Search Through Cycling Grants in New York City, New York in the U.S.

Our Program Areas

The Sills Family Foundation’s primary grants program intends to help children from low income families live up to their highest promise by concentrating on the following four areas:

Comprehensive Services to Families in Crisis- With a special focus on families impacted by incarceration

The Sills Family Foundation has a major focus on programs that support families impacted by the criminal justice system. We partner with programs that work to strengthen the parent/child bond during incarceration through facilitating transportation for prison visits, creating child-sensitive visiting areas in correctional facilities, providing parenting education classes to incarcerated parents, as well as supporting families through the re-entry period. This effort extends to addressing the inequities in the bail system, preventing juvenile detentions, and providing high quality legal services to low income populations.

In considering the rehabilitative opportunities so rarely provided to incarcerated individuals, the Foundation supports higher education and arts programming inside correctional facilities. The Foundation has begun to play a role in deepening policy makers and service providers’ capacity in this field. The Sills Family Foundation is proud to be a member of the NY Initiative for Children with Incarcerated Parents, as well as the New York Youth Justice Initiative.

Support to Underserved Communities- Through improved access to early education and reduction of neighborhood violence

Low income neighborhoods and schools experience a disproportionate amount of school suspensions, violence, arrests and damage to the community through involvement in the criminal justice system. We support programs that seek to intervene in this destructive cycle and help young people stay on the path to success.

Early education can make a world of difference in how a child goes on to succeed in school, work and life. This is especially true for children challenged by poverty, homelessness and other forms of trauma. Children who start kindergarten behind their peers may continue to face problems throughout school. Getting kids off to a good start is critical to their future.

We are committed to high-quality education experiences that help children live up to their highest potential. We want to improve chances for all children to succeed in life through access to education, early intervention and family supports such as mental health counseling and job skills classes for their parents.

Programs Supporting Immigrants, Refugees and Asylees

We believe all human beings have the right to pursue their dreams of building a better home for themselves and their families, and that newcomers to the US should have access to necessary legal, educational, and material needs.

Environmental Justice- With a focus on contaminants that harm the developing embryo, fetus and infant

Toxic chemicals are released into our environment every day. Children consume pollutants in their food, air and water, their toys, candy, even baby bottles. These hazards can cause serious health problems, ranging from asthma and cancer to brain impairment and behavioral problems. They take a greater toll on the most vulnerable: pregnant women, fetuses and children.

We want to protect families from lead, mercury and other toxic compounds. The foundation supports organizations that embrace the ideals of environmental justice and that protect against poor communities carrying a greater share of the toxic burden. We invest in programs that work to reduce pollutants in our air, water, food and homes so that the minds and bodies of our infants and children stay healthy and strong.

Arts and Culture- Arts education and other creative opportunities to support underserved populations

Arts and cultural activity can provide people of all ages important tools of self expression, can open paths to new forms of communication and can strengthen self esteem. We believe that high quality arts programming in schools, community centers and senior centers can be a powerful tool of social justice. The Foundation seeks to support culturally sensitive collaborations between teaching artists, educators and community leaders to bring the positive power of the arts to under-resourced schools and communities.

Funding Priorities

The Sills Family Foundation funds nonprofits that support early childhood education, environmental justice, arts and culture, and families in crisis, with a focus on families and communities impacted by the criminal justice justice system as well as refugees, migrants and asylees.

Funding Criteria

The organizations we invest in support families and communities to overcome obstacles created by poverty, racism and other forms of marginalization. The programs we support have passionate leaders, are community based and offer potential for systemic, sustained change, including the possibility of replication. We seek to fund organizations for whom our grantmaking capacity will make an impact.

Grant Making Budget

Most of our grants range from $10,000 to $25,000. The Foundation accepts applications for one-year grants only, with the possibility of renewal grants for extended periods. Many of our grants support general operating needs.

Our Mission

By harnessing the power of collective giving and collaborative action, Impact 100 NYC unites women across the five boroughs to fund transformative change that helps the people and communities of NYC overcome adversity and thrive.

Apply for a Grant

Impact 100 NYC’s goal is to provide high-impact grants that reach underserved populations, highlight unmet needs in our area and raise the profile of deserving but lesser known initiatives. To support this important work and allow organizations to “dream big,” Impact 100 NYC will annually award $100,000 grants to local nonprofits. Total funding will be determined by the number of members who contribute $1,000 each towards the grants.

Project or program must:

• Benefit New York City residents and communities
• Be an innovative new project or program or one that significantly expands an existing program
• Have a total project or program budget of at least $100,000
• Use the full amount of the grant within 24 months
• Target underserved populations or promote social change

Background

Every year, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans (PD Soros) supports thirty New Americans-- immigrants or the children of immigrants--who are pursuing graduate or professional school in the United States.

• It's free to apply.
• You can apply when you're applying to graduate or professional school, or when you're in the first two years of the academic program you're seeking funding for.
• You can apply more than one.
• You must be 30 or younger as of the application deadline.
• PD Soros supports all types of full-time degrees at accredited institutions in the United States.

Each Fellowship supports one to two years of graduate study in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program in the United States.

Each award is for up to a total of $90,000.

Here is the financial break down:

• Each Fellow receives $25,000 in stipend support a year (all stipend awards are capped at $50,000 per year), as well as 50 percent of required tuition and fees, up to $20,000 per year, for one to two years. The first year of Fellowship funding cannot be deferred.

What is required of Fellows?

Over the two years of the Fellowship, Fellows are required to attend the annual Fall Conference in New York City, which is fully paid for by the program. The Fall Conference takes place over a weekend in late October and is an opportunity for the new Fellows to get to know one another and the Fellowship staff, alumni, and community, celebrate, and examine the New American experience. In addition, the director or deputy director of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships will visit each Fellow on their respective campus during the first fall semester of their Fellowship. The Fellowship funding should allow Fellows to focus on their studies full-time, which is why Fellows are not able to work full-time during their graduate program. Finally, Fellows are required to remain in good standing in their graduate program while receiving funding. At the close of their two years as an active fellow, Fellows must submit an exit report. More details on the visit and the requirements of the Fellowship are provided when selected applicants sign a contract with the Fellowship. 

Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

The Blavatnik National Awards honor America’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers.

These awards celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of young faculty members working in the three disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemical Sciences.

Every year, one Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in each disciplinary category will receive $250,000 in unrestricted funds, and additional nominees will be recognized as Finalists.

Nominations are accepted from an invited group of research universities, independent research institutions, academic medical centers, and government laboratories from around the United States, as well as from the Awards’ own Scientific Advisory Council, composed of renowned science and technology leaders. Past Laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards are also invited to submit nominations. The program expands on an awards program, started in 2007, for young scientists in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Members of the Jury responsible for selecting the Blavatnik National Awards honorees are some of the nation’s most distinguished scientists. Both the Blavatnik National Awards Scientific Advisory Council and Jury include Nobel Laureates, National Medal of Science recipients, and National Academy of Sciences members.

The Blavatnik National Awards are conferred at a formal ceremony in New York City each fall.

Evaluation Criteria

Nominees and their work as independent investigators will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Quality: The extent to which the work is reliable, valid, credible, and scientifically rigorous.
• Impact: The extent to which the work addresses an important problem, advances scientific progress, and is influential in the nominee’s field, related fields, or beyond, and/or has the potential to benefit society.
• Novelty: The extent to which the work challenges existing paradigms, establishes a new field or considerably expands on an existing field, employs original methodologies or concepts, and/or pursues an original question.
• Promise: The nominee has potential for further significant contributions to science, and the research program will generate further impactful and novel discoveries.

The New York Fellowship is a 6-month program that provides support to artists, scholars, and arts professionals working across disciplines, empowering them to take risks, develop their artistic practices, and take time to immerse themselves in the rich and varied cultural life of New York City.

The New York Fellowship aims to foster grantees’ understanding of New York City’s many diverse cultures. We posit that cultural understanding is uniquely imparted through first-hand experience, regardless of form or method, and that the impact of cultural exchange manifests in diverse ways. We encourage applicants to clearly articulate the desired outcome(s) they wish to gain from this Fellowship in their application.

ACC emphasizes that this 6-month grant is not a residency or an individual’s personal public relations tour. Rather, the New York Fellowship is a precious pause in everyday activities to take a deep dive into New York City’s rich cultural landscape. ACC hopes that Fellows will take the learnings and insights from their Fellowship experience to influence their own practice, and later contribute to the artistic and cultural communities in their home country.

Background

The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in partnership with the Magnum Foundation in New York City, USA, launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program (ADPP) in 2014, a program that is jointly funded by AFAC and Prince Claus Fund, and supports creative documentary photographers in the Arab region.

Recognizing the image's power to document, educate, and advocate, the Arab Documentary Photography Program’s incentive has always been to foster creative photography practices in the Arab world and to encourage the transmission of critical, socially engaged, and local stories.

Looking back at the past cycles of the program, we are convinced that it remains essential for nurturing free expression, amplifying unheard narratives, and raising the level of creative documentary photography in the Arab region and beyond.

However, we recognize that one-time support can only go so far; which is why, on the occasion of the program’s tenth cycle anniversary, we launched the Arab Documentary Photography Program Alumni Fellowship. As the ADPP continues to support emerging photographers from the Arab region, the ADPP Alumni Fellowship is committed to accelerating the careers of the program alumni by providing them with the support and resources they need while facilitating further regional and international exchanges between established and emergent photographers.

ADPP for Emerging Photographers

Documentary photography sheds light on important neglected and unknown narratives. The Arab Documentary Photography Program has been dedicated to supporting unconventional, compelling, non-stereotypical visual documentation of social issues and narratives relevant to the Arab region. The program has proved itself to be a major springboard to emerging Arab photographers, granting access to the needed resources and adequate professional support to initiate and complete compelling documentary photography projects.

Even so, structural issues remain, and documentary photography practices tend to stand overlooked. With every new cycle of the Arab Documentary Photography Program, we commit to continuing the urgent work of providing support to documentary photographers in the region. If you are a documentary photographer who works with creative photography practices in the Arab world and transmits critical and socially engaged local stories, we encourage you to apply tothe Arab Documentary Photography Program.

The ADPP explores ways by which documentary photography can reach out to wider audiences and engage with them in an impactful way. Photographers may propose to work in a range of non-fiction narrative styles, from classic documentary photography to more experimental visual storytelling, and may propose to include audio and video elements.

The program provides up to 8 photographers with a $7.000 grant to work on their projects in their country of residence over a period of 10 months. The grant may be used to begin a new project or to complete work on an existing project.

In addition, ADPP grantees will benefit from mentorship provided by distinguished program mentors and will be required to attend three specialized workshops (two in-person and one virtual) to help them develop and produce their projects and consider avenues for distribution. Photographers can apply to the ADPP in either English or Arabic. To facilitate exchanges, access to translations will be provided throughout the program.

Program Overview

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is a 501(c)(3) service organization that empowers artists in all disciplines, as well as cultural workers, to achieve success on their own terms by providing critical support, resources, and opportunities.

NYFA was established in 1971 to serve individual artists throughout New York State. Since then, we have extended our programs and services throughout the United States and internationally and expanded our scope to serve additional members of the arts community.

We offer:

• Awards and grants for individual artists in New York City, New York State, and nationally (including U.S. Territories)
• Access to increased funding opportunities for artists in all disciplines through our Fiscal Sponsorship program
• In-person and online professional development workshops, panels, consultations, and intensives for artists and arts administrators
• Mentorship programs and tailored resources for immigrant artists
• Job, opportunity, and space listings through NYFA Classifieds, the premier opportunities board for creative industries
• Targeted support and ongoing award and service listings through the NYFA Source Hotline and NYFA Source database
• Work sample reviews for artists and students under the guidance of expert consultants and staff

NYFA Artist Fellowship

The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is an $8,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Tribal Nations located therein.

2025 AWARD CYCLE

The following categories will be reviewed:

• Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design
• Choreography
• Music/Sound
• Photography
• Playwriting/Screenwriting

Mission

Founded in 1997, the mission of Lily Auchincloss Foundation (LAF) is to provide grants to enrich the quality of life in New York City.

Vision Lily Auchincloss Foundation envisions a more affordable and vibrant New York City. The Foundation aims to enrich the lives of New Yorkers through grants in support of the arts, the built and natural environments, and human services.The Foundation typically supports small to mid-size organizations throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

The Foundation provides both general operating support and program support.

Winter Cycle - Human Services Grants

The Human Services cycle is open to organizations whose mission and services support prevention, social change, and education programs aimed at improving the quality of life for all New York City residents.

Background

The Grants and Mission Investing (GMI) team at Trinity Church Wall Street uses the tools of philanthropy, our convening power, and our voice to advance Trinity’s mission goals.

Trinity Church has engaged in a strategic visioning process to clarify and articulate our core values and mission priorities. As a result of this process, Trinity’s grantmaking programs align with the church’s mission goal of building neighborhoods, leadership, and capacity.

Neighborhood

Trinity’s neighborhood is New York City — stretching from the sidewalks outside Trinity Church, Trinity Commons and St. Paul’s Chapel to all five boroughs, from members of our congregation to those who live and work in the city, to the millions of visitors we welcome each year. Guided by our core values, we believe that our neighborhood will thrive when we see an end to mass homelessness and mass incarceration. Through our grantmaking and other investments, we seek to realize positive alternatives for how New Yorkers can reach their potential and grow.

Housing and Homelessness Strategic Initiative - Break the Cycle of Mass Homelessness in New York 

Trinity Church Wall Street’s Housing and Homelessness Initiative seeks to break the cycle of mass homelessness and housing instability in New York City. This initiative advances Trinity’s mission priority to build up our neighborhood by advocating for New Yorkers who find themselves in shelters or who are on the brink of losing their housing. In addition to providing grants* and Program Related Investments, Trinity will use its voice and congregation to promote policy changes and solutions that address housing instability and homelessness.

Mass homelessness has reached an all-time high in New York City, with more than 60,000 people, including 22,000 children—over 25 percent of whom are under the age of five—sleeping in shelters each night, and an estimated 4,000 adults sleeping on the streets and in subways. With over 90 percent of people in the shelter system self-identifying as Black or Latino, there is no denying that homelessness disproportionally impacts communities of color. To address this issue, the Housing and Homelessness Initiative is working in close coordination with Trinity’s Racial Justice Initiative which is committed to dismantling racism by breaking the cycle of mass incarceration.

Areas of Focus

PREVENT: Trinity will promote housing stability, and prevent New Yorkers from falling into homelessness, by supporting the creation and preservation of extremely affordable housing.

Given the loss of affordable housing stock in the last decade and the paucity of housing affordable to extremely low-income New Yorkers, the development and preservation of such units is core to our strategy. Trinity’s aim is to help increase the pace of construction or preservation of extremely affordable units by 20 percent above the rate of recent years. Trinity will also explore ways to better identify and help at-risk New Yorkers from becoming homeless and combatting income-source discrimination that weakens the utility of rental subsidies.

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Expand access to extremely affordable housing, including supportive housing by:
  • Providing bridge financing, down-payment assistance, and guarantees for affordable housing preservation and development
  • Building capacity for nonprofits to own and operate affordable housing
• Enable housed, but vulnerable, New Yorkers to stay in their homes by:
  • Funding research on predictors of homelessness
  • Supporting universal prevention activities to help vulnerable New Yorkers upstream
• Eradicate discriminatory housing practices and lower the barriers of entry into the housing market for communities of color, including justice-involved individuals and other vulnerable populations.

LEAD: Trinity will help end the cycle of mass homelessness for families.

  New York City’s band-aid approach to homelessness, which relies largely on shelter and hotel placements, has failed to reverse the growing crisis. Not surprisingly, while nearly all New Yorkers think more must be done to address homelessness, less than three in ten have hope for improvement. Trinity Church will focus on shifting the narrative towards hope and political commitment to effective solutions, spurring an ambitious, collaborative, public-private effort to stem the tide of family homelessness. Trinity will also invest in innovative financial models that provide near-term impact and the potential to scale up promising approaches. 

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Identify clear, unifying solutions to addressing family homelessness and aligning champions behind a shared solution.
• Identify and implement solutions that break the cycle of generational homelessness with a focus on children and youth.
• Support innovative financing approaches to address homelessness that can be scaled.

LIBERATE: Trinity will help end homelessness for justice-involved New Yorkers.

  Central to the efforts to end mass incarceration and homelessness is the liberation of people leaving jail and prison. However, after serving their time, returning citizens often encounter barriers to finding employment, obtaining education and training, and securing housing. Trinity seeks to leverage our combined expertise in both the racial justice and housing and homelessness systems to support the holistic needs of returning citizens and center their voices in the movement to end mass incarceration. We will have a deep focus on increasing housing options for New Yorkers who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system.  

Activities we will support will have the following goals:   

• Expand supportive housing for justice-involved, complex-care homeless New Yorkers.
• Develop other housing options and services for re-entering New Yorkers.
• End the continuous punishment for poor people of color with criminal records related to housing, employment, and education.

What does this grant fund?

While Trinity offers both program grants and general operating support, we strongly encourage organizations that are seeking funding through the Housing and Homelessness Initiative to apply for program grants. 

Background

The Grants and Mission Investing (GMI) team at Trinity Church Wall Street uses the tools of philanthropy, our convening power, and our voice to advance Trinity’s mission goals.

Trinity Church has engaged in a strategic visioning process to clarify and articulate our core values and mission priorities. As a result of this process, Trinity’s grantmaking programs align with the church’s mission goal of building neighborhoods, leadership, and capacity.

Support Healthy Minds and Safe Communities

As a church, we are tasked with caring for the whole person—body, mind, and soul—and that means we must recognize and care for those who are ill. Faith communities can offer compassion, sanctuary, and community for those afflicted with mental illness.

As a church, we operate under the belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and has dignity, value, and worth, regardless of race, gender, class, or other human characteristics. 

Our collective safety rests on our ability to support vulnerable and marginalized members of our communities instead of punishment and incarceration.

New York City has led the nation in decarceration efforts, but far too many people remain behind bars, with a disproportionate number of people of color impacted.

Areas of Focus

Trinity’s Racial Justice Initiative will support efforts that fall within three areas of focus, as described below.

Lead:

Trinity will help advance a new, racially equitable justice system that centers community-based restorative and transformative approaches instead of incarceration.

Few people think the criminal legal system is fair, but we have yet to realize support for full-scale alternatives. Trinity seeks to build the infrastructure to scale both restorative and transformative approaches that are rooted in communities, respond to violence, and deliver justice. Trinity supports the communities most affected by violence, incarceration, and trauma, following the wisdom of residents who are best positioned to identify what is needed for safety and justice.

Activities we support under the Lead strategy have the following goals:

• Invest in the well-being and healthy minds of young people by supporting community-driven mental health and learning support for young people, including those in schools.
• Promote an affirmative vision for justice by engaging local faith leaders in media work to offer a healing, restorative safety/justice vision.
• Secure public investment to scale promising, non-punitive, approaches to end the cycle of trauma and violence.

Prevent:

Trinity will help end unnecessary pretrial detention and racial disparities.

Successful organizing and advocacy have produced legislative victories that ended cash bail for most misdemeanors, reformed discovery practices, and ended the practice of charging 16-year-olds as adults. Building on this momentum, Trinity seeks to ensure equitable implementation of these laws while sustaining the advocacy and organizing infrastructure to continue reducing incarceration rates in New York. We also will disrupt racially unjust pipelines into the criminal legal system by continuing to support the scaling of school-based restorative justice efforts while exploring ways to uncouple the growing links between immigration and criminal legal systems, and the criminalization of immigrants.

Activities we support under the Prevent strategy have the following goals:

• Safely reduce the jail population in New York City by support efforts to end cash bail and youth incarceration and hold implementing agencies accountable for racially equitable outcomes.
• Build and sustain positive school climates to ensure all students have access to social, emotional, and restorative approaches.
• Protect immigrants from criminalization to ensure that immigrant New Yorkers have meaningful access to due process and are protected from unnecessary detention and deportation.

Liberate:

Trinity will help end homelessness for justice-involved New Yorkers.

Central to the efforts to end mass incarceration and homelessness is the liberation of people leaving jail and prison. However, after serving their time, returning citizens often encounter barriers to finding employment, obtaining education and training, and securing housing. Trinity seeks to leverage our combined expertise in both the racial justice and housing and homelessness systems to support the holistic needs of returning citizens and center their voices in the movement to end mass incarceration. We will have a deep focus on increasing housing options for New Yorkers who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system.  

Activities we support under the Liberate strategy have the following goals:

• Expand housing options and mental health services for justice-involved New Yorkers.
• End the continuous punishment of poor people with criminal records as it relates to housing, employment, and education.

Background

The Hyde and Watson Foundation was incorporated on January 14, 1983, through the consolidation of The Lillia Babbitt Hyde Foundation and The John Jay and Eliza Jane Watson Foundation.

The Foundation currently supports CAPITAL projects such as hard costs related to the construction or purchase of new facilities, building renovations and improvements, purchase of capital equipment and furnishings, and other one-time capital needs.

Broad fields of support include:

• Human Services & Society Benefit
• Education, K-12 & Early Childhood
• Health
• Arts, Culture & Humanities
• Environment & Animals

Our Mission

To help New Yorkers—especially those in low-income areas—come together and improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

Community Leader (All In Neighborhood) Grants

A Community Leaders Grant is a microgrant given out to New Yorkers by CitizensNYC. CitizensNYC awards microgrants of up to $5,000 to community-building projects carried out by resident-led groups to improve neighborhood life, strengthen local leadership, and scale community partnerships.

Selection Criteria

• Clarity
  • Are the descriptions of the project and its goals clear? Is the outreach strategy clear? Is the work plan adequately detailed, focused, realistic and clear? Does it support project goals?
• Quality of Life Impact
  • Is the project expected to improve quality of life issues identified by residents and community members?
    • Major Improvement
      • The impact of the project is anticipated to be lasting (longer than one year) and notice on a daily or almost daily basis.
      • For example: Transforming an abandoned, crime-ridden lot into a multi use community garden where residents begin growing produce and feel safe within the timeline of the project, or creating a new summer internship program for local youth to lead a community farmers market, where youth train new interns for the following year.
    • Moderate Improvement
      • The project is anticipated to either initiate or complete an effort that is anticipated to have a strong impact on the quality of life.
      • The impact is anticipated to last for several months or longer and is noticed on a weekly basis.
      • For example: Cleaning up an abandoned, crime-ridden lot in preparation for establishing a multi-use community garden, creating an athletic program that will last for a season or creating a new youth internship program that lasts for a year.
    • Minor Improvement
      • The project is anticipated to create a temporary (a few weeks or less) impact on the improvement to the quality of life issues identified by residents or community members.
      • For example: Making improvements to an established community garden, hosting a weekend job fair, or continuing an internship program that existed a previous year.
• Community Engagement
  • Is the project expected to build community engagement and capacity for the future?
    • Major Improvement
      • The community group will expand the number of members within the group who are representative of the community; the community group will strengthen its relationships to other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representative (i.e. co- facilitating workshops or engaging partners in ongoing work); the project involves a newly formed group that has an established organizational structure.
      • Alternatively, the project will establish an ongoing forum, space, or activity for community residents to interact around common interests such as history, art, culture, or physical activities.
    • Moderate Improvement
      • Forming a new community group that has an established organizational structure; expanding group membership; the group is strengthening relationships with other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representatives. (i.e. having a partner organization take part in a workshop series as a participant)
    • Minor Improvement
      • Bringing community members and residents together to participate in a one-time social or stewardship activity (i.e. learning/artistic/cultural event, clean-up or gardening event); making small steps towards building relationships with other organizations, community groups, city services, or public representatives (i.e. sending a newsletter to community groups to inform them of a workshop)
• Need
  • Does the proposal clearly convey that the project is warranted and needed in identified neighborhood or for a particular community (identity-based)?

Our Mission

To help New Yorkers—especially those in low-income areas—come together and improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods.

What is a Neighborhood Business Grant?

A Neighborhood Business Grant is a microgrant given out to New York small business owners by CitizensNYC. CitizensNYC awards microgrants of up to $5,000 for initiatives your small business undertakes to positively impact your community.

Grant Goal

We support small businesses who are “doing well by doing good” in their neighborhood by making annual grant awards of up to $5,000. These awards can provide funding to support the wide range of initiatives your business undertakes to positively impact your community, especially those that are custom-tailored to meet the local needs you see.

We believe that small businesses are the backbone of our local communities. NYC businesses are more than just a place of commerce: they are often a gathering place where neighbors come to enjoy a sense of community. Small businesses preserve and sustain local culture, serving as anchors and meeting places where community members make connections, share values, strengthen culture, and support local leaders. As a small business leader, when you get involved in your local community, you both create enormous goodwill and set up your business for greater success.

As with every funder, CitizensNYC has a limited amount of funds that we can give out every year. This document outlines how we review applications based on our funding availability.

Mission & Vision

The New York Foundation is a steadfast supporter of community organizing, grassroots advocacy, and movement-building. We believe that the resilience and vitality of New Yorkers is the city’s greatest resource, and we value the courage and experience of community groups and their leaders.

In the ongoing struggle for racial, economic, gender, and climate justice, the Foundation supports grassroots initiatives that build power to confront systemic barriers and inspire people to work toward a more just, equitable, and inclusive city. 

Funding

New York Foundation Core Grants are $47,500 per year, up to 3 years for established groups and 5 years for emerging groups

In addition to funds, grants include access to capacity building resources: 

• Lawyers Alliance for New York: Probono legal services tailored to social change nonprofits
• Tides Advocacy: 501(c)(4) startup and strategizing
• Small Grants: Responsive grants up to $5,000 for organizational development goals and unanticipated needs
• Workshops: Monthly skills-building trainings combined with coaching

What we look for:

• Community-initiated and led: community, membership, or base identifies problems and solutions 
• Power building: intentionally build community power through political activation, leadership development, base building, and collective action
• Systemic change: address the root causes of oppression to ensure the equitable distribution of resources, power, and rights
• Racial justice: address the harms caused by systemic and historical racism; creates intentional systems to support and sustain racial equity
• Collaborative: build alignment through coalition work with allies that have similar goals and values

Amplify Her Foundation

Amplify Her® Foundation’s mission is to support women and girls from underserved communities to become transformative changemakers. We achieve this by establishing funding partnerships with community-led organizations in New York City that make progress toward gender equity by building the economic and social power of women and girls through leadership programs, educational opportunities, career training and development, internships, mentorship and more. 

PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS

During this cycle, priority will be given to organizations and programs that advance the leadership of women and girls in the following ways: 

• RESOURCES: Funding for leadership development and educational experiences
  • Career advancement, professional development, and/or leadership development programs. 
  • Entrepreneurship, business incubator, and/or business development coaching, lending, and support. 
  • Educational and enrichment opportunities that allow for exposure and access to opportunities.
  • Asset building and financial literacy programs.
  • Programs that support personal growth, confidence, resiliency, socio-emotional health and well-being, and the self-efficacy of women and girls. 
• TRAINING: Capacity building and technical training for women to excel in fields in which women have historically been underrepresented
  • Hard and soft skills-building, workforce development, and/or job training programs. 
  • Specialized training programs tailored to specific industries or leadership roles.
• NETWORKS: Initiatives to support building social capital and professional networks
  • Programs that facilitate networking opportunities, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, and platforms for women and girls to connect with professionals, experts, and peers in their fields of interest, and to navigate the unwritten and “unsaid” norms of workplace and higher education culture.
• COMMUNITY: Resourcing to develop ‘third’ spaces for girls and women
  • Programs that provide culturally-appropriate, supportive, and affirming environments - outside of home, work and/or school - for personal connection, support, and leadership development. 

GENERAL OPERATING VS. PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT

Organizations may be eligible to apply for general operating support if all of the organization’s work aligns with the strategic priorities of the Amplify Her® Foundation. 

To qualify for general operating support -

• 100% of the organization’s programs and activities must take place in New York City.
• 100% of the organization’s activities must be women and/or girl focused.

At this time, organizations offering co-ed programming, or those that are part of a larger national organization, are not eligible for general operating support.

FUNDING

Organizations are eligible to apply for up to a $50,000 grant.

Our Mission

Established in 1971, the mission of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is to empower artists in all disciplines, as well as cultural workers, to achieve success on their own terms by providing critical support, resources, and opportunities. NYFA envisions a world where artists thrive in the practice and expression of their creative work, a world that celebrates and supports them. 

Woodman Family Foundation (WFF) Housing Stability Grant for Artists

The Woodman Family Foundation Housing Stability Grant for Artists (WFF HSG) provides grants of $30,000, distributed over three years, to NYC-based visual artists in need who are seeking support for stable housing. In its inaugural cycle, the WFF HSG will award grants to five artists.

The WFF Housing Stability Grant for Artists is offered in recognition of the increasing unaffordability of rental housing in New York City, and the housing insecurity it creates for artists. Its goal is to improve artists’ housing stability, through a $30,000 grant that is distributed over three years. The WFF HSG hopes that recipients will be able to remain in, or find, reliable and stable housing for at least three years, thereby allowing them to focus on their creative practice and build more sustainable careers. Recipients may use the funds for new housing which reduces their rent obligation, guarantees a stable rental obligation such as a lengthy lease in their existing or new housing, and/or provides greater access to live/work space.

Funding

Grants are paid in three annual installments. Funds may only be used for security deposits, rent and/or utilities incurred within the eligible grant periods.

• Year 1 ($12,000)
• Year 2 ($10,000)
• Year 3 ($8,000)

Applicants may request funds for existing housing whose cost has recently increased, or for which you’ve received notice of an increase, or to move to new housing (whether or not that housing has been identified at the time you apply).

The expenses for which you are requesting funds must be for rental housing located within the five boroughs of New York City.

Recipients will need to maintain eligibility status throughout the three-year grant term in order to continue to receive funds each year.

Mission

The mission of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation is to enhance the quality of life in New York City.

The foundation supports arts, preservation and community programs which serve to enrich the lives of the people of New York City.

Environmental Grants

The environmental cycle is open to organizations whose mission and programs relate to the preservation of the history of New York City, parks, gardens, and environmental education.

Environmental grants are accepted and awarded during our spring cycle.

Our Mission

Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) creates connections:

• by cultivating bonds between extraordinary artists and communities
• with exemplary performances in active dialogue across the arts
• in our flexible intimate spaces, inviting conversation, and new relationships

Our art and our audiences reflect the dynamic energy of all five boroughs of New York City. We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate creative expression from around the world.

The Democracy Cycle

Over a 5-year period, The Democracy Cycle – a collaboration between the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and Civis Foundation (an affiliate of Galvan Initiatives) – will commission and develop a total of 25 new performing arts works across the fields of theater, dance, music, opera, and multi-disciplinary performance that express themes related to the nature and practice of democracy, particularly as it is practiced in the United States.

Purpose

Our hope is that the commissioned projects will enrich and expand discussion of and participation in democracy – be it in the national, state, regional, or hyperlocal community realm – as it is practiced within the United States and worldwide. The Democracy Cycle project is inspired by the following beliefs:

• Democratic values are a global expression of humanity’s striving to live with one another with respect and in peace.
• Democracy, as practiced in the United States, includes a history of founding exclusions. It has been, and must continue to be, the ongoing work of our society to expand upon the ideals of inclusivity embedded in our founding documents.
• Democracy faces significant perceived and actual threats in the current moment, both domestically and internationally.
• The Intersection of capitalism and democracy creates both opportunities and tensions.
• Artists are the beating heart of democratic values because of their ability to imagine new worlds, envision new possibilities, and provoke meaningful discourse across divides.

The primary focus of The Democracy Cycle will be on democracy as it is currently being practiced in the United States. However, commissioned projects may include references to democracies worldwide provided they have potential for informing and deepening our understanding of American democracy.

Selection Criteria

Readers and panelists will consider the following in selecting the commissioned projects:

• How does the proposed work expand, critique, or celebrate democracy, the practice of democracy, and democratic ideals?
• How has the artist or artists identified and responded to ideas or themes related to democracy, including core democratic principles and values (ex. political equality, majority rule, minority rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, among others.)
• Does the work demonstrate clear potential for generating meaningful reflection and discourse on democracy as demonstrated by project narrative, samples of prior work, and artistic history of its collaborators.

Funding

Each selected artist will receive $60,000 in support, consisting of a commission of $30,000 to create the new work as well as an additional $30,000 in support of the work’s development process (research, readings, workshops etc.).

Culpeper Arts & Culture

Goal: Support a Vibrant and Inclusive Arts Community in New York City

The Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture grants honor the legacy of Charles E. Culpeper by supporting the artists and arts and cultural organizations that make New York City one of the world's most dynamic creative capitals. The Fund is inspired by the conviction that arts and culture promote free expression, foster a deeper understanding of human experience and diverse communities, and provide a fresh lens on persistent problems and emerging challenges.

Strategies

• Supporting the role of artists in the creative process and in the presentation of their work, with an emphasis on artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+, women, nonbinary, and disabled.
• Providing time, space, and financial resources through residencies in New York City and at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at The Pocantico Center, in partnership with artist-led organizations, artist collectives, and cultural leaders.
• Elevating arts advocacy efforts, field research, cultural-civic movements, and cultural leadership development opportunities to strengthen the arts and culture field and the creative community.

Background

Furthermore grants assist nonfiction books having to do with art, architecture, and design; cultural history, the city, and related public issues; and conservation and preservation. We look for work that appeals to an informed general audience, gives evidence of high standards in editing, design, and production, and promises a reasonable shelf life.

Funds apply to such specific publication components as:

• writing,
• research,
• editing,
• indexing,
• design,
• illustration,
• photography, and
• printing and binding.

Please refer to FAQ for additional informations.

The Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust provides capacity-building support to performing arts organizations located in New York City.

To enhance the chances of success for applicants, the Trust has implemented a new approach wherein organizations are encouraged to apply based on their primary focus area, which includes dance, theater, or music. Each year, the Trust designates a specific focus area for applications cycling through theater, dance, and music, accordingly. Thus, in 2024 theater organizations are invited to apply. Dance organizations are invited to apply in 2025 followed by music organizations in 2026. The cycle returns to theater organizations in 2027 and continues onward.

If an organization operates within multiple performing arts categories or identifies as a different type of performing arts organization, we invite you to apply under the appropriate year that most aligns with your work.

Funding Interests

• Performing arts organizations with an annual operating budget less than or equal to $1,000,000.

Type of Support

Grants are provided for capacity-building support and small-scale capital projects. Support is not provided for commissions, programs, or project-related requests. Grants may be single year or two-year commitments, and are typically $15,000 – $30,000 annually.

Green Resiliency Grant

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) will offer grants for certain projects that improve water quality and mitigate the effects of extreme weather through the Green Resiliency Grant (GRG) program. This grant funding is made available, in part, through the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (Bond Act).

GRG grants are awarded on a competitive basis to transformative projects that enhance the resilience of stormwater infrastructure across New York State (NYS). Eligible projects must utilize green infrastructure (GI) stormwater management practices (SMPs) and/or nature-based solutions to manage combined and/or sanitary sewer overflows and/or mitigate risks associated with extreme weather events. Projects must not begin construction before notification of award and must commence construction before posted deadline.

Disadvantaged communities will receive no less than 35 percent of the benefit from this funding.

Eligible Projects

Funding

GRG may fund up to 90 percent of eligible project costs with grants ranging from a minimum of $1 million to a maximum of $10 million per project. GRG projects must be capable of capturing, treating, or increasing the time of concentration for a minimum of 2,500 cubic feet of stormwater per 90th-percentile rainfall event within a clearly defined drainage area that contributes to a specific water quality or quantity concern. Projects must demonstrate a concentrated impact on a singular drainage system. Proposals combining multiple, unconnected drainage areas should be submitted as separate applications.

Funding will be provided to projects to the extent that funds are available based on the evaluation criteria, including the specific proposed practices, water quality impacts of the project, and financial need of the municipality. EFC, in its sole discretion, may fund all or a portion of an eligible project and will determine the percentage amount available for any project. A local match for the balance of the estimated project cost is required.

Mission

The mission of the Keith Haring Foundation is to sustain, expand, and protect the legacy of Keith Haring, his art, and his ideals. The Foundation supports not-for-profit organizations that assist children, as well as organizations involved in education, research and care related to AIDS.

Grants

The Keith Haring Foundation was established in 1989 by the late American artist Keith Haring to support US-based non-profit organizations that provide opportunities for young people and those directly impacted by HIV/AIDS. The Foundation is working to break cycles of persistent disparities in healthcare, academic advancement, and employment opportunities.

Areas of Focus

Youth

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests concentrating on New York City’s most vulnerable youth and adolescents, with the aim of helping them to become self-sufficient adults. Programs that provide long-term support and mentoring to young people are particularly invited to apply.

HIV/AIDS

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests from organizations that assist residents of NYC and the South-Eastern US who are living with HIV or at high risk of transmission. Priority will be given to serving the populations most vulnerable to HIV infection, poor health outcomes, and its attendant consequences.

Arts & Culture

The Keith Haring Foundation will consider funding requests from institutions that provide educational and cultural enrichment that directly enhances a deeper understanding of Haring’s life and work. Applicants should reflect upon the breadth of their programming and public outreach as it specifically relates to Haring’s legacy of social activism and cultural contribution, and to the historical context of his creative and philanthropic vision.

If your organization has been awarded a grant from the Keith Haring Foundation, please wait two full years before submitting a renewal request. If your organization has not been awarded a grant, please wait one full year before resubmitting.

Mission

The mission of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation is to enhance the quality of life in New York City.

The foundation supports arts, preservation and community programs which serve to enrich the lives of the people of New York City. Our focus is to reach and support small to mid-size organizations throughout the five boroughs.

Fall Cycle - Arts Grants

Please note that Lily Auchincloss Foundation has narrowed the scope of its Arts Grants. Given an overwhelming number of applications in recent years, the Foundation will focus its arts funding on organizations providing the experiences and services described below. Please review this information carefully to assess your eligibility.Lily Auchincloss Foundation recognizes the arts as an essential component of life in New York City. Arts and culture enhance our lives in countless ways, subtle and profound. The Foundation’s Arts Grants support organizations that help to make the city affordable and welcoming for audiences and for artists.Organizations may request general operating support or program support in the following areas:

• Access for Audiences: Lily Auchincloss Foundation funds organizations with a history (3+ years) of providing FREE exhibitions, performances, and events that welcome audiences to take part in arts-based experiences, including arts education programs.
• Access for Artists: Lily Auchincloss Foundation funds organizations providing artists with FREE AND LOW-COST professional support, including studio space, specialized equipment and workshops (i.e. papermaking, glass-making facilities, printmaking studios), and career services.

Arts grants are awarded during our fall cycle.

UrbanGlass is a leading resource for both aspiring and established artists wishing to create with glass. We foster innovative art and advance the use and appreciation of glass as a creative medium. UrbanGlass is a 501(c)3 organization.

Visiting Artist and Designer Fellowship

The UrbanGlass Visiting Artist and Designer Fellowship will provide one artist or designer the opportunity to develop a new work using the medium of glass. To explore the use and appreciation of glass as a creative medium, fellows will have access to the UrbanGlass studios, instruction, technical support, fabricators, an unrestricted honorarium as well as a budget to cover material costs. UrbanGlass’ 17,000-square-foot state-of-the-art glass studio offers a complete glassworking studio with a hot shop, cold shop, flameworking studio, neon shop, mold shop, and kiln shop. 

The fellowship is a combination of experiencing glass directly as a material of expression and a proposal driven exploration by pairing with glass artists to craft objects. Fellows also share their ideas and practice with the glass community by presenting a lecture, attending events and in being a visiting artist or designer for a day with our university classes held at UrbanGlass.

Fellows receive up to $15,000 in combined support for the proposal which is inclusive of:

• Scheduled access to UrbanGlass studios
• Project guidance and technical support
• Hiring glass artists and fabricators
• Enrollment in classes and/or private lessons
• Materials and supplies for the proposed project
• A $2000 honorarium dispersed in parts throughout the fellowship

While applicants living outside the New York City region may apply, this opportunity is not a full-time residency, there is no room and board or studio space to occupy. To engage with the material and to work with other artists in the studio to realize your proposal, it will require being onsite at the studio at different days of the week and times of day. It is possible to work around your other projects or work schedule since this does not require full-time, onsite participation. 

Jonathan Larson Grants

The Jonathan Larson Grant is an unconditional annual investment in individual talent. The grant is awarded to musical theatre composers, lyricists, and librettists, or writing teams, early in their career, to support artistic endeavors and safeguard long-term music writing careers.

Jonathan Larson was a man who called the East Village home, relishing the bohemian life of downtown New York in the late eighties and early nineties. A life-long musical theatre lover, Larson worked tirelessly to develop his own musical vision for the stage. After nearly a decade of writing and composing, Larson’s rock musical “Rent,” a gritty urban update to Puccini’s “La Bohème,” premiered to enormous critical and popular success. The show reflected Larson’s personal story as a struggling artist living in Alphabet City, getting by with the support of his contemporaries.

Tragically, Larson passed away suddenly the night before previews for the show began. The inspiring nature and brave subject matter of “Rent,” however, gave the show a life of its own and established Larson as the voice of a new generation on stage. The show, and its creator posthumously, won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and four Tony Awards. “Rent” remains a celebrated musical and cultural touchstone today.

The few grants Larson received inspirited him with the professional confidence to continue pursuing musical theatre and, ultimately, to finish “Rent.” Today, Jonathan Larson Grants are awarded to musical writers with the potential to create work that shapes contemporary culture. We give writers free reign to put the grant’s resources towards what they see as the best use for furthering their creative endeavors with the hope that the grant will provide the support necessary for artists to see their work from concept to cultural success.

Thanks to the resources of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation and the generosity of the Larson Family, the program will be sustained in a permanent home at the American Theatre Wing.

Recording grants for recipients are made possible with support from the Saw Island Foundation.

NY Small Business Funders Collective (SBFC)

The NY Small Business Funders Collective (SBFC) is a group of philanthropic entities coming together to strengthen the local small business ecosystem across the New York region. Members of the Collective share the belief that entrepreneurship is a powerful lever for innovation, community vibrancy, and economic development. Through pooled grantmaking, the Collective aims to expand opportunities for Black, Latinx, API, and Indigenous entrepreneurs to thrive.

Supplier Diversity Partnership Grant Opportunity

Building on a track record of collaboration, innovation, and partnership, the Collective is embarking on a new round of grantmaking with supplier diversity as its focus. As done in two previous rounds, the Collective seeks to discover and support proximate, community-led initiatives involving a wide range of cross-sector players.

This Request for Proposals aims to reveal and fund innovative solutions in procurement that diversify supplier networks in the city, increase supply chain localization, and increase the number of historically excluded small business owners seeking and securing contracts with purchasers and anchor institutions in NYC.

While the Collective believes that small business entrepreneurs and those that serve them can proactively address challenges that affect their ability to compete for contracts, it feels strongly that equal attention should be paid to the anchor institutions and government agencies that issue contracts and procure goods & services (the “buyers”). The Collective seeks to innovate around systems change and shift perceptions that the supplier diversity issue should be solved by vendors, suppliers, and entrepreneurs (the “sellers”) alone. Instead, our 2024 RFP seeks to address both sides of this equation, spurring creative partnerships between buyers, sellers, and nonprofit entities that help create high-capacity vendors through joint ventures, cooperatives, guilds, and other partner models.

Funding Priorities

Applicants may prioritize one or some of the following solution areas in support of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, AAPI, women, and other historically excluded entrepreneurs in the five boroughs of NYC:

• Capital Access:
  • Extending, designing, and/or growing mechanisms for delivering inclusive capital for businesses, particularly working capital.
• Bonding & Insurance:
  • Providing referrals to ensure small businesses more effectively access the required bonding and insurance needed to bid for contracts (may include advancing to Tier 1 or Prime status).
• Readiness & Certification:
  • Offering personalized analysis and training to small businesses interested in securing contracts.
  • Also includes buyer/seller mentoring and relationship building.
• Capacity-Building:
  • Assisting small businesses in taking their enterprises to scale to successfully bid for public and private contracts.
  • Similarly, educating and providing support to buyers about moving past the “lowest cost provider” and optimizing their spend with diverse suppliers, using BSOs as a conduit.
• Outreach/Networking:
  • Building communication channels that reach to the community level so under invested small business owners connect with contract opportunities.
  • Also includes efforts to overcome “insider” language and structures in procurement.
• Data Collection & Bench-marking:
  • Design, amplify, and share emerging tools such as Artificial Intelligence for buyers to measure progress towards supplier-diversity goals.

The Collective also welcomes additional interventions beyond the list above.

The Collective is also interested in the “disparity within a disparity” noted by the City’s Chief Business Diversity Officer Michael Garner where Black, Hispanic, and Native American owned firms are vastly underutilized in a certification designed to help them. To that point, only 14.94% of M/WBE contracts in FY22 were awarded to Black, Hispanic, and Native American owned firms.

Our desire is for the nonprofit partner leading the application to operate at the local level, and be intimately familiar with the challenges Black, Latinx, Indigenous, AAPI, women, and other historically excluded entrepreneurs face in their community. Together, the lead and partner organizations will address one or more of the six solutions areas mentioned above. Proposals will be evaluated using a scoring rubric, which is available as part of the proposal packet.

A competitive proposal to the SBFC will address specific barriers that small business firms led by people of color, women, and other historically excluded business owners experience as they seek to do business with anchor institutions such as corporations and government agencies. Proposals can address any part of the life cycle of a procurement relationship. Similarly, proposals can address any aspect of the supply chain continuum.

We are most interested in hearing about your unique approach to amplifying and elevating historically excluded small business owners in the procurement space, and what data/research grounds your work. Through this RFP process, the Collective is interested in learning about persistent pain points and innovative solutions to address them.

The Collective is committed to learning and positively impacting the small business ecosystem in NYC, and our intention is to fully engage with the cohort of grantees to discover and learn about new ideas, solutions, pathways to access in the realm of supplier diversity. Awardees will work with the Collective to select measurable objectives for their project. Awardees will also participate in a learning cohort facilitated by the Collective for the period of one year, offering the opportunity for peer networking and shared best practices among lead and partner organizations.

Funding

One-Year Partnership Grants. Expected to range between $100,000-$250,000.