NYC COVID-19 RESPONSE & IMPACT FUND REPORT RESILIENCE & RESOLVE $73,098,950 TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED* $43.7 M $29.4 M AWARDED TO HUMAN SERVICES AWARDED TO ARTS AND CULTURE 1,345 764 NUMBER OF DONATIONS NUMBER OF GRANTS $37,038,567 *ADDITIONAL LOAN FUNDS AWARDED TO 45 NONPROFITS The NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund supported human New Alternatives for Children; Lenox Hill Neighborhood services and arts and culture nonprofits, including (clockwise House; Hot Bread Kitchen; Groundswell; a Repertorio Español from top left) One Hundred Black Men of New York; Cypress production of Courage, Betrayal and a Woman Scorned, by Hills Child Care Corporation; Red Hook Initiative; Child Center Ana Caro (1590-1646), featuring Luis Carlos de la Lombana of New York; Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance; and Sandor Juan (photo by Michael Palma Mir). $73,098,950 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TABLE OF ew York’s philanthropic Arts and culture groups, meanwhile, saw CONTENTS community acted decisively their venues close abruptly and faced From the Nwhen COVID-19 began the prospect of months, if not years, of Co-Chairs 5 disrupting life in our city. lost revenues and disruption. Given their Fund Overview 6 importance to the city’s economy and On March 20, 2020, a group of donors quality of life, arts and culture groups Addressing announced that they were launching were embraced by the donors as essential Inequities 11 the NYC COVID-19 Response & recipients of the fund. Impact Fund to provide emergency Human Services 14 financial support to help small and mid- Through additional contributions, the Arts & Culture 20 size nonprofits respond to emerging NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact The Long Road needs, cover losses associated with the Fund grew to $110 million. Of that total, Ahead 26 disruption of their operations, and $73.1 million supported more than 750 continue their critical work. nonprofits through a rapid-response Donors 27 grant program housed at The New York Grantees 28 While the pandemic affected all Community Trust. Another 45 nonprofits nonprofits, the fund focused its received $37 million in no-interest loans grantmaking on supporting organizations through a partnership with Nonprofit that worked in two key areas: human Finance Fund. services and arts and culture. This report provides a closer look at the Human services organizations were fund’s grant program, the nonprofits it working on the front lines of the crisis supported, and the road ahead. and needed emergency support to provide urgent services such as food delivery, home healthcare, housing, child care, and afterschool education. 4 FROM THE CO-CHAIRS ew York has faced its share of group of partners to establish the NYC crises over the past two decades. COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund. NFrom the horrors of 9/11, The value of this partnership cannot to the heartbreak of the 2008 financial be overstated. In addition to making meltdown, to the havoc of superstorm generous financial contributions, each of Sandy, our city has weathered a series of the founding partners acted with urgency, devastating tragedies. Each time, we’ve cooperation, and creativity. And new come back stronger. donors quickly joined the cause. But when COVID-19 began gripping our As a result, just days after launching the city, we were facing a challenge unlike fund, review committees made their first any we had seen before. This wasn’t a grant recommendations. By July, the single event or an economic catastrophe. fund’s grant program raised and granted It was a pandemic that would threaten more than $73 million. public safety and imperil the livelihoods of millions of New Yorkers for many The challenge ahead remains daunting. months, if not years. But we are encouraged by the generosity of donors to this fund and the Given the enormity of this threat, quick extraordinary work of a tireless team of action was needed to help nonprofits philanthropic professionals that provided navigate the pandemic and provide critical and timely support to New York’s critical services to our neighbors in need. nonprofits. Initiated by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Lorie Slutsky the Carnegie Corporation and the President, The New York Ford Foundation joined forces on a Community Trust local response to the crisis. The three foundations worked with The New Darren Walker York Community Trust and a core President, Ford Foundation Left: Street Lab used funding from the NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund to create a number of outdoor reading, writing and arts programs, including one with The Drawing Center. Above: Lorie Slutsky (photo by Ari Mintz) and Darren Walker. 5 BUILDING SOLID PARTNERSHIPS WAS THE KEY TO PROVIDING VITAL SUPPORT. 6 FUND OVERVIEW hen foundation leaders talk started preparing for the growing threat – about collaboration, they but they recognized that they could achieve Woften cite a well-known more through collaboration than they African proverb: If you want to go fast, go could on their own. alone. If you want to go far, go together. “There is no playbook for how to The NYC COVID-19 Response & respond to a pandemic,” said Patricia Impact Fund, however, proves that E. Harris, chief executive officer of sometimes it is possible to go fast and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “But we knew far, together. if we all got together, we could make a difference.” As COVID-19 began its rapid spread through New York in March 2020, Together, leaders of these four Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Carnegie foundations reached out to their peers to Corporation of New York, and the begin enlisting partners who were willing Ford Foundation approached The New to contribute resources. York Community Trust about creating an emergency fund to help the city’s Within days, a group of donors had nonprofits respond to the pandemic. provided $75 million to seed a response grant and loan fund. Nonprofit Finance Each of the four foundations had already Fund oversaw the loan fund. The New ABOUT THE LOAN FUND Left: Afro Latin Jazz Alliance of NY used its While The New York Community Trust NYC COVID-19 Response administered grants through the NYC COVID-19 & Impact Fund grant Response & Impact Fund, our partners at to pay personnel and Nonprofit Finance Fund took on the challenge of artists, like those shown distributing more than $37 million in no-interest here during a pre-COVID loans to provide critical support to 45 New York performance “ALJO + City nonprofits. Afrobeat=FELA!” (photo by David Garten). These nonprofits received timely loans ranging from $100,000 to $3 million to help cover delays in government payments, postponed fundraising events, and increased expenses to deliver services. Supporters of the loan fund include the Ford Foundation, The Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation, the Altman Foundation, SeaChange Capital Partners, Trinity Church Wall Street, and The New York Community Trust. 7 Top left to right: Grantees York Community Trust managed the agreed to focus their grantmaking in include AlRnyc, God’s Love grant fund pro-bono – and ensured that two areas: human services and the arts. We Deliver (photo credit: the money was distributed quickly. Grantmaking decisions were made by Rommel Demano), and Red committees drawn from the diverse Hook Initiative (photo credit: It was no small task. Alden Parkinson). group of private, corporate, family, and Before announcing the fund publicly community foundations and individual on March 20, the partners had already donors who created the fund. TIMELINE OF A RESPONSE MARCH 24 + 25 Review committees make first grant recommendations MARCH 11 MARCH 20 APRIL 22 WHO declares Gov. Andrew Cuomo declares Grant application portal closes COVID-19 a “New York State on Pause” pandemic Donors provide initial $75M for (photo credit: grants at The Trust and loans at creativeneko/ Nonprofit Finance Fund Shutterstock. com) RFPs issued to nonprofits seeking funding 8 FOUNDING PARTNERS Bloomberg Philanthropies Carnegie Corporation of New York Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ford Foundation Joan Ganz Cooney & Holly Peterson Fund Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund The JPB Foundation The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation The two committees created simplified “This fund was created to provide The Andrew W. Mellon processes and criteria designed to limit the emergency cash to nonprofits that were Foundation time needed for nonprofits to apply online suffering,” said Lorie Slutsky, president The New York Community – and for committee members to review the of The New York Community Trust. Trust funding applications and make decisions. “Everyone agreed to a streamlined Applications were accepted on a rolling process designed to get money out the Charles H. Revson Foundation basis for a period of roughly five weeks. door quickly.” Each committee met weekly to review the Robin Hood applications and make funding decisions. Rockefeller Brothers Fund Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros $73 M JULY 10 $ Review committees Jon Stryker and + 37 M make final grant Slobodan Randjelović $ recommendations Laurie M. Tisch 110 M Illumination Fund UJA-Federation of New York JUNE 25 AUGUST 31 Wells Fargo Foundation Fund reaches $110M: Grantees begin $73M in grants at The submitting grant Trust plus $37M in reports (above: no-interest loans via Roulette Intermedium, Nonprofit Finance Fund God’s Love We Deliver) 9 STEERING The funders aimed to reach smaller and Ultimately, the NYC COVID-19 COMMITTEE mid-size nonprofits in recognition of Response & Impact Fund received 1,621 their local expertise, and the possibility applications. Of those, 764 grants were Elizabeth Alexander that they might not have access to relief approved. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation geared toward larger, better resourced organizations. Nonprofits had the Most groups received funding just weeks Eric S. Goldstein flexibility to use their funding to support after they applied – providing them UJA-Federation of new and emergency needs and meet with critical resources at a time when New York community demands government funding Vartan Gregorian – which were changing was frozen.