The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) provides grants to rural-serving nonprofit organizations that promote statewide and regional planning, economic and community development, and agricultural and forestry education.
Donor Name: Rural Maryland Council
State: Maryland
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/17/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
Also eligible are rural community colleges that provide enhanced training and technical assistance to support agricultural and small businesses. The Fund’s goal is to increase the overall capacity of rural-serving nonprofit organizations and community colleges to meet a multitude of rural development challenges and to help them establish new public/private partnerships for leveraging non-state sources of funding. The Rural Maryland Council (RMC) serves as the administrative agency in receiving the applications and disbursing the grants to the successful applicants.
Funding Information
For Fiscal Year 2025, the State has budgeted $878,964 in General Funds for the MAERDAF program. However, grant awards are subject to funding availability. The maximum grant amount is $45,000.
For Fiscal Year 2025, the RMC, as the administrative agent, is encouraging applications that address the following:

Agriculture & Forestry

Agricultural Education
Regional Food System Development
Forest Industry Development

Energy

Combined Heat Power
Energy Efficiency
Biomass

Rural Broadband

Rural Broadband Expansion Efforts, including municipal broadband
Digital Inclusion Programs

Youth Engagement & Leadership Development

Career Technology Centers
Youth Enrichment Programs, including summer programming

Economic Development

Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development
Education & Workforce Development
Regional Marketing Efforts & Tourism Projects

Community Development

Rural Transportation
Housing repairs
Housing counseling
Poverty Alleviation Efforts.

Grant Period
August 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025.
Rural Counties 
State-determined 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. Regional projects may include non-rural counties but the majority of service must be provided in rural areas.
Eligible Expenditures

MAERDAF does not generally fund ongoing staff positions due to sustainability. Grant funds may be used to fund staff time associated with the completion of the proposed project only.
Construction and renovation of buildings are eligible expenses. Acquisition of land is not. Please include quotes of expenditures and be shovel-ready.
The purchase or rental of vehicles are eligible expenses.
Meals are allowable if the costs are reasonable and a justification is provided that such activity maintains the continuity of the meeting and to do otherwise will impose arduous conditions on the meeting participants.
Indirect administrative costs are capped at 10%.

Eligibility Criteria
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. Community Colleges, Career Technology Centers, Regional Councils, and Libraries are eligible applicants. The applicant does not have to be located in a rural area or in the area it serves.
For more information, visit RMC.