City Hall is rolling out a new pilot program aimed at cutting red tape and speeding up payments for small nonprofits.
Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Aug. 21 announced the Discretionary Grant Pilot, which will launch in fall 2025 and replace the lengthy contract process with direct grant agreements. The initiative will start with about 100 nonprofits that each receive $25,000 or less in City Council discretionary funding.
“When nonprofits thrive, our city and our people thrive. New York City’s nonprofits do the work millions of our city’s residents rely on — delivering meals to seniors, providing legal services to immigrants, connecting people to housing, caring for our young people and so much more," said Mayor Adams. "In order to ensure that these organizations succeed and continue to support New Yorkers, we need to remove the different barriers and obstacles that stand in the way of their crucial mission."
Instead of navigating 13 steps of paperwork and waiting months or even years for payment, these groups will get 100% of their funds within weeks. In its second year, the program is said to expand to a hundred more organizations.
The effort targets long-standing issues that forced small-dollar awards to go through the same complicated system as multi-million-dollar contracts, often delaying nonprofits from accessing resources they need to serve their communities.
By streamlining the process, the city hopes to remove barriers and help nonprofits focus on their missions, from providing meals and housing support to offering youth and immigrant services.
The pilot will be led by the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services and the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services, in collaboration with the City Council and agencies, including the Department of Youth & Community Development plus the Department for the Aging.
Eligible nonprofits will be notified this fall, with grant agreements expected to go out in October and payments arriving by Jan. 2026.
"Non-profits provide essential services to New Yorkers through city contracts and funding, but far too often are paid late for their work and forced to shoulder excessive administrative burdens,” said Speaker Adams.
