Apply for a Neighborhood Grant—$3,000 For Your Community Group

Smiling Hogshead Ranch, one of the 2016 Neighborhood Grant recipients.

We know many of you are involved with various community organizations and projects, and we wanted to pass on information about a way to possibly fund you work. Enter the Neighborhood Grants program, run by the Citizens Committee for New York City, considered “one of the nation’s oldest micro-funding organizations.” They “raise money from foundations, corporations, and individual donors—then award it to amazing projects.”

Their Neighborhood Grants program awards micro-grants of up to $3,000 “to resident-led groups to work on community and school projects throughout the city” with a priority of funding low income neighborhoods and Title I public schools. If you’re curious to see who has been funded in the past, check out their Grantee Projects page—those groups and projects from Queens can be found in the Borough drop down menu.

You may have heard of some of these organizations—7Train Murals, Astoria School Symposium, Dutch Kills Community Garden, Local Project, Long Island City Boathouse, Queenscapes, and Smiling Hogshead Ranch are certainly familiar to us and we have written about most of them.

To start the process of applying for a grant, start at step 1 of a 5 step process:

• STEP 1—Review Grant Guidelines to see if your group’s project and our grants are a good match.
• STEP 2—Review the Sample Application (here) and budget guidelines for guidance on how to complete the application. You can also refer to their FAQ for more information.
• STEP 3—Attend an Information Session to learn more about the grant application process and get your questions answered. You are not required to attend an information session to apply for our grant.
• STEP 4—Fill Out an Application.
• STEP 5—Submit Your Application. Deadline is January 23, 2017, 11:59pm by email, fax, or online form. Mailed applications postmarked by January 23.

More details can be found here. And here’s a list of remaining info session dates:

• Monday, December 5—Lower Manhattan, 6-8pm
• Wednesday, December 7—Brooklyn, 6-8pm
• Wednesday, December 14—Webinar, 1-2pm
• Wednesday, January 4—Webinar, 6-8pm
• Thursday, January 5—Bronx, 6-8pm
• Wednesday, January 11—Webinar, 6-8pm
• Thursday, January 12—Queens, 6-8pm
• Monday, January 16—Lower Manhattan, 6-8pm

Contact Sabine at sbernards@citizensnyc.org or 212-822-9578 with questions and to find out more logistical details about info sessions.

Good luck, everyone!