As of 5PM on January 9, 2024, Grants Gateway was retired from service. All prequalification and grant making activities previously conducted in Grants Gateway have moved to the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS). Please see #4 in FAQ For Current Grantees on the steps to take to ensure continuity in your grant making activities. FY2023 Reporting will continue in NYSCA.org.
This section includes important information about managing a grant award after receipt of a grant award letter:
- Who to Contact at NYSCA For Help
- Contract Steps After Receipt of Award
- Updating Your Organizational Contacts
- Reports
- Payments
- Crediting NYSCA
- Vendor Responsibility
- Third-Party 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 Statewide Financial System (SFS) portal to sign a contract:
- The SFS Team provides live help desk support weekdays 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at [email protected] or 518-457-7717 / 855-233-8363 (toll-free)..
2. Contract Steps After Receipt of Award:
- To find a full version of your SFS contract, follow the instructions in the SFS Grantee User Manual.
- Multi-year award letters may indicate that your organization has been awarded a contract for more than one annual period.
Please note: Any representative responsible for signing an organization’s NYSCA contract must verify their name is added to their SFS profile. Please follow this tutorial to Add a Grantee Contract Approver’s Name to their Profile in SFS or refer to pages 18-21 of the SFS Grantee User Manual.
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 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.
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 Application Portal.
Contracts that are above $10,000:
- Contract with standard terms and conditions set out in SFS.
- Workplan and grant use budget attached to SFS specific to your organization’s award.
- Deemed executed once your organization has reviewed and electronically signed in SFS.
- NYSCA also asks your organization to accept the award on the NYSCA Application Portal in addition to electronically signing and executing the contract in SFS.
- In most cases, NYSCA will complete all grant-specific sections of the contract before asking you to review and sign. To review how to electronically sign the contract, please see relevant pages in the grantee handbook.
For certain types of grants, NYSCA will email you and ask you to complete certain contract sections in SFS and send the contract back to NYSCA for review.
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 SFS contract for financial and administrative record-keeping. To find a full version of your SFS contract, follow the instructions in the SFS Grantee User Manual.
NYSCA reserves the right to hold contract processing to organizations with overdue NYSCA final reports.
3. Updating Your Organizational Contacts:
You must update your organizational contacts in both the NYSCA Application Portal and in SFS.
NYSCA Application Portal (SmartSimple)
To add a new contact:
- Register the new contact by creating a user account in the NYSCA Application Portal by clicking Register Here.
- Validate the new contact by having an existing contact log onto the NYSCA Application Portal and navigate to Organization Profile > Contacts section where you can Validate the new user.
To change the Primary contact:
- Follow the steps above if the new Primary contact does not have a user account.
- Log onto the NYSCA Application Portal.
- Click on the ORGANIZATION PROFILE link.
- Click on the Primary Contact field to open a dropdown list of all active Organization Contacts.
- Select the new primary contact from the dropdown list.
- Press the SAVE button on the bottom of the screen.
If there are no current users at your organization or you need additional technical assistance, please contact [email protected].
SFS
Update your organization’s contacts in the SFS Vendor Portal by following the instructions in the SFS Grantee User Manual. For assistance, contact the SFS Team (see section 1 for contact information).
For questions regarding the content of your application or award, please contact the applicable Program staff.
Submitting a timely interim and/or a final report on the usage of grant funds is a requirement of a NYSCA grant.
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.
As of May 1, 2024, all new NYSCA reports for FY24 and later are to be submitted in SmartSimple. To submit an FY23 or earlier report, please continue to visit the nysca.org portal. Grantees can check each respective portal for report due dates.
The Final Reports require the following:
- A financial report:
- Actual use of grant funds from NYSCA.
- For final reports in NYSCA.org 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.
- Name and contract of submitting person.
- 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 the NYSCA Application Portal.
NYSCA provided 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.
Note: Capital grant reports are submitted in a different manner than as outlined above; please follow award instructions or contact Capital Program staff for assistance.
NYSCA considers the SFS prequalification application to be a valuable component of grant compliance materials. NYSCA reserves the right to require grantees to update their prequalification application by resubmitting their annual financial reports and filings.
NYSCA reserves the right to request supporting documentation for all NYSCA grants. NYSCA also reserves the right to demand refunds if accurate reports are not submitted showing use of funds. Failure to submit final reports evidencing compliant use of grant funds may result in the organization’s ineligibility to apply for future grants.
The initial grant payment is made on all contracts after State processing, which concludes approximately 4-6 weeks after NYSCA fully executes the contract.
- Please note: Organizations must be prequalified in the Statewide Financial System at the time of each payment. If you need guidance on prequalification, refer to the SFS Grantee User Manual or watch this video tutorial.
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 conclusion of State processing 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 conclusion of State processing (or award acceptance for grants $10,000 and under) and the start of the contract term.
The Statewide Financial System automatically emails Purchase Order information to grantees during processing. If you receive such an email, please disregard and know there is no action needed from you at that time.
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.
To look up payments (dating back to April 2012):
- From My Homepage, navigate to: Invoice and Payment Inquiry > View Payments or From the NavBar navigate to: Menu > Review Payment Information > View Payments
- Enter any search criteria (leave blank to see all) and click the Search button
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 instructions on how to sign up for electronic payments, click here.
Note: Capital grant reports are submitted in a different manner than as outlined above; please review award instructions or contract Program staff for assistance.
NYSCA reserves the right to hold grant payments to organizations with overdue NYSCA Final Reports.
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 all materials offered to the public including websites, press releases, advertisements and programs. Failure to comply with crediting requirements may jeopardize future funding from the Council
Required crediting language:
For grantees of Regrowth and Capacity or Support for Organizations, the 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 Support for Artists, Regrants and Services (formerly Partnerships), Targeted Opportunities, Capital Projects or a 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 here. 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Enroll in the VendRep System | Office of the New York State Comptroller
8. Third Party 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 SFS Vendor Portal and on the “Search NYSCA Grants” feature of the NYSCA website under "About." 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.