Directed Grants
The North Carolina state budget may include legislatively directed grants to non-state entities. These grants provide a specific amount of state funds be directed to a named organization for a purpose described in the appropriations act in which the grant was included. The state agency responsible for administering the grant will be named in the same appropriations legislation.
These grants have a variety of funding sources and can be funded with recurring or nonrecurring funds. All state grants are subject to corresponding statutes and rules, most notably G.S. 143C-6-23 and 09 NCAC 03M.
This page provides general directed grants information and a database grant recipients can use to locate contact information for each grant's administrator.
If your grant is administered by OSBM, please visit our OSBM Administered Grants page.
All information provided in the directed grants database should be deemed reliable but not guaranteed. For the most accurate information consult the North Carolina General Assembly and the appropriate appropriations act and or technical corrections acts.
Recipients should look closely at 1) which state agency is administering their award and 2) the source of funds for the award.
Additional information including required forms and a general overview of the process to receive a grant is provided in the FAQ section of this page. For information on the general requirements of Directed Grants, please see the State Budget Manual Section 3.15. Recent appropriations acts include SL 2021-180, S.L. 2021-189, S.L. 2022-6, S.L. 2022-74, and S.L. 2023-134 (and Committee Report).
Webinars
NC League of Municipalities & NC Association of County Commissioners Webinar
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Introduction to State Directed Grants Webinar
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Frequently Asked Questions
According to Sec. 5.2 of S.L. 2021-180, a directed grant is defined as non-recurring funds allocated by a state agency to a non-state entity as directed by an act of the General Assembly. Directed grants are subject to the requirements of Section 5.2.
Nonrecurring appropriations to non-state entities that are part of existing competitive or formula-based grant programs run by the state are subject to the requirements of the existing grant program, not Section 5.2.
Grants to non-state entities funded through the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund (SCIF) are subject to the requirements of Sec. 40.8 of S.L. 2021-180.
Directed grant recipients and award amounts were decided by the North Carolina General Assembly and enacted into law via an appropriations act. There was not an application process for these funds.
For specific questions about receiving a directed grant(s), contact your legislative delegation.
State grant administrators will contact recipients after the appropriations act in which the grant is included becomes state law. Recipients should look for these communications and respond with required information in a timely manner.
Most recipients should expect to receive funds within 100 days after the budget becomes state law or the start of the fiscal year for which they were awarded (whichever is sooner). However, disbursement of funds requires the recipient complete several documents (see list of required forms in the next question). The sooner these forms are accurately completed, the sooner funds can be disbursed.
Medicaid Expansion will begin December 1, 2023, enabling North Carolina to receive an additional 5% federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for 2 years beginning retroactively from October 1, 2023. SL 2023-7 established the ARPA Temporary Savings Fund as a special fund consisting of the General Fund savings realized by Medicaid as a result of additional federal receipts arising from the enhanced FMAP available to the state under section 9814 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will receive these federal receipts monthly starting in December 2023 and deposit the savings into the ARPA TSF monthly. The General Assembly appropriated all of the funds that are anticipated to be deposited into the ARPA TSF. However, in recognition that the funds would not be available all at once, they established an order of disbursement schedule in Section 4.9 of SL 2023-134.
Please see the ARPA TSF Anticipated Disbursement Schedule.
In addition, before a non-state entity may receive a grant funded by the ARPA TSF, the organization must submit several documents to the administering state agency. Please see the OSBM guidance to grant recipients for a list of the required documents.
For FY 2023-24, the General Assembly identified 14 projects to receive funding from the ARPA Temporary Savings Fund (TSF) first. After those 14 projects are disbursed in the order prescribed in session law, DHHS will transfer funds for non-State Capital Infrastructure Fund (SCIF) allocations first in order of least to most, followed by SCIF allocations in order of least to most.
DHHS will transfer funds in one lump sum amount to each agency charged with disbursing money for these projects. For your convenience, we have provided an anticipated disbursement schedule. This is merely an estimate. Funds will not be transferred until they are available. Funding may be available either before or after the anticipated disbursement in the schedule.
In addition, before a non-state entity may receive a grant funded by the ARPA TSF, the organization must submit several documents to the administering state agency. Please see the OSBM guidance to grant recipients for a list of the required documents.
All grant recipients, regardless of administering agency, are required to submit the following five documents:
W-9 (09 NCAC 03M .0202)
Electronic Payment / Vendor Verification Form (09 NCAC 03M .0202)
Conflict of Interest Policy (G.S. 143C-6-23.(b))
Sworn (Notarized) No Overdue Tax Debt Certification (G.S. 143C-6-23.(c))
Grant Agreement / Contract (09 NCAC 03M .0703)
Grants administration processes may differ by agency, so please defer to your administering agency on the form and manner in which materials should be submitted.
In addition to these forms, once grant funds have been disbursed, each recipient should be prepared to submit reporting documentation (09 NCAC 03M .0401) pursuant to the grant agreement. Recipients must also submit required audits for grants greater than $500,000.
Your administering agency contact is included in the directed grants database. This database includes county, recipient, administering agency, funding source, and agency contact information for all directed grants. Click the + sign next to the county name in each entry to see these details for each grant.
To find a specific grant, you can use the search bar to type an organization name, scroll through grant awards by county, or sort by any of the fields at the top of the database. You can sort the database by each of these fields using the up and down arrows in the database column headers.
Funds may only be used for the purposes outlined in the Appropriations Act and purposes must be nonsectarian and nonreligious (See Sec. 5.2 of S.L 2021-180). In addition, no more than $120,000 in state funds, including any interest earnings accruing from those funds, may be used for the annual salary of any individual employee of a nonprofit organization (See Sec. 5.3 of S.L. 2021-180). Recipient should work with the administering agency to develop a scope of work to be included as part of the contract/grant agreement.
While certain requirements cross all administering agencies, each administering agency may have different contracts/ grant agreement terms and reporting requirements. A complete set of documents (see forms question above) will be required for each grant.
You should not co-mingle state grant funds with your organization’s general fund. You will need to track and report on all grant funds separately from all other funds. If your accounting software is not set up to separate grant funds, you should deposit the grant fund into a new bank account. If your organization has more than one Directed Grant, each grant needs its own account.
Yes. However, any interest earned on the funds must be used for the same purpose as the grant funds. State funds should not be comingled with other funds
Audit and reporting requirements will vary depending on administering agency, funding source, and contract requirements. Generally, directed grants are subject to the requirements of G.S. 143C-6-23(b) though (k).
Yes, so long as it is the same town/county that was named in the Committee Report. For example, we cannot change Town of Lewisburg to County of Franklin but can alter technical details such as "Township" to "Town of" since the recipient stays the same.
The source of funds for each directed grant is included in the database because grant requirements vary depending on the source of funds. For example, grants funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act funds have different reporting requirements than state-funded grants; while State Capital and Infrastructure (SCIF) funds and General Fund funded grants have different expenditure deadlines.
Contact NCGrants@osbm.nc.gov for assistance.