Frequently asked questions

Question: Am I eligible for a grant from the New York Foundation?

Answer: Organizations that stand the best chance of receiving a grant from the New York Foundation:

• Involve New York City or a particular neighborhood of the city
• Emphasize advocacy and community organizing
• Address a critical need of a disadvantaged population, particularly youth or the elderly
•  Are strongly identified with a particular community
• Require an amount of funding to which a Foundation grant would make a substantial contribution
• Show a clear role for the Foundation's funds

Question: Are there organizations that the Foundation cannot fund?

Answer: The Foundation never makes grants to individuals or to capital campaigns. We do not consider support of research studies, films, conferences, or publications, other than those we initiate. We do not consider requests outside New York City except from organizations working on statewide issues of concern to youth, the elderly, or the poor. Our charter prohibits us from making grants outside the United States.

Question: Can the Foundation’s staff come visit our organization or meet with us to learn about our program? 

Answer: We will always ask that you put your inquiry in writing. After our review of a proposal or letter of inquiry, the Foundation may schedule a site visit with your organization, but we have a small staff and cannot meet personally with everyone who applies.

Question: How can I apply?

Answer: The Foundation accepts either letters of inquiry or full proposals. If you choose to submit a full proposal, you can follow the NY/NJ Common Application form or use another format.

Question: What kind of grant can I ask for?

Answer: The Foundation makes general support grants primarily to start-up organizations and project support to established organizations. General support grants to start-up groups are made for up to five years of support and project support grants to established organizations are made for up to three years.

Question: How much money can I ask for?

Answer: Foundation grants range between $40,000 and $50,000. The average size of our grants this year was $45,000.

Question: What are the Foundation’s deadlines?

Answer: The deadlines for proposals or letters of inquiry are November 1, March 1, and July 1.

Question: Should I address my request to a specific person?

Answer: Please address all requests for support to Maria Mottola, Executive Director.

Question: Can I contact the Foundation to learn why my request was declined?

Answer: You may contact our program staff if you receive a declination letter and we will try our best to call you back. We have a small program staff so it is not always possible for us to respond to every phone call.

Question: How many times we can apply to the Foundation?

Answer: Generally there are no restrictions on how many times an organization can apply to the Foundation for funding. Grantees whose grants have just ended, and organizations who receive a site visit but are not selected for funding, must wait one year before reapplying.

Question: Can I apply for more funding if I have a currently active grant?

Answer: The Foundation offers several supplemental funding opportunities for current grantees. Please click here to find out more about these opportunities.

Question: Does the Foundation ever fund organizations outside New York?

Answer: The Foundation funds organizations that operate in the five boroughs of New York City. In rare cases, we have made grants to organizations in upstate New York for New York City focused or related work.

Question: What organizations does the Foundation fund?

Answer: Please click here for a complete listing.

Question: What is the Foundation’s mission?

Answer: We support groups in New York City that are working on problems of urgent concern to residents of disadvantaged communities and neighborhoods. We are particularly interested in start-up grants to new, untested programs that have few other sources of support.

Question: Where does the Foundation’s money come from?

Answer: The New York Foundation was established in 1909 with a gift of $1 million from Alfred M. Heinsheimer, part of a bequest he had received from his brother Louis. This first philanthropic gift was augmented by two additional gifts: one, of $2.4 million from Lionel J. Salomon, restricted broadly to the benefit of the young and the elderly; the second even larger bequest of $6 million from the estate of Alfred M. Heinsheimer in 1929.