Many are curious about whether there are funds to support nonprofit programs in the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the “economic stimulus package.”

We’re curious too.

So we read the bill, its numerous amendments, multiple independent analyses, and daily news reportage from Washington, D.C.; researched available information; attended last week’s forum co-hosted by The Foraker Group and the Municipality of Anchorage; talked and/or corresponded with the offices of the Alaska Congressional Delegation, the Office of the Governor, the Alaska State Legislature, the Alaska field offices of affected federal agencies, the Municipality of Anchorage, and the Alaska Municipal League. Last week, we posted what we had learned to date about stimulus funding for the arts.

What have we learned?

1. The ground rules for distribution of recovery funds are in many cases still being written. You might find comfort in the knowledge that no one person has possession of the obvious answers.

2. A significant portion of the entire package goes to tax relief and is therefore unavailable as competitive or discretionary grants.

3. The funds that are available to nonprofits may come into the state through a variety of doors: directly from federal agencies or through state funding formulas. In addition, the funds may go directly to tribes, municipalities or boroughs. Figuring out who has funds available for what will require networking with your contacts in these areas.

4. A sizable chunk will be used to increase funds available for existing state programs for things like transportation, Medicare and nutrition programs. If you currently receive state grants, you should contact that state agency to see how you might be affected.

5. If you think your nonprofit might be eligible to benefit from the cash infused into state funding formulas, you should know that the Office of the Governor has to formally accept the stimulus funding no later than April 3. As of this writing, Alaska has not responded with an acceptance.

6. Because the intent of the stimulus package is immediate economic relief, the focus of the ARRA is squarely on job creation, training, retention, and unemployment services. This means if a program is struggling to keep its employees on payroll than it will likely score higher for possible funding (caveat: many agency guidelines have not been written or posted). It also means if given a choice between funding a project today or a year from now, the stimulus funds will probably go to the project that’s ready to go, or “shovel ready.”

7. The bill excludes line-item “earmark” funding. This means no one got to put a bridge or a building in the stimulus package.

It has become abundantly clear there are limitations on what may be funded through the economic stimulus package and that in many cases the federal, state, municipal and/or tribal entities charged with distributing these funds have not yet posted the rules and guidelines for grant opportunities for nonprofits.

If your organization typically applies for grant funding through a federal agency such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs or U.S. Department of Agriculture, then work directly with that agency to see what stimulus funds might be available to you.

And we are pleased to report Alaska’s Congressional Delegation has scheduled a federal grantmaking symposium for April 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Denai’ina Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage. Contact for details:

Sherry Edwards Haymans
Constituent Services Director
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
907-271-3735

or

Schawna Thoma
Special Assistant on Community and Legislative Affairs
U.S. Senator Mark Begich
907-271-5915

In the meantime, we’ve compiled some useful links below:

The White House

The Office of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski

The Office of U.S. Senator Mark Begich

The Office of Congressman Don Young

The Office of Acting Mayor Matt Claman, Municipality of Anchorage

The Foraker Group

Do you have information about the stimulus package that would be useful to nonprofits? Please share it here.

Tags: Alaska nonprofits, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.