Episcopal Charities of New York

Episcopal Charities awards Basic Human Needs Grants for the period March-December of the year following the fall submission of applications.

The application period for a grant in the 2012 grant cycle is now complete. Check this page in August 2012 for information about the 2013 grant cycle.

2012 Application:
Grant Application (doc)	Grant Application (pdf)

2012 BHN grant cycle:
Intent to Apply Deadline	Friday, Sept 9, 2011 at 5:00pm
Grant Writing Workshop	Tuesday, Sept 13, 2011 6:00-7:30pm
(mandatory for 1st time applicant - You must contact us to reserve your space in this workshop - see below.) Grant Application Deadline	Friday, Oct 7, 2011 at 5:00pm

Episcopal Charities awards Youth Opportunity Grants for

the summer of the year of application, OR
the academic year beginning in the September of that year and running through June of the following year.

2012-2013 Application:
Grant Application (doc)	Grant Application (pdf)

2012-2013 Youth grant cycle:
First-time Applicant Workshop (at Diocesan House in Manhattan) (mandatory for 1st time applicants. You must contact us to reserve your space in this workshop - see below.)	Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012 6-7:30pm
Intent to Apply Deadline	Friday, January 13, 2012 at 5:00pm
Grant Application Deadline	Friday, February 3, 2012 at 5:00pm

More Information
The Director of Programs, the Rev. Sam Smith, is available to answer your questions about applying for a Basic Human Needs or Youth Opportunity Grant. Contact him via email at ssmith@dioceseny.org, or phone at 212-316-7426.

Prior to your first application: New applicants must attend one of our first-time applicant workshops before applying. The workshop for the 2012-13 Youth Opportunity Grants cycle will be held on Wednesday, January11, 2012, 6:00 p.m., at Diocesan House on the grounds of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan (1047 Amsterdam Avenue). If you would like to attend a first-time applicant workshop, you must contact Father Smith via email at ssmith@dioceseny.org to reserve your place.

If you'd like help with the application: Episcopal Charities' staff will be pleased to review a draft of your proposal several weeks before the deadline. This review will help you revise the proposal, if needed, and submit a complete proposal. However, this staff review does not guarantee that your proposal will be funded. Contact Rev. Sam Smith for assistance.

The Board of Episcopal Charities is currently reviewing grant eligibility guidelines in an ongoing effort to be help strengthen parish-based human service programs. Our task is to exercise care, objectivity, and responsibility in identifying those programs that meet our funding guidelines, while being certain not to exclude any eligible program that may have been supported in the past.

Please consider the following requirements as your starting point. Any program submitting an application for support must be able to demonstrate:

Congregational Connection
Programs must be sponsored by and in partnership with one or more Episcopal congregations within the Diocese of New York as evidenced by the presence of these characteristics: At least one of these three: The congregation is ultimately responsible for the effective delivery of services and the management of the program and the grant funds for which it applies; Members of the congregation are involved in the program's activities, as a significant number of volunteers, and/or a majority of the board, or a majority of the advisory committee members; The congregation provides material financial and/or substantial in-kind support to the program. At least one of these two: The program is described as an integral part of the congregation's mission; The program is clearly identified as a ministry of the congregation.
Community Outreach
The program must represent an effort by a local congregation or group of congregations to respond to an identified need affecting members of the community in which the congregation is located.

Clients' Eligibility for the Service
Any person needing the service offered is eligible to receive the service. Eligibility for services cannot be determined by church membership, faith, or participation in church activities.

Non-Religious Program Content
Programs must be non-sectarian and inclusive, and services provided cannot include religious content.

Quality and Impact of Program
Episcopal Charities will consider the following issues as it evaluates grant applications: How are clients changed in ways that give promise of more productive and satisfying lives? Are there alternative programs in the community? Is the program sustainable? How many clients are served? How many services are offered? What is the quality of services delivered? Is there evidence of efforts to collaborate with and/or leverage other outreach efforts in community?

Grant Allocation Limitation
The average grant in our Basic Human Needs cycle for 2011 was $9,130 with a range of $2,600 to $22,100. The average grant in our Youth Opportunity cycle for 2011-2012 was $7,200 with a range of $800 to $14,000. Episcopal Charities seeks to make a substantial impact on all of the Parish Programs that it supports. To achieve this goal, we will only target funding Programs where our financial support would be a minimum of 10% and a maximum of 70% of the Program’s operating expenses. Funding levels of 5% or less will generally be denied. Episcopal Charities believes it is important for a Program to seek and secure numerous sources of funding in order to assure successful sustainability. Any program that receives our maximum 70% funding, should they apply again in a subsequent year, would automatically have its maximum possible funding reduced over the following 3 years to 60%, 50%, and then 40% thereafter.

Applicants are instructed to indicate intent to apply by the appropriate deadline (listed above). This may be done by sending a simple letter/message including

name of program and name of sponsoring parish
days and hours of operation for the program
any days during the month after the application deadline that are NOT appropriate for a site visit
contact name and information for the arrangement of a site visit, and
notation that you have read the eligibility requirements and grant guidelines.

This may be submitted by e-mail to ssmith@dioceseny.org or by mail to The Rev. Sam Smith, Episcopal Charities, 1047 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10025.

The completed proposal may be mailed (remember that it must be received by the deadline listed) or hand delivered to the offices of Episcopal Charities in Diocesan House on the Close of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025.

Proposals received after the deadline's date and time will not be considered
Incomplete proposals will not be considered
Emailed and faxed proposals will not be accepted
Do not include any other materials than those requested
The proposal must be complete and in order, following the order noted in the application, with all pages numbered
The proposal must address all items in the proposal
For the budget, use the format of the financial form included in this application. Budgets must include all income and expenses for the program (and only for the program) which the application covers.

Funded programs must use grant funds for the purposes described in the proposal; grant funds cannot be diverted to other uses.

Programs must immediately contact Episcopal Charities should their funded program be suspended or terminated, or face circumstances that would alter the use of the grant award. Programs must not cash/deposit Episcopal Charities monthly checks should the above occur unless approved by Episcopal Charities.

Funded programs are responsible for timely submission of evaluation materials, which may include, full financial accounting for the program's income and expenses.

Funded programs may also be asked to provide a program-specific accounting of the use of funds granted. In a program where funds are co-mingled with parish funds, separate financial reports must be regularly prepared.

Representatives of all funded programs are required to attend the applicable Sustainability Institute workshops offered during the grant year (unless excused by emergency).

Based on an assessment of program effectiveness, some programs may be asked to participate in workshops or other programs that focus on areas needing improvement as a requirement of future funding.