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Michigan aims $50 million at nonprofit relief. Here's who will benefit.
February 07, 2023
Michigan aims $50 million at nonprofit relief. Here's who will benefit. | Crains Detroit
- SHERRI WELCH | February 07, 2023
A $50 million state-funded relief effort will benefit both large and small nonprofits in Michigan, with special focus on those with smaller budgets that are still struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic.
Included as part of the state's fiscal 2023 budget, the dedicated funding for nonprofits will employ a two-prong approach in what it funds and in who administers the funding.
The Michigan Nonprofit Association will administer the bulk of the funding, $35 million, and will make one-time grants to nonprofits with under $1 million in revenue.
The Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity will administer the remaining $15 million, making large "impact grants" of $500,000-$2 million to nonprofits with innovative ideas for helping end poverty in the state.
"Ultimately, we're helping all of the nonprofit ecosystem, I think, with this grant program, because we really want to give relief to those smaller nonprofits that don't necessarily always get opportunities like this, but we also want to give the more established nonprofits an opportunity to ... test drive their ideas and really get a boost so that they can be partners with us in the work that we're doing to end poverty in our state," said Kim Trent, deputy director, prosperity, for LEO.
The goal is to get the smaller grants out by spring and the larger grants out by June, the groups said.
MNA tracked the needs of nonprofits throughout the pandemic, President and CEO Kelley Kuhn said. Many reported revenue declines of 50-60 percent with the loss of earned revenue and the inability to host fundraising events.
Yet, nonprofits had access to only three of 23 federal relief programs administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., according to MNA.
MNA began advocating early on for dedicated relief funding for nonprofits, similar to what was provided for small businesses. Given that 93 percent of the nonprofits in Michigan have budgets of $1 million or less and those were the nonprofits hit hardest during the pandemic, the bulk of the relief fund will support those groups, Kuhn said.
Original Article: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/michigan-nonprofit-relief-grants-target