Community Grants

Overview

United Way of New York City (UWNYC) remains committed to our goal of strengthening New York City nonprofits through board development initiatives and grantmaking activity. We recognized, through our strategic planning process, that organizational strategies and practices, such as the range of supports that nonprofits can access and utilize to build their organizational capacity, are not as widely available or implemented as they might be. Therefore in the 2009-2010 fiscal year (ending June 30, 2010),UWNYC will provide a limited number of grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to local community-based health and human services organizations that have annual budgets under $5 million. These one-time grants will be made on a competitive basis according to the criteria stated below.

Minimum Qualification Criteria

In order to be considered for a Community Grant, applicants must meet the following minimum criteria:

• Be a voluntary, not-for-profit health and human service agency with a minimum of 3 years of experience providing programs and services
• Be incorporated as not-for-profit corporation, satisfying all requirements of New York State law
• Be designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization or have a verifiable 501(c)(3) fiscal agent
• Be located in New York City and serve low-income clients who live and/or work in one or more of the five boroughs
• Have an active Board of Directors
• Have a paid Executive Director who is accountable to the Board of Directors
• Have an annual budget under $5 million
• Have a certified independent financial audit and IRS 990 tax form, or similar form, if the 990 is not required
• Comply with all provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Have an affirmative action statement and operate by policy and practice without discrimination based on age, race, gender, religion, sexual preference, disability, economic status, cultural heritage or national origin. This shall be true in all respects of the organization’s operations, including services to people, selection of board, employment of staff and volunteers, and purchases of supplies

Selection Criteria

Applications that meet the minimum qualification criteria will be reviewed and scored based the following selection criteria:

1. The critical nature of the issue(s) facing the population(s) served by the organization, and the immediate vulnerability of that population during the current economic crisis.
2. The organization’s ability to articulate a pressing organizational need for fiscal management, fundraising or strategic planning support, including a thoughtful and realistic plan, budget and timeline to address the need.
3. The impact upon the population(s) served that will result from meeting the vital organizational need.
4. Preference will be given to organizations serving high-need communities as indicated by (but not limited to): high rates of unemployment, violence, foster-care placement, prisoner re-entry, incidence of disease, and high school drop-out.

Application Procedures

Community Grant applications will only be accepted from October 12, 2009 to December 11, 2009. Please email one electronic copy (of the application only) and mail, via regular mail, one hard copy (of the application and all attachments) no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 11, 2009.

Email application to:
communitygrants@uwnyc.org

Mail application and attachments to:
Community Grants
United Way of New York City
2 Park Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10016

Once UWNYC receives a hard copy of your grant application and the required attachments, your grant will be registered, and you will receive a confirmation email indicating that your proposal has been received.

Grant decisions will be made by March 31, 2010.

Please refer to our website and FAQ section with any initial questions you might have. If you have additional questions, please contact Olga Lech at olech@uwnyc.org or (212) 251-4021.

General Instructions:

• Please download the application via the link below. Before you can enter your information into the form, you must first save the document to your computer. You must submit the completed application to us via email as a Word document. This is the only document that you may submit electronically. All attachments must be submitted via U.S. mail.
• Please submit all attachments plus one printed copy of the application via U.S. mail.
• Applications will not be accepted via fax.
• Materials other than those specifically requested will not be accepted.

Click here to download the Community Grant Application.