Manage Your Grant

 

This section includes important information about managing a grant award after receipt of a grant award letter:

  1. Who to Contact at NYSCA For Help
  2. Contract Steps After Receipt of Award
  3. Updating Your Organizational Contacts
  4. Reports
  5. Payments
  6. Crediting NYSCA
  7. Vendor Responsibility
  8. Audit Requests

 

1. Who to Contact at NYSCA For Help:

The NYSCA help desk is always available for technical questions about managing your grant. We can help with questions about signing your contract, reporting, logging into the NYSCA.org reporting portal, and payments.  Contact [email protected] at any time with a question.

NYSCA program staff can be contacted at any time for questions about the progress of your grant activity and for any program-related requests here.

For technical questions on accessing the Grants Gateway portal to sign a contract:

  • The Grants Gateway Team provides live help desk support weekdays 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at (518) 474-5595 or [email protected].
  • An after-hours support desk is available weekdays 4:00 pm to 8:00 am for account lockouts at (800) 820-1890 or [email protected]

2. Contract Steps After Receipt Of Award:
After notification of your annual award, you will receive instructions by email about reviewing and signing your organization’s NYS contract for the grant. The contract is a binding legal agreement that requires your organization to carry out certain activities or provide services, paid for, in part, with funding received from the NYSCA.  All awards are contingent upon the execution of, and compliance with the contract.  Other than capital contracts, the activity period for each contract term is one year.  Multi-year award letters may indicate that your organization has been awarded a contract for more than one annual period.  For further information on previously-awarded multi-year grants with an FY2022 grant period see https://arts.ny.gov/FAQforApplicants#4

Contracts that are at or below $10,000:

  • Contract with standard terms and conditions that are attached to the grant award. 
  • Deemed executed once your organization has accepted the award on the NYSCA.org portal. 

Contracts that are above $10,000:

  • Contract with standard terms and conditions set out in the Grants Gateway system.
  •  Workplan and grant use budget attached to the Grants Gateway system specific to your organization’s award.
  • Deemed executed once your organization has reviewed and electronically signed in the Grants Gateway. 
  • NYSCA also asks your organization to accept the award on the NYSCA.org portal but such acceptance does not create an executed contract.
  • In most cases, NYSCA will complete all grant-specific sections of the contract, and ask you to review and sign a contract.  To review how to sign the contract:  http://www.nysca.org/downloads/files/NYSCA_Contract_Signature_Instructions.pdf
  • For certain types of grants, NYSCA will email you and ask you to complete certain contract sections in the Grants Gateway, and send back to NYSCA to review.  For information on completing contract sections, see, the  Step-By-Step Guide.
  • View Step-By-Step Guide to learn more.

Please make sure to promptly work to execute your contract prior to the contract start date and be on the alert for notifications and communications from NYSCA regarding your contract.

You should download a full version of your executed Grants Gateway contract for financial and administrative record-keeping. To find a full version of your Grants Gateway contract:

  1. Log in as a Delegated Admin or Contract Signatory on Grants Gateway 
  2. Find the Contract Main Menu of the specific project.
  3. Download a full PDF of your contract from the Forms Menu under “Contract Preview” (includes signatures, terms, funding breakdown, and full workplan). 

3. Updating Your Organizational Contacts:

NYSCA understands that organizational contacts change during the grant period. 

Follow this checklist for a change in contacts:
 

  • Log onto NYSCA.org and update contacts under Org Info. Contact [email protected] for login assistance.
  • Log onto Grants Gateway and update contacts. Contact Grants Gateway for assistance (See contact info in section 1 above).
  • Log into your nysca.smartsimple.com account, click on your initial in the upper right corner of the window, and select MANAGE/PROFILE. If any of your information needs to be updated, click on the EDIT button in the upper left corner of the window, update the information, and press SAVE.

We are also always available to help orient a new contact at your organization on managing existing grants.  Reach out to [email protected] or contact the applicable Program staff.

4. Reports:

Final Reports: All grantees submit a Final Report due sixty days after the end of the contract year.

Interim Reports:  Grantees with an executed contract in an amount of $50,000 or more in a single year or $50,000 or more in the aggregate for a multi-year contract, must also submit Three-Month and Six-Month Interim Reports. The Three-Month Report is due three months after the start of the contract term and the Six-Month Report is due six months after the start of the contract term.

All reports are submitted on the NYSCA.org portal. Grantees can check the portal for report due dates.

The Interim and Final Reports require the following:

  • A financial report:
    • Actual use of grant funds from NYSCA.
    • Final Report Only:  Actual income and expense of entire funded project including income from other sources (Optional for FY2021 and FY2022 grantees)
  • A narrative report:
    • Actual accomplishments of the project.
    • Significant organizational news (Optional).
    • Name and contract of submitting person.
  • Links to or upload of project-related material (optional).
  • Must be consistent with application and contract workplan and budget.
  • Interim reports for contracts that are over $50,000 constitute a claim for payment of the next applicable payment.
  • Period to Report On: Final Reports: The contract year; Three-Month Reports: The first three months of the contract year; Six-Month Report: The first six months of the contract year.

NYSCA will send email notifications regarding upcoming reports to the primary contact listed on nysca.org. 

NYSCA is providing contract flexibilities such as activity change requests and reporting extensions for FY2020 and FY2021 grantees facing cancellations of their events or programs due to COVID-19. Please read more about these options in the FAQ for current grantees.

Note: Capital grant reports are submitted in a different manner than as outlined above; please follow award instructions or contract Program staff for assistance.

5. Payments:

The initial grant payment is made on all contracts following  full execution of the contract. 

All grantee organizations that are awarded a contract in an amount of $50,000 or more in a single year, or $50,000 or more in the aggregate for a multi-year contract, generally receive 25% of their annual contract amount upon the later of the full execution of the contract and the start of the contract term, 55% of the annual contract amount after approval of the Three-Month Interim Report and the remaining 20% after approval of the Six-Month Interim Report. 

Grantees awarded less than $50,000 either in a single year or in the aggregate, are paid in full upon the later of the full execution of the contract (or award acceptance for grants $10,000 and under) and the start of the contract term. 

Check the status of your grant payment with New York State at any time by logging into the State Financial System (SFS) Vendor Self-Service Portal. The vendor portal allows you to search for invoices, purchase orders and payments (dating back to April 2012). The information provided will tell you:

  • who issued the payment and on what date,
  • what invoices are associated with the payment or purchase order,
  • whether a purchase order has been approved, and
  • when you can expect to be paid from an invoice.

To update vendor information and/or access, such as bank account information for electronic payments (ACH), address and contact information, click here.  We strongly recommend that all grantees sign up for electronic payments to ensure prompt and secure payments as electronic payments may become mandatory for all NYSCA grantees in the near future.   For help using the SFS Vendor Portal, click here. 

  • For additional questions regarding payments, please contact the Help Desk.

Note: Capital grant reports are submitted in a different manner than as outlined above; please review award instructions or contract Program staff for assistance. 

6. Crediting NYSCA:

Grantees are required to acknowledge funding from New York State. It is essential that the public is informed that public funds are used to support arts programs and services available to New York State residents, students and visitors. Therefore it is stipulated in the Cultural Services Contract that grantees must credit the Council in materials offered to the public including press releases, advertisements and programs. Failure to comply with crediting requirements may jeopardize future funding from the Council

Required crediting language:

For grantees of FY 2023 Regrowth and Capacity or Support for Organizations, the FY2023 period of a multi-year General Operating Support award or:

  • [ORGANIZATION’S PROGRAMS ARE] made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
  • The acknowledgement of NYSCA support is required for all public programs and services occurring within New York State.

For all other grantees (including FY2023 Support for Artists, Partnerships, Special Opportunities or a FY2023 period of a multi-year award other than General Operating Support):

  • [NAME OF PROGRAM/PUBLICATION/SERVICE] is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.  
  • The acknowledgement of NYSCA support is required on all materials related to the specific funded activities.

For organizations wishing to incorporate NYSCA's logo in their print or online materials, the logo is available in Green, Black and White. Each zip folder contains .EPS, .TIFF and .PNG format of the logo. Black and green logos are also provided in .PDF and .JPG formats. The logo may not be substituted for the required crediting language but may be used in addition to the required language.

The New York State standard terms and conditions for grant services also contain broad obligations to obtain NYSCA approval on publicity generally.

Please contact [email protected] about any proposed press releases about the NYSCA award, including NYSCA approval and for available materials such as release templates. 

For most grants under $50,000, NYSCA will provide, upon an email request, a confirmation that the grantee does not need to obtain NYSCA approval for each iteration of publicity, other than press releases specifically about the NSYCA award and conditioned upon grantee compliance with the crediting provision on an ongoing basis.  Please request by email to [email protected] and attach a sample of the crediting material. 

7. Vendor Responsibility  
State procurement laws require that state contracting entities award contracts only to responsible vendors. Additionally, the State Comptroller must be satisfied that the submitting business entity is responsible before approving a contract award under Section 112 of the State Finance Law. Section 163 (9)(f) of the SFL requires that prior to making an award of a contract, each contracting entity shall make a determination of responsibility of the proposed contractor.

As a result, once a state contracting entity, in accordance with the applicable procurement statute, has determined which business entity(ies) should be awarded a contract, the contracting entity must affirmatively determine that such business entity(ies) is responsible before it can award the contract to such business entity(ies) and execute any contract(s). Furthermore, the State Comptroller will not approve a contract unless they concur that the business entity is responsible.

NYSCA fully reviews any and all information available which includes but is not limited to on-line presence, public records, past performance of State contracts, responsiveness, and any other information we, as the contractor may request in order to make a responsibility determination. NYSCA expects an applicant [vendor] to disclose any information or documentation relevant to the scope of the review, the contract and disclose this on the Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire as necessary.
Whether a business entity is "responsible" is a question of fact to be determined on a case-by-case basis. Based upon existing legal precedents, responsibility determinations can and should involve a review of the following four major categories:

  1. Does the business entity possess the integrity to perform the contract? Factors to be considered include criminal indictments, criminal convictions, civil fines and injunctions imposed by government entities, anti-trust investigations, ethical violations, tax delinquencies, debarment or suspension by a government entity, prior determinations of integrity-related non-responsibility, etc.
  2. Has the business entity performed at acceptable levels on other government contracts? Factors to be considered include reports of less than satisfactory performance, early contract termination for cause, contract abandonment, court determinations of breach of contract, etc.
  3. Is the business entity legally capable of performing the contract? Factors to be considered include authority to do business in New York State, licensing (e.g. with the Education Department or Department of State), debarment by the State Labor Department due to a prevailing wage violation, etc.
  4. Is the business entity financially and organizationally capable of performing the contract? Factors to be considered include assets, liabilities, recent bankruptcies, equipment, facilities, personnel resources and expertise, availability inconsideration of other business commitments, existence of appropriate accounting and auditing procedures for control of property and funds, etc.

Updating and certifying the online questionnaire An online questionnaire is considered “current” if it has been certified within six months of the agency-defined due date for the questionnaire. However, even where there is a current certified online questionnaire, it is the vendor’s responsibility to ensure that the questionnaire reflects any material changes that have occurred since it last certified the questionnaire.  NYSCA (or the State Comptroller’s Office) may require updates at other times, such as when information has become known about a vendor that raises a concern.

To update or enroll in the New York State VendRep System, see the VendRep System Instructions available at http://www.osc.state.ny.us/vendrep/index.htm

8. Audit Inquiry Requests:

NYSCA is no longer responding to audit inquiry requests to confirm the terms and payments of grant contracts. Information that may be helpful to  your auditor is made available by New York State through the Grants Gateway portal contracts module, the SFS Vendor Portal and on the “Search NYSCA Grants” feature of the NYSCA website.  Auditors should only request that your organization contact NYSCA  for information after specifically reviewing these public materials and identifying any differences between the organizational records and that of New York State.  We respectfully ask your auditor not to send routine confirmation requests to us.