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The FY 2010 Grant Cycle is Closed.
All Fy 2010 Grant Funds have been awarded. All other application informaion on this page is provided for reference purposes only.
MAERDAF 2010 Application. Use this Word document to complete your application. This includes the formats to use for submitting budget projections
This year, MAERDAF Applications will be accepted by email at rmc@mda.state.md.us Email applications must be received by midnight June 5, 2009.
For more information about this program, see the MAERDAF Program Overview.
MAERDAF Grant Recipients Announced for FY 2010
The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) will award $142,000 in grants to 11 rural-serving nonprofit organizations during FY 2010. Recipients are:
- Center for Children: $14,700
- Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center: $16,000
- Habitat for Humanity of Talbot and Dorchester Counties: $12,000
- LEAD Maryland Foundation: $12,000
- MAC, Inc. (Area Agency on Aging): $25,000
- Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts: $7,000
- Maryland Dairy Shrine: $1,750
- Maryland Forestry Association: $1,500
- Maryland Rural Health Association: $18,000
- MidShore Regional Council: $19,000
- Upper Shore Regional Council: $15,000
The information below is provided for reference and information only. All grant funds for FY 2010 have been awarded.
- Eligible applicants must be a 501(c)(3) IRS tax designation or similar and serve a regional or statewide rural constituency. Trade associations are not eligible. The applicant does not have to be located in a rural area or in the area it serves.
- Eligible projects must serve more than one rural county and be completed between August 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.
- Rural counties are: Allegany, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, St. Mary's, Somerset, Talbot, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester.
- The maximum allowable grant is $50,000; however, most grants are between $5,000 and $25,000. Historically, the average grant is about $18,000. This year, grants are expected to be smaller.
- Priority is given to applicants that have secured matching funds from non-state sources; however matching funds are not required. Federal funds are considered matching funds.
- Only very minor changes in scope are allowed after a grant has been awarded. Some project timelines can also be modified.
- Unused grant funds must be returned to the Rural Maryland Council no later than July 15, 2010.
- Past and current grantees are eligible for a 2010 grant if they have met all the requirements of their previous grant agreements, including reporting deadlines.
- The MAERDAF Grant Review Board is comprised of representatives appointed by six state agencies. Its decisions are final. Those agencies are: the Rural Maryland Council, the Maryland Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Business & Economic Development, Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, Dept. of Housing & Community Development, and Dept. of Natural Resources.
- The MAERDAF Program is administered by the Rural Maryland Council; however, individual grants are administered by the Dept. of Agriculture, the Dept. of Business and Economic Development, and the Dept. of Housing and Community Development.
- A complete MAERDAF Application includes: (1) A completed MAERDAF application form; (2) A project narrative no more than 5 pages long; and (3) Appendix Attachments, A-E.
- NEW: Applications will be accepted by email this year. Please include all required items in ONE Word file and be sure we receive it by midnight on June 5, 2009. Email your application to: rmc@mda.state.md.us
- Paper applications will still be accepted but eight copies of the application packet must be received by 5 p.m. on June 5, 2009. Mail to: the Rural Maryland Council, c/o MAERDAF, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21114. Phone: 410-841-5772. Do NOT place paper applications in any kind of notebook, binder, folder, plastic sleeve, presentation portfolio, etc. Use a paper clip or binder clip to hold them together. Applications that come bound in something else are disassembled and sent to the Review Board, as is. UPS and FedEx deliveries, as well as hand deliveries, are accepted during business hours. Handwritten applications are not acceptable and will be deemed ineligible.
- If submitting a paper application, eight copies must be submitted or the application will be considered incomplete and ineligible.
- Applications received after the deadline are not acceptable and will be deemed ineligible.
- Incomplete or illegible applications will be deemed ineligible. Double check your materials to ensure all attachments are included, all information is clearly written, all budget numbers add up; and all printing/photocopying is dark and legible.
- NOTE: the deadline date is the day that applications must be received, not postmarked.