MD Nonprofits To Get Advance Funding

Small nonprofits in Montgomery County, Md. will get one-third of their funding up front beginning next fiscal year.

Gazette.net reported yesterday that, starting in Fiscal 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will implement this change for nonprofits that receive less than $26,000 dollars from the county. As it currently stands, organizations that contract with HHS submit monthly invoices with supporting documents. HHS then reimburses them for what they spend.

Uma Ahluwalia, the director of the county's HHS, told Gazette.net that giving nonprofits advance contracts will allow them to better fulfill their goals. She added that this change was first requested by the nonprofits in Montgomery County.

Here is how the new policy would work: If a nonprofit receives less than $26,000 from the county, it would get $8,600 up front. Assuming all of the organizations in that group received that amount of money, the county would spend about $480,000 in advance. HHS also plans to allow smaller nonprofits to keep back-up documents on-site, simplifying the administration of the money.

You can read the full story on Gazette.net.