Participants of the 5 Boros Basketball Program after a tournament.
General Resources
Citizens Committee Guides:
"How to Start a Block Association"
Tax Exemption:
Stay Exempt is a comprehensive online training tool created especially for 501(c)(3) organizations by the IRS.
"The Things You Gotta Do To Start a Nonprofit Organization" (Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, Inc., 2011)
Contact us to learn more about incorporation! Email Wilfredo Florentino at wflorentino@citizensnyc.org for more information.
Grants & Funding Opportunities:
The Brooklyn Community Foundation awards grants to the borough’s most innovative nonprofits in five distinct "fields of interest" funds that focus on improving the quality of life for Brooklynites. They also offer $500 or less Micro Grants on a rolling basis.
Funding for Grassroots Collaboration
Common Counsel’s Grassroots Exchange Fund provides grants to support networking and collaboration between grassroots social change and environmental justice organizations throughout the United States.
Do Something Seed Grants awards $500 every week to youth working on projects that bring people together.
IndieGoGo helps create funding campaigns to raise money quickly and securely.
Fund Your Neighborhood Environmental Project
ioby is a crowdfunding platform that connects donors and volunteers to environmental projects in their neighborhoods.
Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system geared towards arts and culture-related projects.
Workshops & Trainings:
The Foundation Center offers free classes for groups interested in improving their grant-writing skills.
The Metropolitan Council on Housing is dedicated to preserving and expanding New York City’s supply of affordable housing.
The Street Law Team offers training for groups interested in learning about what to do if you’re stopped by the police.
Tenants & Neighbors offers free on-site workshops on tenants’ rights and tenant organizing.
General Services & Resources:
The Center for Media Justice provides training, resources, and support to grassroots community organizing groups to develop creative, effective, and participatory communications and media activism strategies.
Media Justice Resource Library
MAG-Net is a network of grassroots organizations working together to advance a shared agenda for media justice.
City Services:
The Community Affairs Unit works to make sure that New Yorkers have the opportunity to participate in their neighborhoods and in the City at large. Get involved through your community board, a neighborhood association, a local event and more.
Community Boards play an important role in improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Contact your community board to learn how you can play an active role in shaping your neighborhood.
The Mayor’s Street Activity Permit Office
The Mayor’s Street Activity Permit Office issues permits for street fairs, festivals, block parties, green markets, commercial/promotional and other events on the City's streets and sidewalks.
NYC Service taps the power of people to tackle pressing challenges. NYC Service oversees more than 38 initiatives that aim to achieve three overarching goals: making our City the easiest place in the world to volunteer, targeting volunteers to address the city’s greatest needs, and promoting service as a core part of what it means to be a citizen.
NYCWasteMatch facilitates the exchange of used and surplus goods and equipment from organizations that no longer need them to other entities that do.
Precinct Community Councils are monthly forums between neighborhood residents and police officers from the precinct.