At least $2 billion in PPP loans awarded to nonprofits in New York

The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded at least $2 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans to about 11,000 nonprofits based in New York state, according to data recently published by the SBA on Monday. 

Elementary and secondary schools appeared to receive the greatest dollar amount in loans in the state: more than $344.6 million overall. Religious organizations, including the Archdiocese of New York, also earned a significant amount of support, with at least $280 million in total allocated to them. 

Almost 70% of nonprofit loan recipients in New York got less than $150,000 from the program, which offers loan forgiveness to institutions that meet certain criteria such as retaining employees. Just under 80 New York-based nonprofits were awarded loans ranging from $5 million to $10 million, according to the data. 

It is difficult to estimate the exact amount that nonprofits actually retained because the data provided by the agency doesn’t account for loans that were returned or canceled. Loans over $150,000 listed in the database also don’t include specific dollar amounts for a given organization but rather a range between two dollar amounts, making it difficult to estimate the exact total funding given to New York nonprofits and businesses. 

The small business loan program has produced frustration for some nonprofits, some of which have struggled to get funding or sufficient application support from lenders while publicly traded companies managed to access help.