When does the application period close?
The application period closes Friday, August 26, 2022, at 11:59 p.m.
When will we receive a response about our application?
We anticipate that awards will be announced at the end of September 2022.
What is the total amount of funds for the 2022 ARPA Nonprofit sustainability grant program?
The total amount available for this funding opportunity is $6 million.
What are the potential grant amounts available? How are the award amounts determined?
The grant amount varies by the size of the nonprofit, per the following:
How are the number of full-time employees calculated?
There are two components to determining full-time employee equivalents. First, a full-time equivalent, or FTE, is one full-time (i.e., 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year) position. For example, an organization with two employees, one who works 40 hours per week and one who works 20 hours per week, would be considered to have 1.5 FTE. Second, the total number of FTE for an organization is multiplied by the percentage of direct service employees who work primarily with Fairfax County residents. For example, an organization with 100 FTE, but who has 40 out of 80 direct service staff working in Fairfax County, would be considered to have 50 FTE for the purposes of this grant.
Will there be a lottery?
If funding is available we will award grants to everyone who is eligible. If awards for all eligible applicants exceed available funding, priority goes first to nonprofits that serve vulnerable communities. If there is remaining funding after that, there will be a lottery system for all remaining applicants.
Is this a one-time grant program, or will it be renewed?
At this point, we have $6 million for this one-time grant program. After the grant awards are given, we will analyze how many applicants we were able to satisfy, how our lottery worked and how many people we were able to serve. That information will be provided to county leadership for further funding opportunities.
What are the eligible expenses?
Expenses must have occurred between March 15, 2020, and March 31, 2023. Grant funds can be used to:
- Mitigate financial hardship (e.g., declines in revenues or impacts of periods of business closure). Eligible expenses include:
- Supporting payroll and benefits costs
- Costs to retain employees
- Mortgage
- Rent
- Utilities
- Volunteer Recruitment
- Equipment (e.g., computers, hardware, software, cloud data storage)
- Other business-critical operating costs as determined by the County
- Implement COVID-19 prevention or mitigation tactics, such as:
- Physical changes to enable social distance
- Enhanced cleaning efforts
- Barriers or partitions
Can our organization size be adjusted to account for the fact that most of our work is done by volunteers (i.e., can we add volunteers into the FTE calculation)?
No, the FTE calculation is for paid staff, full-time equivalents.
What documentation will be needed?
You may be asked to provide your most recently filed IRS 990 form. Additional documentation may be requested to demonstrate eligibility requirements are met. As part of your grant agreement, you will be asked to provide documentation to verify your expenses are eligible. Documentation will vary based on the specific expense but could include receipts, payroll reports, bank statements, etc.
Is this grant different from earlier grants that we received?
Yes, the 2022 ARPA Nonprofit Sustainability Grant is different than the ARPA Active and Thriving Community Grant (2021) and the CARES Nonprofit Sustainability Grant (2019) that were offered previously. If you received previous funding from these programs, you can still apply for the 2022 ARPA Nonprofit Sustainability Grant.
We have two program locations in Fairfax County. Are both eligible for funding or just one?
If the two locations file taxes separately under different Employer Identification Numbers (EIN), then you can submit an application for each location. If they share the same EIN, they will both be included on one application. Only one grant award is allowable per EIN.
Is the grant on a first come, first served basis?
All applications submitted by the deadline, August 26, 2022, will be considered. There is no advantage to submitting an application earlier in the process.
Do we need to submit evidence to show how the grant money is used?
As part of the process, programs must submit documentation for expenses incurred between March 15, 2020, and March 31, 2023.
Will this be a one-time payment or paid over a period of time?
This grant will be a one-time payment.
Will we have to return the money at a certain point? Is this a loan?
This is a grant award and does not have to be repaid. It is not a loan.
Will you be mailing the grant application?
The application is only available electronically. If you are having trouble accessing it, please email NCSARPA@fairfaxcounty.gov.
What time period must expenses be made in for this grant?
Expenses occurred between March 15, 2020, and March 31, 2023, are eligible. Funding cannot be used for the same expenses that have been covered under another federal, local or state COVID-19 program and/or contract (including but not limited to ARPA Food Access Program, ARPA Active and Thriving Community Grants, CCFP, PPP, EIDL, RISE, RebuildVA, ERA, Cares Act Nonprofit Sustainability Grant).
I received a COVID-19-related grant previously. Can I apply for this one?
Yes. But funding cannot be used for the same expenses that have been covered under another federal, local or state COVID-19 program and/or contract (including but not limited to ARPA Food Access Program, ARPA Active and Thriving Community Grants, CCFP PPP, EIDL, RISE, RebuildVA, ERA, Cares Act Nonprofit Sustainability Grant). For example, if you used another grant to pay rent for July 2020, you CANNOT use this grant to also pay rent for July 2020. But you could use it to pay rent for other eligible months.
I opened my business after March 2020. Why am I not eligible for this program?
The ARPA Fiscal Recovery Funds specify that the grants are only allowable for businesses that were open and operating prior to March 2020.
Are County Contributory Fund organizations and other organizations that receive county funding eligible to apply?
Yes, if they meet eligibility criteria. Organizations cannot use grant resources to supplant or otherwise replace other Fairfax County grant or contract funding.
Can we still apply, even if we don’t have any employees?
Organizations with no paid employees are eligible as long as they meet all grant requirements and eligibility criteria.
What is the CCFP?
CCFP stands for Consolidated Community Funding Pool. You do not have to be a CCFP grant recipient to apply for this grant. However, you must provide at least one of the services in the categories we fund in the CCFP program. These are listed on the grant application.
If I used a different grant I received for rent, then can I use this grant for rent again?
If you are awarded the 2022 ARPA Nonprofit Sustainability Grant, you cannot use the funding for the same expenses that have been covered under another federal, local or state COVID-19 program and/or contract (including but not limited to ARPA Food Access Program, ARPA Active and Thriving Community Grant, CCFP, PPP, EIDL, RISE, ERA, RebuildVA, Nonprofit Sustainability Grant). For example, if you used another grant to pay rent for July 2020, you cannot use this grant to also pay rent for July 2020. But you could use it to pay rent for other eligible months.
What is a Unique Entity Identification Number and how do I get one?
Organizations participating in the 2022 ARPA Nonprofit Sustainability program will be receiving federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and are required to complete a registration process with the federal System of Award Management (SAM) and obtain a Unique Entity ID (UEI). This can be completed by going to the https://sam.gov website and is a requirement in order to receive the federal funds. Please make sure that you use the “.gov” site linked in this information, as there are other sites out there that offer to assist with registration and will charge a fee; registration directly through the government site is free. When your organization has successfully obtained a UEI, the County will be able to search for your organization to confirm registration. We must be able to verify registration before any funds can be issued. Please note the following important pieces of information:
- If you are receiving or have received federal dollars from the County through other ARPA programs and have already obtained a UEI, you do not need to register again – we will use the same registration for all ARPA funding being distributed by the County to your organization.
- Some organizations that have received federal funds in the past may have and/or may be familiar with DUNS numbers, which is different from the Unique Entity ID that is required. The federal government stopped using DUNS numbers to identify entities as of 4/4/2022, so the new UEI numbers are required. Please reference the https://sam.gov website for more information on the transition to UEI numbers.
- As you will see on the sam.gov website, there is the option to only obtain a UEI or fully register. Only obtaining a UEI does not indicate registration. The website has all of the relevant information about obtaining a UEI and completing the full registration process. Full registration is required. If you have only obtained a UEI number in the past, you must complete the full registration process.
- The UEI number is different from an organization’s Tax ID number as well as the discontinued DUNS number.
- Please make your registration public so that the County is able to search for your registration in the system. Registration verification is necessary before any funds can be disbursed to your organization.
- The registration process is a federal government process that the County does not control. Registration is a requirement of the federal funding program and the County must report on each entity that receives ARPA funding through the County according to their UEI number. Any technical issues experienced during the registration process should be addressed with the SAM.gov help desk, as the County does not have the ability to address any issues with the system or communicate with the help desk on behalf of other organizations. The County encourages those organizations that will be applying for this program to begin the registration process early to avoid any delay in issuance of funds that may be awarded.
Why does the application state that we may need to provide documentation of impact from COVID-19?
Because organizations that are social safety net nonprofits serving Fairfax County residents are considered an impacted class in this grant opportunity, we are not requesting documentation of how your organization has been impacted during the application process. However in the event of an audit, we may need to follow up with you at a later date to obtain this information.
Where can I get more information?
Updates will be provided on the main 2022 Nonprofit Sustainability Grant Program page. You can also contact NCSARPA@fairfaxcounty.gov with any questions.
If I have questions, who should I contact?
Please contact NCSARPA@fairfaxcounty.gov with any questions.
