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Baltimore Civic Fund reports $5.69 million in city transfers, seeks clearer coordination across funds
Summary
The Baltimore Civic Fund told the Board of Estimates it received $5,693,000 in city transfers during the reporting period, earned $426,613 in administrative fees, and is operating with a nine-person staff; the board noted the report and members urged improved citywide coordination among quasi‑governmental funds and philanthropic partners.
Hyesook Chung, president of the Baltimore Civic Fund, presented the fund’s annual project report and told the Board of Estimates the civic fund handled $5,693,000 in city project transfers during the reporting period and took in $426,613 in administrative fees (about 7.4%) as operating revenue.
The nut graf: the civic fund said it acts primarily as a fiscal sponsor and fiscal administrator on behalf of city projects and outside donors, handling a mix of philanthropic, corporate and city funding for more than 100 programs; the fund’s master funding agreement requires it to report transfers handled via the BOE project-fund submission process.
Chung said the civic fund is a 501(c)(3) that manages more than $20 million annually across roughly 100 programs and that about 70% of its work is fiscal sponsorship. For the report period the fund logged 14 transfers from eight city accounts totaling $5,693,000; administrative fees for the period totaled $426,613. The breakdown reported to the board listed three transfers for competitive grant making totaling $605,000; one transfer for payment-process assistance totaling $63,913; eight transfers involving multiple funding streams totaling $4,475,000; and two transfers that combined multiple reasons totaling $550,000.
The civic fund said it does not receive a general operating line from the city; operating revenue comes from administrative fees and private donations, and the organization’s operating budget is about $1.1 million with a staff of nine. Chung and board members discussed the broader ecosystem of quasi-governmental funds, philanthropic partners and city grant-making units; several officials said better cross‑fund coordination would help community groups navigate available resources.
The Board of Estimates noted the annual report. Officials said the city’s grants office and the civic fund will continue coordination work to build a clearer systems-level map of funds, shared processes and information flows.
