BERLIN – Town officials approved revisions to Berlin’s new nonprofit grant policy this week.
On Monday, the Berlin Town Council approved a resolution revising the nonprofit grant policy adopted last year.
“All of these recommendations came after this year’s first cycle under our current nonprofit grant policy,” Mayor Gee Williams said. “These are things that you learn by doing. That’s why they were recommended.”
In February of 2018, town leaders adopted a new nonprofit grant policy to codify the process. For years, the town has made a habit of providing funding to a handful of local nonprofits on an annual basis.
After going through that process with the new policy in place, staff recommended a few changes this week. The resolution presented Monday included a handful of changes to the policy. It removes the eligibility for faith-based organizations, eliminates community engagement and economic development from the list of eligible categories, includes a requirement to provide the Maryland Charity identification number and requires the recipient be in good standing with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation.
“It’s modest tweaking that’s also important to make the process fair,” Williams said.
Councilman Thom Gulyas praised the new grant policy in general.
“I think it’s a great tool,” he said. “It’s a great idea.”
Councilman Zack Tyndall said a few modifications to the policy were to be expected following its first year of implementation.
“We’re learning what works and what doesn’t work, I mean it’s a new policy,” he said.
The council approved the resolution containing the proposed modifications with a 4-0 vote. Councilman Troy Purnell was absent.
