Frequently Asked Questions:

Environmental Offset Grant Program

For Previous Applicants

  • The Office of Sustainability has partnered with the Baltimore Civic Fund to administer the grants this year. The Civic Fund will be awarding grants on behalf of the City and all application submittals, award announcements, fund disbursements, and grant reporting will go through the Civic Fund. Questions regarding the grant application and the grant awards can be directed to either the Civic Fund (submissions@baltimorecivicfund.org) or the Office of Sustainability (Grace Hansen or Rachel Whiteheart). This partnership has allowed the Office of Sustainability to increase the maximum grant award from $49,000 to $75,000 and we anticipate that it will also allow the Office to award more funds than in past years.

  • The Baltimore Civic Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization that, since 1981, has served as a fiscal sponsor for the City of Baltimore to advance the Mayor’s priorities. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for all residents of Baltimore one grant, one program, and one partnership at a time.

Eligibility

  • Past grant projects have varied – all involved supporting environmental efforts in Baltimore City and were undertaken by a nonprofit or faith-based organization, a community association, or a service and/or civic group. A few past examples include:

    • A non-profit funded a series of environmental engagement opportunities to educate and train community stewards to care for their local green spaces.

    • A church removed impervious surface and installed two bioretention systems on their campus.

    • A non-profit conducted water quality monitoring in the Inner Harbor.

    • A land trust improved and maintained two of their green spaces and expanded their educational opportunities associated with the two green spaces.

    • A non-profit planted trees on several school campuses across Baltimore City.

  • Environmental Offset Grants cannot support projects that are proposed by ineligible organizations, projects that involve activities outside of Baltimore City, or projects that involve discriminatory activities. A few examples of ineligible activities are:

    • Printing materials for education activities.

    • Providing snacks or t-shirts for volunteers.

    • Projects that will achieve stormwater management or tree planting that is required to meet environmental regulations for a development project.

    • Any expenses that are not directly related to the environmental benefit of the project. These may need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis – please reach out to Office of Sustainability staff if you have any project-specific expenses that you would like clarification regarding.

Technical (Grant Portal or Template)

  • Follow the link provided in the application. Once the document opens, you will see it is in a Read-Only format which means you will not be able to edit the document directly. In the top left corner choose File> click the 3 dots> click Save As> click Download a Copy.