How to Apply: Maryland's Protecting Against Hate Crimes Grant

A guide for mosques, Islamic centers, Muslim schools, and Muslim community organizations.

Next round: SFY 2028 · applications expected spring 2027 · prepared by The Baltimore Crescent, September 2026

1. The program at a glance

What Muslim institutions have received

Benchmarks, and peers to call. The FY 2026 figures show what the higher caps now make possible.

Source: GOCPP annual reports to the General Assembly, FY 2023–FY 2026 (Public Safety Art. § 4-1601(d)). Only ten Muslim institutions have been funded in four years, and none in Anne Arundel, Harford, Carroll, Washington, or Charles County or on the Eastern Shore; Baltimore City has had one and Montgomery County one. SFY 2027 recipients will not be published until September 2027.

2. The calendar: what to do, month by month

The State releases the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in March, runs two technical-assistance calls in early April, closes applications in late April, and starts the award period July 1. SFY 2027 dates shown for planning; SFY 2028 dates arrive with the new NOFA.

3. Get ready now: the document set

Every item below was required in SFY 2027. Applications missing a required document lose points before anyone reads the narrative. Build the folder now and you will spend April writing, not chasing paperwork.

A. Registrations

• SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID (UEI). Free, at sam.gov. Allow four to eight weeks; validation often stalls on address or name mismatches with the IRS. Make your record a public display record; GOCPP checks. Renew every year or the State cannot pay you. Help: fsd.gov.
• GMS user ID. Request at gocpp.maryland.gov/grants/requesting-access. Portal: grants.goccp.maryland.gov. Training videos. Help desk: support@goccp.freshdesk.com.

B. Proof of nonprofit status

A mosque does not need an IRS determination letter. The SFY 2027 NOFA accepts, in its place, all four of: an IRS EIN confirmation letter (CP 575 or 147C); a signed board statement confirming exempt religious status under Section 501(c)(3); bylaws and articles of incorporation; and a group exemption letter from a national body if one covers you. If you have a determination letter, upload it; if it is lost, request a copy from the IRS now.

C. Financial and organizational documents

• Most recent IRS Form 990, audited statements, or a certified operating budget. This sets your funding cap. A mosque that files no 990 should have its board certify a written operating budget.
• Current W-9 and a one-page organizational chart (board, imam or director, staff, volunteers).
• Certification of Applicable Financial Reporting Requirements form (single audit required only above $1,000,000 in federal spending).
• Determination of Suitability to Interact with Minors form.
• Organizational Capacity Questionnaire, completed online and certified by the chief executive or CFO; the link is printed in each year's NOFA.
• Board resolution authorizing the application and naming the Authorized Official. Keep the minutes.

D. Evidence of risk

Scoring gives 20 percent to the problem statement, and documented threats to your own facility earn priority in the final funding decision. Build the record now.

• Report every incident to police and keep the report number: threatening calls, vandalism, trespass, harassment of worshippers, online threats naming the masjid. An unreported incident does not exist for scoring purposes.
• File incidents with the Attorney General's portal at nohomeforhate.md.gov and with CAIR-Maryland, which tracks bias incidents against Maryland Muslims.
• Keep an incident log: date, what happened, who was affected, police report number, outcome. Attach it.
• Cite the State numbers. The MCAC 2024 Hate Bias Report: 921 incidents statewide in 2024, 34.3 percent religion-based, including 22 anti-Islamic and 8 anti-Arab. GOCPP's data resources guide lists the sources it expects. National context: justice.gov.
• Get a written security assessment. Free options: your county police crime-prevention unit; CISA's Protective Security Advisors (PSA program, central@cisa.gov); or CISA's houses-of-worship self-assessment. Ask for a signed report with prioritized recommendations, then build the budget from them.

E. Quotes and contracts

• Written vendor quotes for every equipment line; two quotes where you can. A unit cost of $10,000 or more is "Equipment" and needs a Property Inventory Record Form after purchase; below that goes under "Other."
• Security personnel. For contract guards, a proposal showing hours, rate and coverage (Jumu'ah, Ramadan nights, Eid, weekend school). Consultants are capped at $81.25/hour or $650/day without prior written approval.
• Training providers. Active-threat and de-escalation training is allowable; get a quote and syllabus.

4. Writing the application

Ten narrative sections in the GMS, each with a hard word limit. Draft in Word, count words, then paste; the GMS accepts text over the limit and the reviewers will not read it. Use the NOFA's numbered outline format for each section.

How it is scored

SFY 2027 weights: organization information 10 percent; problem statement and purpose area 20; project design 20; goals, objectives and data plan 20; personnel 5; budget, spending plan and sustainability 25. An internal reviewer first checks eligibility, documents, budget compliance and word limits, deducting points for each miss; a three-person team then scores each section, scores are averaged, bonus and deduction points applied, applications ranked.

Two priorities decide the close calls. First, organizations with evidence of direct or immediate threats or recent incidents. Second, organizations applying for the first time or unfunded in the past three fiscal years; GOCPP has said these are typically funded at the full amount requested. Most Muslim institutions in Maryland qualify on their first application. Say so explicitly in the problem statement.

Mistakes that cost points

• A missing required document; each is a deduction before scoring starts.
• Requesting more than your budget tier allows.
• Framing the need as general crime or terrorism; PAHC funds hate-crime risk. Tie every item to bias against the community you serve.
• Including a school; school-based facilities are ineligible; carve them out and apply to the Maryland Center for School Safety separately.
• Unallowable items in the budget (vests, vehicles, admin fees, food).
• Asking for more cash than you can front; reimbursement lags spending by two to four months.
• A personal email account on the application, or only one person able to log in on deadline day. Two people should hold GMS access.

5. After the award

• Read the General Conditions and your award letter's Special Conditions; accept the award in the GMS before the letter's deadline.
• Follow a written procurement policy when buying; adopt one before July 1 if you have none.
• Keep every invoice, cancelled check, timesheet and guard log; reimbursements are audited against them.
• File a Property Inventory Record Form for equipment; tag and track it.
• Report on time; late reports stop payments. Keep SAM.gov active all year; an expired registration freezes reimbursement.

6. Other security funding to pursue at the same time

PAHC prohibits double payment for the same item, not multiple grants. Split the wish list: cameras from one program, guards from another, the school building from a third. Disclose every pending application.

7. Free security resources and where to get help

• CISA, Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship: the standard reference; cite it under best practices in Project Design.
• CISA Protective Security Advisors: free on-site assessments; PSA program or central@cisa.gov.
• CAIR, Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety: guide PDF. CAIR-Maryland records bias incidents; ask them for a letter documenting incident trends.
• Your county police department: request a facility walk-through and a written letter of support from the community liaison or crime-prevention officer.
• Attorney General hate crime portal: nohomeforhate.md.gov. The record is what scorers see.
• Peer institutions: the organizations in the table in Section 1 have been through the process; the Islamic Society of Baltimore has been funded three years running.
• A model from another community: Agudath Israel of Maryland keeps a one-page security grants page listing every State, federal and county deadline. Muslim umbrella organizations should maintain the same.

GOCPP contacts (from the SFY 2027 NOFA)

8. The State's documents, in one place

• SFY 2027 PAHC NOFA (the template for SFY 2028)
• SFY 2027 technical-assistance slides (scoring mechanics, slides 31–32)
• GMS Application Instructions (updated each January)
• All current NOFAs · General Conditions
• Public Safety Art. § 4-1601, the statute
• Past award lists: FY 2024, FY 2025, FY 2026

9. One-page readiness checklist

Print this section. When every box is checked, the application is a writing exercise.

Registrations

• SAM.gov active, UEI in hand, public display record on, renewal date on the calendar
• GMS user IDs for two people; login tested

Documents in one folder

• IRS determination letter, or EIN letter + board statement of exempt religious status + bylaws and articles + group exemption letter
• Most recent 990, audited statements, or board-certified operating budget (sets your cap)
• W-9, organizational chart, board resolution naming the Authorized Official
• Financial reporting certification; suitability-to-interact-with-minors form; OCQ certified by chief executive or CFO

Evidence

• Incident log with police report numbers; AG portal filings; CAIR-MD letter if available
• Written security assessment with prioritized recommendations
• County and State hate-bias figures cited from the MCAC report and GOCPP data guide

Budget

• Two quotes per equipment line; items over $10,000 per unit flagged as Equipment
• Guard proposal with hours and rates; consultant rates at or under $81.25 an hour
• Total at or under your tier cap; nothing from the unallowable list; school facilities removed
• Cash-flow plan to carry two to four months of expenses before reimbursement

Narrative

• All ten sections drafted in Word, within word limits, in the NOFA's outline format
• First-time-applicant status and documented threats stated plainly in the problem statement
• Every pending grant application for the same items disclosed
• Submitted at least two days before the deadline; confirmation saved