NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief

Applications for the NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund grant program open online on June 11. The deadline for applications is June 25 at 4 p.m. 

The NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund was established by Governor Chris Sununu through the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR). The State award grants from the allocated $60 million to help nonprofit organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NH Center for Nonprofits, the NH Charitable Foundation, and the NH Community Development Finance Authority have partnered to administer this program.

More information about the application process, eligibility criteria, and upcoming informational webinars — to be hosted on June 11 and 15 — is available on the GOFERR website. Nonprofits are encouraged to complete an organizational profile as soon as possible. An online portal to complete the profile is also available. A completed profile is required as a first step to completing an application, and profiles may be completed before the application opens on June 11.

Grant funding is intended to reimburse the costs of business interruptions caused by required closures, and sustain nonprofits’ ability to contribute to the state’s recovery from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Grants will not be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis; all applications will be evaluated based on program criteria. To receive funding, organizations must be recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The NH Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund program supports three purpose areas:

• Nonprofit organizations that mitigate the critical public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis for residents who rely on those organizations for critical services. This includes, but is not limited to, organizations providing essential human services.
   
• Nonprofit organizations that contribute to economic, cultural, and civic vitality. This includes, but is not limited to, arts organizations, nonprofit community development corporations, economic development organizations and technical assistance providers, organizations that provide safe outdoor places for people to recreate, community-based organizations that deliver timely and sometimes life-saving information about COVID-19, and civic organizations that unite people across differences to find solutions.
   
• Coalitions, networks, and collaboratives of nonprofit organizations that maximize cooperation and impact, and also speed the state’s distribution of funds to meet urgent needs.

The state’s nonprofits have played a critical role in New Hampshire’s response to this public health crisis, and this fund is intended to provide some relief for certain incurred and future costs and revenue losses, said Kathleen Reardon, Richard Ober and Katherine Easterly Martey, who lead the partner organizations in administering the fund, in a joint statement. They went on to say nonprofits contribute to NH's quality of life for everyone.