Nonprofits continue to struggle with late NYC contracts

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By Zach Williams

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Praxis Housing Initiatives has received a $36.4 million contract from the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The four-and-a half-year contract will fund through June 2023 the development and operation of a homeless shelter for adult families at 306 West 94th Street in Manhattan, according to the City Record.

 

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley raised more than $550,000 at an April 9 event in Rye Brook. The money will help local families access legal representation in civil court. “In more than 70% of civil cases and 98% of eviction cases,” CEO Barbara Finkelstein said in an April 17 press release, “people who can’t afford legal representation end up going to court alone – and many lose everything.”

 

The National Dance Institute raised nearly $1.5 million at an April 15 event in Manhattan. More than 400 people, along with dancers from the New York City Ballet, attended the event, which will fund arts education programming.

 

The Long Island Community Foundation has announced $365,000 in new grants. A total of 19 nonprofits will receive funding, which will support programming focused on the arts, the environment, public transit and other causes.

See the full list here. Here are a few examples, taken more or less verbatim from an April 17 press release:

  • All Our Energy received $15,000 to continue a campaign to eliminate single-use plastic items in Nassau County.
  • Parrish Art Museum is getting $15,000 to provide arts education to economically and culturally diverse students on Long Island’s East End.
  • Adelphi University Institute for Nonprofit Leadership got $20,000 for a leadership development program for nonprofit professionals and community leaders of color.
  • LGBT Network won $15,000 to bring LGBT youth and young adults into inclusive workplaces.

 

SeaChange Capital Partners has a new report on nonprofit contracts. There is a full breakdown of the report from partner John MacIntosh, but here are the top takeaways:

  • The 2,543 social service contracts registered in 2018 were an average of 221 days late.
  • Organizations could only be “pretty sure” (80%) that a contract would be registered after 369 days.
  • The 1,000-plus discretionary awards – representing 40% of all contracts but only 3% of the value – were by far the latest.
  • Renewals were the fastest, with a full 36% of renewals actually registered before the start date.
  • The total cash flow burden imposed on all nonprofits due to registration delays in 2018 was $744 million – up from $675 million in 2017.

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