Grants

The Abell Foundation awards grants to nonprofit community partners working to improve the quality of life in Baltimore. We provide seed funding for innovative pilots, support for ongoing community programs and services, and funding for capital projects. In addition to providing grant funding, the Foundation supports our nonprofit partners through connection to our local and national networks, as well as our team’s deep experience in and knowledge of Baltimore as it relates to our program areas.

Learn More About Our Process

Eligibility and Review Criteria

For all nonprofit organizations seeking grant funding, regardless of the request amount. 

Small Grants Process

For grant requests of $10,000 or less.

Reviewed on a rolling basis. There is no deadline to apply.

Regular Grants Process

For grant requests greater than $10,000.

Reviewed at one of the Foundation’s five annual Board meetings.

Submit an Application

Considering Applying?

First-time applicants with grant requests greater than $10,000 should reach out to an Abell staff member to discuss their idea or submit a short letter of inquiry prior to submitting a regular grant application.

Contact Us or Email Us an LOI

Ready to Apply for a Small Grant?

For first-time or returning applicants with grant requests of $10,000 or less. We accept and review small grant applications on a rolling basis. There is no deadline to apply for a small grant.

Start a Small Grant Application

Ready to Apply for a Regular Grant?

For returning applicants and those who have a verified fit with the Foundation’s priorities for requests greater than $10,000. Regular grant applications are reviewed at one of five Board meetings each year.

Start a Regular Grant Application

Returning to a Saved Application or Submitting a Report?

Log into the grant portal below to return to a saved application or submit a report for a previously awarded grant. Report forms can be found under the “Requirements” tab.

Return to Your Application or Submit a Report

See Our Past Grants

Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering

$150,000 / 2020 / Community Development

The Baltimore Healthcare Innovator Retention Program fellowship stipends enable talented Johns Hopkins University biomedical engineering students to continue working on promising healthcare innovations after they complete their graduate studies. These teams of Fellows operative as virtual startups creating commercially viable products, seeking follow-on funding, and creating new companies. The program maximizes the translation of discovery and invention from the University biomedical program into income-generating companies which have the potential to generate local employment.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

$99,954 / 2020 / Health and Human Services

The SPARC Center is a drop-in center designed to meet the needs of female sex workers and other vulnerable women in Baltimore City. Part of a federally-funded research study on the needs of female sex workers, the center provides a range of health and social services to address the many challenges and barriers to service that these women face.  This grant provides funding for a case manager and a part-time psychiatrist so the center can better meet clients’ mental health and social service needs.    

HealthCare Access Maryland

$15,000 / 2020 / Health and Human Services

HealthCare Access Maryland (HCAM) is a critical healthcare non-profit that enrolls Maryland residents in health insurance and provides care coordination to special populations.  Due to Covid 19, HCAM employees began working remotely in March 2020.  This grant enables HCAM to purchase laptops for employees who currently are not able to telework, specifically those staff members who verify Medical Assistance applications for eligibility and provide health care coordination for children placed in foster care.

Fund for Educational Excellence

$40,000 / 2020 / Education

The Fund for Educational Excellence is a Baltimore-based education intermediary that supports public education through its fundraising and collaboration with Baltimore City Public Schools, community-based research, convening stakeholders, and serving as a fiscal sponsor to education non-profits. This grant will enable the Fund to produce a Transportation report and act on its recommendations in CTE and School Choice, to raise federal and national funding for City Schools, to stewart $25 million as fiscal sponsor to 20 non-profits, and to recognize excellence among school principals. 

Digital Harbor Foundation, Fiscally Sponsored by Fund for Educational Excellence

$38,684 / 2020 / Education

COVID-19 has exposed the lack of both devices, and as importantly, connectivity in the homes of Baltimore City school children. Coordinated by the Fund for Educational Excellence, this grant is part of a City Schools Tech Initiative to pilot the use of mesh-internet installed on the roofs of four high-poverty schools. These cost-effective access nodes tap into school broadband and provide free internet to homes in a four-to-eight-block radius of the school, serving an anticipated 820 students.

Header photo courtesy of Thread.