not-for-profit-process

Department of Design and Construction

Building for you


Not-for-Profit

Applicaion Process


1. Contact your elected official.

Not-for-profit groups or organizations should first contact their elected officials when seeking discretionary funds for a capital project. New York City's elected officials can be reached directly through the following websites:

Brooklyn Borough President

Bronx Borough President

Manhattan Borough President

Queens Borough President

Staten Island Borough President

New York City Council

2. Adhere to the eligibility guidelines.

Not-For-Profit Eligibility:
Not-for-profit organizations must provide a true and correct copy of the organization's certificate of incorporation and other organizational documents that show the organization's status as a not-for-profit corporation in New York State. Non-profits must also have up-to-date charity registrations with the New York State Attorney General's Office (i.e., the CHAR500 Form).

Capital Project Eligibility:
DDC may only reimburse not-for-profit organizations with discretionary funding for costs that meet the definition of a capital asset under New York City guidelines.

Because the City's guidelines for capital assets can be complicated, DDC will work with each group to review all proposed reimbursement items and their estimated prices. Each item must meet the City's standards of purpose, cost and useful life requirements.

3. Fill out the Capital Funding Request Form.

Non-profit organizations that receive an allocation of funding from their elected official(s) must then receive and fully complete the City's most recent version of the Capital Funding Request Form for Not-for-Profit Organizations.

Please note that DDC may not review a project until the agency receives a complete Capital Funding Request Form. The City also reserves the right to request additional documentation and information depending on complexity of the project.

4. Gather contracts and key documents.

DDC will inform your organization of other documents that will be necessary before the agency can provide funding. There are three key categories of legal documents to the process:

The Funding Agreement

The Lien Creating Agreement and relevant recordings

The Opinion of Counsel letter

See DDC's checklists, which include a more extensive listing of the necessary forms, agreements and other documents needed for the reimbursement process.

The Funding Agreement:
The Funding Agreement is a contract between the non-profit organization and DDC that describes each party's responsibilities with respect to the funding provided by the City. There are different types of funding agreements depending on the type of project, such as: vehicle purchases; equipment purchases; vehicles and equipment purchases; property acquisitions; and construction costs. The non-profit organizations that enter into such funding agreements with the City are referred to as funding recipients.

The Lien Creating Agreement:
In order to protect the interests of taxpayers, the City requires funding recipients to record liens against either the equipment, vehicles or real property that is being purchased or improved with City funds.

For equipment purchases, DDC requires each funding recipient to provide a security agreement, a lien search report and a filed financing statement with the New York State Department of State.

For real property purchases and construction, DDC requests an up-to-date title report, title insurance and a declaration of restrictive covenant to be recorded as a lien against the property being improved with City funds.

These Lien Creating Agreements provide the City a security and/or lien interest in the items purchased/improved for a set period of time based on the time requirements set in Local Finance Law.

The Opinion of Counsel Letter:
Each funding recipient must obtain legal counsel to render an opinion of counsel letter based on the City's template. Deviations from the template will delay the process. In this letter, the organization's attorney attests to these statements, among other things:

The group is a valid not-for-profit in New York State and is qualified to conduct business in New York.

The group has the power to execute and deliver the necessary legal agreements.

The execution and delivery of the Agreements were duly authorized.

It is important to keep in mind that the application process takes time. Groups can expedite the process by providing DDC with all the necessary information in a timely manner.

5. Receive a Certificate to Proceed.

Once DDC has determined that a proposed funding recipient's project satisfies the City's legal eligibility requirements, DDC will then request a Certificate to Proceed (CP) from the Mayor's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) (a budgetary oversight agency). This certification serves to formally allocate the City's funding toward the project, but does not guarantee payment without Comptroller registration approval and the submission of complete payment requisition(s) by the funding recipient.

6. Project is approved and registered.

DDC will send the executed agreements and supporting documents to the City Comptroller's Office for registration. Based on the Comptroller's Office independent review and approval of each project, the City will then register the project and provide the green light for DDC to move ahead with the project.

7. Take final steps for reimbursement.

After project registration, a funding recipient may purchase or proceed with the items contained in the Funding Agreement's scope of work/budget. In addition, the City's lien interests must be recorded before the agency can release any payments.

Then, the funding recipient may submit the appropriate invoices and supporting documents to DDC's Program Director or Project Manager in order for DDC to issue payment reimbursements.

After DDC's Law and Program divisions approve all submissions, the agency then may disburse the City's discretionary funds to the eligible funding recipient/non-profit organization.