Professional Development Opportunity Grant

Applicants must:

• Be an Independent Artist, or 
• Be a Maryland-incorporated 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in operation for one year or more and within grant income requirements, a unit of Maryland local government, or a Maryland college/university/school.
• Organizations applying through fiscal sponsorships can be funded if the Fiscal Agency and the Organization operate within a Model A sponsorship. (Note: in a “Model A” sponsorship, the assets, liabilities, and exempt activities collectively referred to as the project are housed within the fiscal sponsor.)
• Identify a specific professional development opportunity to occur within the application time frame.
• Reference the program’s Guidelines for more specific details on eligibility requirements

Please note that application forms in Smart Simple have been updated for FY25. Your application ID # should begin with '2025.' If it does not, you are working off a draft started from a previous year. You will not be able to submit this draft. Please open a new FY25 application under the "Opportunities" menu to begin a new application.

Applicants must be an eligible entity or individual who has identified a relevant and meaningful professional development opportunity. See FY 2025 Grant Guidelines for detailed information.

Please note that application forms in Smart Simple have been updated for FY25. Your application ID # should begin with '2025.' If it does not, you are working off a draft started from a previous year and will not be able to submit it. Please open a new FY 2025 application under the "Opportunities" menu in your Smart Simple account.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis from July 2024 through April 30, 2025. Applications are reviewed monthly, and Professional Development Opportunity Grants are awarded throughout the fiscal year. For awarded activities, payment may take up to 90 days.

Professional Development Opportunity Grant applications submitted by the last day of the month will be reviewed by the panel in the following month, with notifications to follow early the following month. See Guidelines for a detailed schedule.

MSAC convenes a group of panelists, composed of members of the public statewide representing a range of discipline expertise, to electronically review and score all applications according to the review criteria above.

Applications must be completed in Smart Simple

In addition to reviewing the guidelines document in the "Quick Resources" box, please review the following resources that are available to assist you during the application process

• FY 2025 How to Apply Information Session Recording

For additional support, you can find the FY 2025 scoring rubric, and other relevant documents in the "Resources" section below.

After the monthly panel review, applicants will be notified of the grant status as soon as possible, and, if approved, receive a formal grant agreement form to process the grant payment (100% of award amount).

Upon execution of the grant agreement, payment will be processed for receipt in 6-8 weeks

All MSAC grants are paid on the same timeline. To learn more, click here.

If awarded a Professional Development Opportunity Grant, the recipient must file a final report online in Smart Simple. The report will be added to the grantee's Smart Simple profile as soon as the Grant Agreement Form is fully executed.

Applications submitted between July 2024 and December 2024 will have a Final Report deadline of August 15, 2025. Applications submitted between January 2025 and April 2025 will have a Final Report deadline of December 31, 2025.

FY 2023