IBO finds CDF grantees are small, underserved-focused, and government-reliant

IBO used application and award data from the fiscal year 2025 grant cycle to understand characteristics of CDF grantees, how large they are,

how reliant they are on government funding, which communities they serve, where they're based, and where they plan CDF programs.

IBO found that the CDF funds many small nonprofits.

Half of grantees had budgets under half a million dollars and two or fewer full-time employees.

Two-thirds of grantees serve the historically underserved communities discussed in Create NYC.

Specifically, these are grantees whose mission's name and or whose proposed CDF projects intentionally serve people of color, people with disabilities, and people whose primary language is not English.

Grantees serving people of color and or people whose primary language is not English had smaller budgets on average than grantees that did not indicate serving these communities.

IBO also found that the smaller the grantee was, the more reliant they tended to be on government funding, particularly from city sources.

The smallest grantees, with budgets under $100,000, received half of their revenue from the government, whereas the largest CDF grantees, with budgets of $3 million or more, received around 10% of their funding.

from government.

City funds, largely from the CDF, were the largest source of government funding for grantees.

Substantial city support for small grantees also means that changes at the city level can be especially impactful for these grantees, many of which also serve underserved communities.

Small grantees may also be more susceptible to affordability concerns and may struggle to navigate government processes with limited staff capacity.

This speaks to the action plan objectives to address the affordability crisis and strengthen the connections between the cultural sector and government.