| Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Payroll Protection Program Clarifications EIDL Applications – the EIDL application process has been simplified and a new application portal is live right now at: www.sba.gov/disaster. Businesses that successfully submitted an application or uploaded documents late last week via the temporary document upload portal do not have to take additional action as their applications have been received for processing. Anyone that was unable to complete an application on the prior application portal AND/OR did not upload their application to the document upload portal, should restart their application via the new portal.EIDL Advances – also available now are advances of up to $10,000 on EIDL loans. The form is part of the new EIDL application process above. If approved, these funds can be used for payroll and other operating expenses and will be forgiven. All applicants who successfully submitted an application prior to yesterday received an email notifying them of this. Below are the instructions the SBA sent:This Advance may be available even if your EIDL application was declined or is still pending, and will be forgiven.If you wish to apply for the Advance on your EIDL, please visit www.SBA.gov/Disaster as soon as possible to fill out a new, streamlined application. In order to qualify for the Advance, you need to submit this new application even if you previously submitted an EIDL application. Applying for the Advance will not impact the status or slow your existing application.EIDL and Faith-based organizations – faith-based organizations may now apply for EIDL with the new application for any public service/secular operations they may have. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)/Stimulus questions:PPP and stimulus-related changes will be available in the coming days as SBA completes the rule-making process, updates procedures/systems, and then on-boards lenders. Please apply here www.SBA.gov/Disaster in the interim. Businesses may benefit from both, so long as they don’t use them for the same purposes/time periods. No duplication of the use of proceeds, in other words. New York CityPat Swann, Senior Program Officer at the New York Community Trust (NYCT), spoke online yesterday to 270 nonprofits gathered for Nonprofit New York’s annual conference. She expressed the Trust’s real commitment to be responsive and flexible with disseminating the NYCT COVID-19 Fund which holds $80 million as of this writing. $50 million of the fund will be distributed through direct grants, and $30 million will be distributed as zero interest loans by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. The NYCT COVID-19 grants will range from $10,000 to $250,000 and are meant to be spent down over a 12-week period once they are funded. For this first round, Direct Services nonprofits and Arts & Culture organizations are the priority. The nonprofits who qualify to apply must have a track record of delivering their mission, and must have some portion of their current funding derived from government. The agencies must also be within the five boroughs of New York City, and have no more than $20 million from private revenue. Upon your submission, the turnaround time for a response from NYCT is two weeks. The Nonprofit Finance Fund has gathered COVID-19 Tools & Resources plus they are managing the $30 million no-interest loans mentioned above. You must share your email with them so as to be notified of the details about the no interest loans. Applications are open for no-interest loans to human services and arts and culture nonprofits based in New York City. Loan details, eligibility, and the application are available here. The fund is also offering grants to help organizations with protective equipment, cleaning supplies, technological assistance, and support for financial losses. Also of note is the Robin Hood Foundation’s Relief Fund, which opens whenever disaster strikes. To-date, They have distributed $1.2 million to 23 nonprofits. The Fund is accepting applications on a rolling basis to NYC nonprofits that: (1) serve vulnerable populations including low-income children and families, low-wage workers, individuals and families who are homeless and immigrant communities; (2) provides or will expand services to include emergency assistance (e.g. food, shelter, and other basic needs); (3) are at-risk for gaps in government contracts due to interruption of services; (4) incurred unexpected expenses (e.g. overtime pay, technology); (5) have a track record of administering emergency cash grants to individuals and families. BrooklynThe Brooklyn Community Foundation has established the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund to provide immediate and longer-term resources to vulnerable residents across Brooklyn. As a first step, they have issued grants to front line service and advocacy organizations that provide lifelines for vulnerable populations, meal delivery and daily living needs for homebound neighbors, support for low-wage workers who may experience food insecurity, loss of wages, and limited access to healthcare and paid sick leave, as well as other emerging needs. WestchesterThe Westchester Community Foundation has announced the Westchester COVID-19 Response Fund to deploy resources to established, front line community organizations meeting the basic needs of local residents in the wake of this global pandemic. The Fund’s purpose is to minimize social and economic consequences going forward, and its resources will be directed to organizations serving high-need, vulnerable populations. Grant funding will be considered and released on a rolling basis. The Foundation will begin distributing grants as soon as possible. A generous donor will match contributions to the fund up to $1 million. Long IslandThe Long Island Community Foundation established The COVID-19 Long Island Philanthropic Response Fund to aid nonprofit service providers struggling with the health and economic effects of the coronavirus. Grants will be awarded to Long Island nonprofits meeting emergent and critical needs affecting our local region. Priority will be given to nonprofits addressing essential health and human services and food insecurity, as well as arts and culture as it is directly tied to our communities’ health and wellness and economic recovery. Upstate New YorkThe Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region has established The Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund to provide flexible resources to 501c3 organizations working with local communities who are disproportionately impacted by coronavirus and the economic consequences of this outbreak. One-time operating grants will help fund front line human service organizations that have deep roots in the community and strong experience working with vulnerable populations. The first phase of rapid-response grants will help meet basic needs and help increase resiliency in affected communities. The Fund expects to move an initial round of grants within the next few weeks. Funding will be provided to organizations located and operating in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties. The committee will also consider supporting nonprofits operating in the surrounding counties of Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Schoharie, Warren, and Washington. The Upstate Foundation has created a fund to support front line workers and they are calling for more support. The fund will support Upstate nurses and environmental services employees and will be used to purchase gift cards for food and provide payments to pay for elder or child care. The Central New York Community Foundation established a COVID-19 Community Support Fund to support nonprofit organizations working with communities who are disproportionately impacted. The fund is designed to rapidly deploy flexible resources in the form of one-time operating grants on a rolling basis to nonprofits whose operations support vulnerable populations stressed by the outbreak. Eligibility criteria and the application process for nonprofits requesting funding are still under development. Organizations can visit here for more information. Federal GovernmentAll of these private funds are critical to our recovery, but they cannot compare to the proposed federal stimulus package. We implore you to learn how you can utilize the $2 trillion Federal Government COVID-19 funding as described by our colleagues at the Nonprofit Quarterly. Broader ResourcesFinally, these broader resources show how nonprofits and funders are responding to COVID-19:COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits and Funders (Bridgespan)COVID-19 Funding Summary (Candid)COVID-19 Resource Hub (Council on Foundations)Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak: Resources to Help Nonprofits (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)COVID-19 Emergency Financial Resources (Grantspace)COVID-19 and the Workplace (US Department of Labor) |
Great initiatives!
Let’s hope SBA does not run out of cash and more businesses can get funded so that they can re-open and re-hire to start lifting the economy. We all need it!
Gene Panasenko