Advisory work group urges new community grants board, phased end to legacy grants in Montgomery County

An advisory work group charged with reviewing Montgomery County’s community grant programs recommended this week creating a community grants board, establishing a nonprofit liaison in the county executive’s office and restructuring grant cycles to protect smaller providers while improving accountability.

The recommendations, presented to the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee, also proposed discontinuing the legacy grants fund and rolling that funding into the community grants NDA with a transition allocation for current grantees. “Our recommendation is that the legacy grant funding should be discontinued and that funding rolled into the community grants NDA,” members told the committee, while acknowledging a phased transition would be necessary.

Why it matters: County staff and nonprofit leaders told the committee that community grants are one piece of a much larger funding environment and that priority-setting, not administration, is the primary bottleneck. Director Murphy of the Office of Grants Management said community grants constitute “a small fraction, less than 10% of the money the county’s money that goes out to the nonprofit community,” and warned that moving priority-setting outside OGM risks duplicating department budgets and programs.

What the work group recommended: The group’s proposals include creating a community grants board to identify annual priorities and advise the Office of Grants Management; a liaison in the county executive’s office to improve outreach and help small, new and historically underserved organizations navigate county processes; preserving the community grants NDA as a flexible general fund; and establishing tiered funding lanes so small and emerging nonprofits do not compete directly with large, highly professionalized organizations. The group also sketched a transition plan for legacy grants, urging that grantees be notified and provided an interim allocation while the county shifts to the new model. The presentation cited FY26 budget figures: $13.3 million in the community grants NDA, including roughly $6.2 million for community grants, $4.7 million for legacy grants, $1.0 million for nonprofit technical assistance, $1.0 million for nonprofit incubator/resiliency centers and $389,000 for inflationary adjustments.

Concerns from county officials and council members: Several officials acknowledged the proposals but warned implementation depends on timing and capacity. Director Albornoz of the Department of Recreation said his department manages more than 588 contracts and about two full‑time staff oversee that portfolio, stressing the need for additional staffing and stronger outcomes measurement. Committee members questioned whether a new board could be recruited, convened and produce priorities in time for a November–December notice of funding opportunity; some suggested maintaining legacy-grant funding in FY27 while more planning occurs. Chair Stewart and other members said any change to legacy grants should be coordinated with the FY27 budget process.

Next steps: The committee did not vote. Members and presenters encouraged outreach through Nonprofit Montgomery and suggested the advisory work group could continue to support the Office of Grants Management. The committee expects to take up legacy-grant funding decisions as part of FY27 budget deliberations and to consider procedural changes to the advisory work group’s resolution and membership.

The committee adjourned without taking a vote.