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 for a Small Grant?

If you have never received an Abell small grant (requests of $10,000 or less), you must attend an information session to confirm fit with eligibility criteria and funding priorities prior to submitting a small grant application. 

Sign up for an info session

Considering Applying for a Regular Grant?

First-time applicants with grant requests greater than $10,000 should submit a short letter of inquiry prior to submitting a regular grant application. For guidance on what to include in your LOI, please reference our frequently asked questions.

Submit an LOI

Ready to Apply?

If you are a returning applicant or have met our eligibility criteria and requirements and are ready to apply for a grant, you may do so on the apply page.

Start a Grant Application

Returning to a Saved Application or Submitting a Report?

Log into the grant portal below to return to your saved application or submit a report for a previously awarded grant.

Return to Your Application or Submit a Report

See Our Past Grants

Live Baltimore Home Center

$25,000 / 2011 / Community Development
Toward support of the Employer Outreach Campaign designed to increase the number of private and public employees owning or renting houses in Baltimore City. Working with the state, the center’s outreach efforts will promote incentives to help employees purchase houses.

KaBOOM!

$75,000 / 2011 / Community Development
Toward the implementation of the Playful City USA program, an initiative to provide safe playgrounds for children in Baltimore City. Through the creation of a local play task commission, the project will design action plans for play, recruit volunteers to care for play spaces, and encourage families and their children to play outside.

Jubilee Baltimore, Inc.

$50,000 / 2011 / Community Development
Toward support of planning and revitalization efforts in Central West Baltimore as part of the federal Choice Neighborhood Program. This initiative will provide representation from each of the neighborhoods working on community projects.

Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Concern

$35,000 / 2011 / Community Development
Toward Phase II of Project Gado, a robotic scanning technology initiative. By adopting a social enterprise model to build a revised, easier-to-assemble version of the robotic scanner, the project will digitize archival images, which will serve as primary sources for publishers, film-makers, and researchers. The scanned images can then be entered into a Web-enabled database system for eventual publishing online.

Johns Hopkins University

$100,000 / 2011 / Community Development
To provide two awards for the competitive Johns Hopkins Alliance for Science and Technology Development Program. The goal is to encourage scientists and researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Baltimore to promote technology transfer through the development of marketable products and services.

Header photo courtesy of Thread.