants@abell.org with your drafted communications.
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Header photo of St. Luke’s Youth Center by Wide Angle Productions, a social enterprise of Wide Angle Youth Media.