NYNP blog post 5-13-09

Creative funding for training projects

Tonight's ASTDNY monthly chapter event featured a panel of representatives from five college-based continuing education programs and one government agency that provides funding for training, the NYC Small Business Services Division.

The top two takeaways for nonprofit trainers from tonight's panel:
1. Our local community colleges are cost-effective resources for providing training
2. Government funding may be available to subsidize the cost of new training projects

Local community colleges as training resources
CUNY colleges such as BMCC, LaGuardia, and Baruch provide continuing education classes, graduate certificates, and customized training to tens of thousands of workers every year. It can be a cost-effective option to provide professional development to your staff through a community college rather than spending the money to develop training internally from scratch, often for only a handful of people.

Government funding to subsidize training
NYC's Small Business Services Division has a competitive application for grants of up to 0,000 to subsidize 60% of training costs for new training projects.

The reason the city offers these grants is to positively impact NYC's economy by developing our workforce, strengthening our businesses, and attracting local customers for local businesses to keep money within the city. Therefore, it can be difficult for nonprofits to make it past the eligibility screening for these grants, which are highly competitive (out of 150-200 applications, 8-10 projects are funded), because nonprofits are generally not focused on activities that bring new revenue into NYC. However, if your nonprofit is eligible, the grant can be significant.

Other application evaluation criteria include a clear business need with expected profitability gains, likelihood that the training will meet that need effectively, impact on low-income New Yorkers, trainee wage increases that will be attributable to the training, measurable proof that the training will upgrade the trainees' transferrable skills, and a reasonable budget with a strong cost-benefit analysis. Grants are not available for mandated training that organizations must provide, nor are they available for training specific to particular organizations, such as employee orientation.

If you are interested in learning more, the application is available at www.nyc.gov/training

The panel
The panel was introduced by Lance Tukell, ASTDNY's President-Elect, and moderated by James O'Hern, Corporate Director of Learning, HESS Corporation.

Panelists included:
- Tom Abogabal, Director of Client Services, eCornell
- Patrick Dail, Director, Continuing Education & Training, Borough of Manhattan Community College
- Ann Kelly, Director of Corporate Relations, Harvard Business Publishing
- Stephanie Robinson, Director of Corporate Relations, Stevens Institute of Technology
- Timothy Rucinski, Director, Center for Corporate Education, LaGuardia Community College
- Sara Schlossberg, Director of Training, Small Business Services Division, New York City

(See my prior blog post "The Value of Joining a Professional Training Association" for more information about ASTDNY.)