Member Sponsored Briefing: Findings from Research Reports on Baltimore City Grants, Contracts, and Permitting Processes

Join Maryland Philanthropy Network, the Abell Foundation, and the Middendorf Foundation for a joint program examining recent research on Baltimore City’s contracting, payment, and permitting processes and how delays in those processes negatively affect non-profits and the high-need communities they serve.

Baltimore City is an economic engine: purchasing goods and services on behalf of residents and contracting with non-profits to provide vital services to communities. Yet challenges with the City’s contracting and reimbursement process have exerted a heavy cost on the non-profit sector’s ability to operate efficiently and effectively.  These costs became steeper during the Covid-19 pandemic and impacted non-profits large and small, including smaller, black-led organizations that lacked the cash reserves to sustain funding delays.

At this briefing, you will hear from authors of the newly released Abell Report on the City’s contracting process and learn about the findings from a joint Middendorf/MPN study on the City’s permitting and grantmaking systems. The goals of the briefing are to share the scale and scope of the challenges, recommend changes, and discuss how funders can support the implementation of these changes in an effort to strengthen and support Baltimore’s non-profit sector.

This program is for Maryland Philanthropy Network members and invited guests only.