Michigan aims $50M at nonpro t relief. Here’s who will bene t.

A $50 million state-funded relief effort will bene t both large and small nonpro ts 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 scal 2023 budget, the dedicated funding for nonpro ts will employ a two-pronged approach in what it funds and in who administers the funding.

e Michigan Nonpro t Association will administer the bulk of the funding, $35 million, and will make one-time grants to nonpro ts with under $1 million in revenue.

e Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity will administer the remaining $15 million, making large “impact grants” of $500,000-$2 million to nonpro ts with innovative ideas for helping end poverty in the state.

“Ultimately, we’re helping all of the nonpro t 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 nonpro ts 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. e 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, nonpro ts 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 nonpro ts, similar to what was provided for small businesses. Given that 93 percent of the nonpro ts in Michigan have budgets of $1 million or less and those were the nonpro ts hit hardest during the pandemic, the bulk of the relief fund will support those groups, Kuhn said.

To qualify for a one-time grant of $5,000-$25,000, small nonpro ts will have to demonstrate they had nancial hardship tied to COVID after March 3, 2021, after the Paycheck Protection Program and other supports expired.

“A lot of organizations really su ered and ... through fundraising or other efforts were able to get to kind of more solid ground. But if they took a hit during COVID, we want to make sure that we are acknowledging ... the sacrices that they made and are trying to make them whole,” Trent said.

LEO will have an oversight role, approving grants made from the fund, but MNA will lead the bulk of the administration of funding to smaller nonpro ts.

In making grants from the relief fund, MNA will use the same “hub- and-spoke” model of outreach and support it used in the run-up to the 2020 census, relying on regional nonpro ts around the state to help. ose organizations make up six regional hubs that have been providing feedback on the relief grant process as it develops. ey will assist with local outreach to small nonpro ts around the state, provide technical assistance for nonpro t applicants that need it and review the proposals before they move to MNA and ultimately, LEO, for nal approval, Tsai said.

“We are really about mobilizing regional hubs ... (that) know their communities and equipping them with resources and information to be able to make sure that they’re working in their communities and deploying the dollars and making the decisions there,” Kuhn said.

Sixty to 80 community leaders of nonpro ts representing all regions of the state will serve as “the boots on the ground as we get into the actual grant deployment process,” said Nellie Tsai, social innovation o cer with MNA.

By mid-February, MNA plans to post a short, general inquiry application on its website for small nonpro ts interested in applying for a relief grant to gauge their need for technical assistance and other characteristics such as scal sponsorship and their location. e organization estimates that 1,200-4,600 small nonpro ts will receive a relief grant, Tsai said. e state is looking to leverage an additional $15 million of the nonpro t relief dollars to produce “meaningful impact” on alleviating poverty, Trent said. e impact grants will likely be aimed at larger nonpro ts, given that proof of nancial stability is a requirement to receive one, she noted. LEO, which will take those grant proposals directly, will be looking for proposals with long-term strategies aliged with the Michigan Poverty Task Force goals.

As important as understanding where the need is coming from is understanding where there isn’t response from local nonpro ts, Tsai said.

MNA expects to post the application for relief funding grants for small nonpro ts on its website by month’s end and to make grants in the spring.

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch