Grant Application Support

Application drafts can be submitted for review by Emily Ross, Program Officer, Grants. To submit an application for draft review, please email a copy of your application to eross@mdhumanities (dot) org with your organization name and “draft review” in the subject line. Please allow 2-3 business days for your draft review to be returned.

The deadline to submit applications for draft review is September 8, 2025.

What will a draft review cover?

1. Completeness – is your application filled out completely, answer every question fully, and include the correct budget and/or supplementary attachments?
2. Eligibility – is your organization eligible for a Hatza SHINE grant?
3. Compliance – does your application adhere to the Hatza SHINE grant guidelines?

What will a draft review not cover?

1. Evaluation – opinions on how the application would be scored or feedback on the quality of narrative answers cannot be provided during a draft review.
2. Funding recommendation – a draft review cannot determine whether your organization will or will not receive a Hatza SHINE grant.
3. Extensive editing or rewriting

A collection of high-scoring answers from a variety of organizations’ previous applications is available to view. Organizations have been de-identified and identifying information redacted.

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The purpose of this toolkit is to provide organizations applying to a SHINE grant with a starting point to reflect on their organization’s culture, strategies, and values related to Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI). The toolkit is not exhaustive in every consideration and portions may not be applicable to certain organizations. Maryland Humanities recognizes that successful DEAI work requires financial resources many organizations do not have access to.

This toolkit is not a checklist of completed requirements to receive a SHINE grant but rather a set of considerations to assist organizations when writing in their grant application about their organization’s approaches to and plans for DEAI work.

This resource is designed to help SHINE grant writers provide more complete and thoughtful answers to their narrative questions. These questions were designed from past reviewers’ feedback in which they expressed a desire for more information from applicants.

It is not required to answer every question to consider for each narrative question. Additionally, answering every question to consider does not guarantee a high score. Rather, they are designed to help grant writers consider the multiple ways to answer each narrative question by providing reviewers with a complete and detailed view of your organization by referencing the actions, programs, and choices already underway and the strategic goals for your organization’s future.

What are open office hours?

Drop by any time  into our virtual office on Zoom to speak with grants staff. The grants department’s door is open to anyone to stop by and get answers about Hatza SHINE grants, get clarity about the process of applying, or ask general grants-related inquiries.

What is a Q&A session?

Applying for a Hatza SHINE grant? Have unanswered questions about the process you’d like answered face-to-face with grants staff? Join a virtual Q&A session and get answers. We will also review some of the most frequently asked questions about applying for a Hatza SHINE grant.

Upcoming Sessions:

Grant applications can be completed by oral interview for accessibility reasons. Possible (but not all) accessibility reasons could include: lack of internet access, barriers to using a computer, and communication preferences.

Oral applications use the same application as written applicants. It is completed through spoken word and transcribed.

The deadline to schedule an oral application interview is September 8, 2025.

Oral Interview Application Process

1. Schedule an interview time with Program Officer, Grants Emily Ross. Call (410) 618-5017 or email eross@mdhumanities (dot) org to schedule.
2. Applicants should review the application in advance. Applicants will be asked the questions directly from the application during their interview.
3. Interview is held by phone or in person at Maryland Humanities offices in Baltimore, MD. Applicants choose.
4. Grants staff transcribe the interview into an application.
5. A copy of the transcribed application will be mailed, faxed, or emailed to the applicant to make changes or approve.
6. Grants staff submit the application.