Delaware General Assembly

Grant in Aid

Grant-in-Aid is an appropriation made by the General Assembly to support the activities of non-profit organizations which provide services to the citizens of Delaware. The purpose of this funding is to provide supplemental funding to service agencies and should not be construed as a sole source of funding.

To qualify for Grant-in-Aid, an agency must:

• Be an incorporated non-profit (or under the umbrella of a parent organization which is also an incorporated non-profit) and operating for two years before applying for Grant-In-Aid.
• Have bylaws that clearly state the purpose of the agency and include a definition of duties of the Board of Directors.
• Have an active, community-represented, volunteer Board of Directors that sets policies, goals, and objectives and maintains minutes of regularly scheduled meetings and any special meetings.
• Have programs that are unduplicated by other state-supported agencies and satisfy unmet human needs of the community.
• Have personnel policies, including job descriptions and classifications.
• Have competent executives, competent staffing, and reasonable facilities.
• Practice non-discrimination.
• Have accounting (budget) procedures.
• Have an audit completed within the past three years by a Certified Public Accountant or a Public Accountant.
• Use funds in accordance with the application.
• Demonstrate community support.
• Request funds only for a program that does not receive full funding from other sources of revenue.
• Must not request funds through a fiscal agent.

Grant-in-Aid funding cannot be used for:

• Providing child daycare.
• The purchase of capital equipment.
• The relocation, rehabilitation, renovation, or purchase of buildings.
• The payment of any part of an elected official's salary or benefits.
• A political campaign or for partisan political purposes.
• The hiring of lobbyists or other lobbying services.
• Activities, programs, or services that benefit individuals that do not reside in Delaware.

Grant-in-Aid Categories and Contacts

Each Grant-in-Aid category is assigned a team of legislators from the Joint Finance Committee. The teams review the applications assigned to that group and make funding recommendations to the full Committee. Decisions regarding Grant-in-Aid are made by the Joint Finance Committee in late June. Historically, the Grant-in-Aid bill is the final appropriations bill enacted by the legislature on June 30th.

Overall Grant-In-Aid Coordinator –Jason Smith
  

Notification of Joint Finance Committee meetings to discuss Grant-in-Aid are posted on the internet and provided to the media. Meetings are open to the public. Please check the Joint Finance Committee Public Hearing page to view the schedule.