Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 31 January 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

The state of Maryland looking to double security grants to at-risk organizations of hate crimes

47abcWMDT reports:

Governor Wes Moore wants to increase the state’s budget for security grants to organizations at risk of hate crimes. The hope is for these groups to enhance their safety at their facilities.

Temple Bat Yam President, Jerry Selig, is thankful for the Governor’s administration initiatives.

“Hopefully it’s something you are never going to need, but you never know, anything can happen. The fact that the governor is going to move forward with these grants is an enormous relief.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Maryland has experienced a 211% increase yearly in reported anti-Semitic incidents.

Analyst Comments:

The Protecting Against Hate Crimes (PAHC) – Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy website provides a description of and requirements for the above grant.

March 2025 is the projected date for release of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Maryland’s Protecting Against Hate Crimes (PAHC) grant. While some requirements might change, the PDF of last year’s NOFA may be useful for preparing a grant request for 2026.

Maryland is not unique in offering security grants to Houses of Worship. While there is a pause in federal grants, Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) should consider researching what grants are available from states and local governments, and private organizations. Many state government websites provide information for grants available to houses of worship. Many are for Houses of Worship or the more general “nonprofit” category. Applying for a grant can seem overwhelming, but once the first grant is applied for, a template with all the information a grant may require will facilitate future grant applications.

Suggestions for a Successful Grant Application

• FBOs should take advantage of all the grantor’s explanatory opportunities, such as webinars. The grant application process can be very complex, with very precise requirements. A better understanding of the process will improve an FBO’s chances of being awarded funds.
• Begin work on the grant application as soon as possible, to ensure meeting all deadlines. Most grant processes provide an opportunity to ask questions about the process. Starting the application as soon as possible will allow applicants to ask questions and fine tune their application. Also, most grantors discard late applications, so prompt submission is a must. Though there are changes in requirements from year to year, a good baseline application can be tweaked to meet newer requirements once those are announced.
• FBOs should ensure that their proposed use of the grant money is within the grant’s requirements, even if the applicant has a greater need in an area unrelated to the grant. No matter how worthy an organization’s need is, it will not be funded if it is outside the scope of the grant. 
• For federal grants, obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and register in the System for Award Management at sam.gov; your organization will be assigned a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) once registered. Learn how to get a Unique Entity ID without needing to complete an entity registration on SAM.gov.
• In addition to federal grants, be alert for grant opportunities from private organizations and local and state governments. Each of these entities usually have a grants office which FBOs can regularly monitor. There may also be an opportunity to be emailed alerts on future grants.