The Youth Service Improvement Grants (YSIG) program supports activities to improve the quality of direct services for young people ages 5 to 25 in the five boroughs of New York City.
Donor Name: William T. Grant Foundation
State: New York
City: Selected Cities
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/01/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The goal is to strengthen existing services by helping youth-serving nonprofit organizations address challenges or remedy problems at the point of service, where staff and youth interact.
Examples of problem areas for improvement include inadequate curriculum, gaps in the service skills of frontline staff, or limitations in current services that adversely affect participants’ experiences. Beyond these examples, the foundation welcomes other compelling needs for service improvement.
Funding Information
Awards are $25,000 each and support projects lasting one year, starting on September 1 of the award year.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- Serve youth ages 5 to 25.
- At least 80 percent of youth participating in the services targeted for improvement must be in this age range.
- The applicant’s staff must have direct contact with youth at the point of service.
- Have their own 501(c)(3) tax-exemption.
- If operating under fiscal sponsorship, confirmation of fiscal sponsorship agreement is required.
- If an applying organization is separately incorporated but tax-exempt through a group ruling (religious institutions), the applicant should supply the 501(c)(3) letter of the parent organization and documentation that is part of the group.
- The applying organization (not the fiscal sponsor) must have an operating budget between $250,000 and $5 million in the prior year (e.g., 2024), if the organization serves youth only.
- If the applying organization serves youth and other populations, its operating budget must be less than $20 million and its youth services budget must be between $250,000 and $5 million.
- Have audited financial statements or certified financial statements, ideally 2024 or 2023, from the applying organization or from the fiscal sponsor if the organization is operating under fiscal sponsorship.
- Have a 990 for the applying organization (or explain your exemption). Or, if operating under fiscal sponsorship, the fiscal sponsor much have a 990.
Ineligibility
The YSIG program does not support:
- General operations
- Planning, needs assessment, and evaluation proposals
- Program improvement activities not focused on changes at the point-of-service,
such as board development or financial system updates - Capital fund projects, scholarships, endowments, lobbying, real estate purchases, or awards to individuals
- Expansions or additions to programming, including changes that simply increase the number of slots in a program or result in new programming
- Public and private schools
- Organizations that are based outside the five boroughs of New York City.
For more information, visit WTGF.
