The New York Community Trust, Robin Hood, and UJA-Federation of New York to Offer Capacity-Building Resources for New York's Nonprofits Impacted by COVID-19
New York (June 15, 2020) – The New York Community Trust, Robin Hood, and UJA-Federation of New York are funding a new half-million dollar effort to provide consulting services for hundreds of nonprofits across New York that are struggling from impacts to their business from Covid-19. This partnership was borne out of a collective mission to support vulnerable New Yorkers and sustain New York’s human service infrastructure.
The partnership will engage six well-respected organizations that serve New York’s nonprofit sector, including Cause Effective, Community Resource Exchange, Lawyers Alliance, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Operations Inc., and Support Center. They will offer a full range of capacity-building services including cash flow and financial scenario planning, legal, fundraising, human resources, organizational restructuring, leadership development focused on staff, and board of directors.
“Robin Hood is proud to partner with UJA and The New York Community Trust to offer critical capacity-building resources to the nonprofits on the frontlines of this pandemic,” said Deb Sakellarios, head of management assistance, Robin Hood. “Now—more than ever—it is critical that we go beyond traditional grantmaking to also support the organizational needs of the nonprofit sector to ensure that they have the tools to respond to the needs of the community.”
“Nonprofits across New York are facing extreme financial pressure and operational risk. We must help strengthen these critical institutions so that they can continue to provide essential services that are a lifeline to so many in our city, such as food provision, shelter, mental health counseling, workforce development, and so much more,” said Abby Knopp, managing director, network department, UJA-Federation of New York. “This partnership with Robin Hood and The New York Community Trust enables us to maximize the resources we can make available and create efficiencies of scale in order to best serve the community.”
“The future of many vital New York City nonprofits has been jeopardized by the coronavirus’s economic toll. Canceled benefits, shuttered cultural spaces, the costs of doing everything remotely…all these have weighed on organizations that operate on tight budgets in the best of times. Technical assistance providers can ease the burden for these groups, but they, too, need our help,” says Shawn Morehead, vice president for grants at The New York Community Trust. “We are thrilled to join with other funders to pool resources to increase the capacity of these six critical providers.”
These capacity-building resources will be available to current nonprofit partners of Robin Hood, UJA-Federation, and New York Community Trust.
“The COVID pandemic has devastated the economy and caused many nonprofits to operate with great uncertainty about the future of their programs and services,” says Judy Levine, executive director of Cause Effective. “We’re working with a range of groups to help them adapt, identify immediate solutions, and reimagine their fundraising activities to elevate their mission and platforms to engage donors...