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Funding Opportunities

Youth Service Improvement

Our Youth Service Improvement Grants (YSIG) share the goal of our research grants: improving the lives of youth. We focus on small to medium-size organizations that have already had some success, but lack the funds to make needed improvements.

The YSIG program is open to community-based organizations in the five boroughs of New York City that want to improve the quality of the services they offer to young people ages 8 to 25. Awards are $25,000.

Deadline

Grants are awarded in the spring and the fall. The deadline for the spring 2013 application cycle is March 13, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. EST. Grantees from that cycle will be announced in October 2013.

Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for consideration, applicants must:
  • Have 501(c)(3) tax-exemption. If an applicant is separately incorporated but tax-exempt through a group ruling, the applicant should supply the IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter of its parent organization and documentation that it is part of the group. In this case, only the budget of the applicant will be considered under the YSIG eligibility guidelines. If the applicant is a sub-unit of a parent organization and is not separately incorporated, the parent organization's budget will be considered under the eligibility guidelines;
  • Be a community-based organization that provides services to youth located in the five boroughs of New York City. Public/private schools are not eligible;
  • Serve youth ages 8 to 25 years;
  • Serve youth directly (staff must have direct contact with youth at the point-of-service); and
  • Have an operating budget between $250,000 and $5.0 million. In the case of organizations that serve youth only, this is the total organizational budget. In the case of multipurpose organizations (i.e., those not exclusively focused on youth), the organizational operating budget must be less than $20 million, and the budget for services to youth (direct and indirect costs) must be between $250,000 and $5 million.

Interested in Applying?

The Foundation uses an online application system for all our funding programs. Application instructions and required forms are available in the How to Apply section, which can be accessed by clicking below. Please note, all applicants should read the most recent YSIG Guidelines before beginning any application.

YSIG Guidelines

The Guidelines for Youth Service Improvement Grants are available for download. This document includes selection and eligibility criteria, required documents, and application procedures. We recommend that you review the guidelines thoroughly before starting your application.
Recent Grantees

When preparing your proposal, you may find it helpful to read brief descriptions of recently funded projects.