Blue Ridge Foundation New York

Here you will find answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Don't see your question here? Feel free to contact us with your question or concern.

Do you fund organizations outside of New York City?

Are your New York City-based grantees required to work out of your offices?

Do any other organizations provide incubation or other intensive support to start-up nonprofits?

Do organizations need to have 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor to apply?

Can existing organizations that already operate programs apply to Blue Ridge?

How much funding should applicants request?

There is a group called Blue Ridge Foundation located at 635 Madison Avenue - is that you?

Do you fund organizations outside of New York City?
No. We are currently focusing our support on groups that can operate out of New York City. The physical proximity helps build community among all of our organizations, fosters program-related partnerships, and makes it easier for us to deliver a more comprehensive range of non-cash support. This means that organizations in our portfolio will serve New York City, or will be nonprofits without a geographic focus (such as Internet-based services).

Are your New York City-based grantees required to work out of your offices?
No, although we strongly prefer to support organizations that can locate staff within our offices. Organizations that are developing community-based services can use our offices during their planning phase, and establish a permanent presence in their target neighborhoods when they begin to implement their programs or expand beyond pilot form. Again, we have found that we can most effectively build substantive connections among our portfolio groups when their respective staff work out of the same space.

Do any other organizations provide incubation or other intensive support to start-up nonprofits?
Yes. While it can be difficult for groups to obtain funding at the concept stage, there are some institutions that specialize in supporting start-ups. We should note that it is not our goal to carve out a unique niche in the world of foundations - it is our goal to help develop needed high quality social change organizations. The other organizations that we know about that provide support to early-stage nonprofits include:

Community Partners supports nonprofits in the Southern California region by managing an Incubator for Emerging Groups to help capable leaders transform their ideas for community change into action.
The Draper Richards Foundation provides selected social entrepreneurs with funding of up to $100,000 annually for three years. The funds are specifically and solely for entrepreneurs starting new non-profit organizations.
Earth Island Institute sponsors, supports and promotes activists working on diverse environmental projects by managing the basic administrative functions of more than thirty grassroots campaigns, each functioning independently while sharing resources and benefiting from the synergistic exchange of experience, ideas, and energy.
Echoing Green Foundation operates a fellowship program that gives seed money and technical support to individuals creating innovative public service projects that seek to catalyze positive social change.
Fund for the City of New York operates an Incubator Program that provides support to new nonprofit enterprises, government agencies that are planning or implementing new projects, and short-term research efforts that require private sector dollars for implementation.
Open Society Institute Fellowships offers a number of fellowships to support scholars, writers, artists, activists, advocates, and practitioners who have new ideas and innovative ways of approaching the myriad problems of an open society.
Open Space Institute's Citizen Action Program functions as a "back office" by providing accounting and financial management services so that activists can focus on issues rather than administrative concerns. They currently sponsor over 30 groups united by missions focused on protecting natural habitats, making cities and communities more livable, and connecting people with the land.
The Robin Hood Foundation offers extensive management assistance to their grantees, including a limited number of ventures at the start-up phase.
Social Entrepreneurship Incubator (SEI), a project of the Three Guineas Fund’s Women’s Technology Cluster. The SEI, located in San Francisco, is designed to help social entrepreneurs develop their early-stage non-profits into successful, sustainable organizations. The SEI is primarily interested in organizations that are creating economic opportunity for women and girls and will also consider organizations that are facilitating engagement, through venture philanthropy or volunteerism, between business professionals and social change organizations.
International Center for Tolerance Education is an initiative of Third Millennium Foundation designed to help start and grow promising efforts in the field of tolerance education and prejudice prevention.
The Tides Center provides a fiscal home and infrastructure support (such as payroll, insurance, human resources, etc.) to new and emerging charitable organizations that are not themselves incorporated as nonprofits.

Do organizations need to have 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor to apply?
No. Part of our support includes helping our portfolio groups obtain designation from the IRS as tax exempt charitable organizations if necessary. We will work out a funding arrangement for the period before you receive your designation letter, if you do not yet have one. Applications from those who have already obtained 501(c)(3) status are accepted as well.

How much funding should applicants request?
That's up to the applicant. Part of our evaluation process involves looking at the way that applicants prepare their program budgets. The amount of funding a grantee receives depends on its organizational needs, as well as the number and size of other organizations in the Blue Ridge portfolio. Typically our grants range from $100,000 to $200,000 per year.

There is a group called Blue Ridge Foundation located at 635 Madison Avenue - is that you?
No, that is a completely different organization - with a very similar name! We are Blue Ridge Foundation New York. Our main office is at 150 Court St., 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The confusion arises because we also have an office at 660 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021.