Menu

All our application processes are online using our grants portal.

If you are responding to a specific Request for Proposals (RFP) or call for Letters of Intent (LOI) (i.e., the NYC Workforce Development Fund LOI, the National and International Environment Program LOI, the Heisman Youth Development RFP, the Fund for New Citizens RFP, or the Van Lier Fellowship Program RFP) download the appropriate application instructions, and—once your application is ready—click Apply.

For applications to The Trust’s ongoing competitive grants program, please use the “Apply” button for the “NYCT Ongoing Competitive Grants”. This covers all of our ongoing competitive grantmaking under our Thriving Communities, Promising Futures, and Healthy Lives program areas. Grantseekers do not need a specific RFP to apply for our ongoing competitive grants program; we accept proposals year-round.

Grants Portal

Application Checklist

Application Checklist
  1. A brief cover letter on the organization’s letterhead signed by the paid staff head or designee confirming the organizational commitment to the project.
  2. A narrative proposal (no more than 10 numbered pages) that includes:
    • A description of your agency’s background (mission, major activities, and credentials for carrying out the project);
    • A brief statement of the public policy or systemic service delivery problem you seek to address;
    • A description of your plans to address the problem, including the project’s:
      • goals and objectives;
      • planned activities, including who will benefit and how policies, systems, or services will improve;
      • expected outcomes and plan for measuring results.
    • For requests for renewed Trust funding, progress made with earlier Trust support; and
    • A brief statement of how the project will be sustained after The Trust’s support ends.The narrative need not address the topics in order, or even one at a time.  Rather, the narrative should make a compelling case for the needed changes, how the proposed activities will lead to the desired change, and why your agency is prepared to carry out the project.
  3. An itemized project budget that reflects the full costs of carrying out the project (as opposed to just the amount requested from The Trust). The budget should also list other pending and/or confirmed income to support the project, as well as any in-kind contributions. Please round up to the nearest thousand for all line items in the project budget; **
  4. Your current year annual operating budget and, for arts and culture groups only, actual income and expenses for the most recently completed fiscal year; and
  5. A list of your board of directors, including affiliations. The Trust generally requires that a board should have at least four members (we prefer at least five); all board members should be unrelated; and no more than one board member should be paid, typically the paid staff head.

**Note: For grants to universities, hospitals, academic medical centers, and affiliated nonprofit fiscal sponsors (e.g. research foundations affiliated with fundraising vehicles of government agencies), overhead costs for grant administration may not exceed five percent of the total project budget. Administrative costs related to carrying out the proposed grant activities, including space, materials and supplies, and technology for project staff, are not subject to the five percent limit, and should be identified separately in the proposed itemized project budget.

For additional information, please contact Liza Lagunoff.

When can we apply?

You may submit a proposal anytime to our competitive grants program. (This does not include the national and international environment program).*

We build in a long lead time to review proposals and prepare grant recommendations for five board meetings each year (February, April, June, October, and December). Program staff weigh many considerations in preparing grant recommendations and cannot promise that any proposal will be considered at a particular board meeting.

The dates in the table below indicate when applicants can expect a decision on their grant application. Please note that these are NOT due dates.

Grant applications received in the Grants Portal by:Decision notification sent by email no later than:
Second Tuesday in FebruaryEnd of October of the same year
Second Tuesday in MayEnd of December of the same year
Second Tuesday in SeptemberEnd of March of the following year

*Note: Grantseekers interested in seeking support through the national and international environment program start the process with a Letter of Interest (LOI), which can be submitted through the Grants Portal during a three-to-four-week window each fall (late September) and winter (late February). A small percentage of those LOIs will result in an invitation to submit a full proposal.

We also issue RFPs and calls for LOIs for certain programs (such as our capacity-building program for arts groups, many of our collaborative funds, and some of our biomedical research grants, such as those for leprosy); each has its own rules and timeline.