Late Monday July 12, Governor Newsom and the California legislature reached agreement on the state’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget, with some important details and additional appropriations still to be worked out. Our preliminary analysis of key budget bills (AB 128 and SB 129) and other bills shows that nonprofits will be receiving or will be eligible for nearly $4 billion in new, one-time funding!

But before I give you more details, here are some important caveats:

The budget doesn’t break out funding to nonprofits so we’ve had to search for it. The budget bills are hundreds of pages long and often hard to follow. Some new funding programs are tucked into more general budget line-items, so we’ve had to seek them out as if they were camouflaged. Several budget bills have passed but not yet been signed by the Governor, while others are still being negotiated. So, please see this preliminary estimate as an undercount and subject to change. Lastly, the information here is focused on new one-time funds. The state budget also includes significant additions to existing programs—doubling the funding for senior nutrition, for example.

We welcome clarification and info from any of you who are tracking particular budget efforts closely!

Based on our analysis so far, new grant programs that will be administered by state agencies account for nearly 90% of the state funding we have identified as available to nonprofits this fiscal year. The remainder includes designated funding going directly or indirectly to specific nonprofits. Our analysis does not include new one-time funding going directly to local government programs, like schools and public health agencies. It also does not include SB 156 to expand access to broadband, a budget bill that CalNonprofits supported and that is sitting on the Governor’s desk for signature as I write this message.

*We assigned each amount to an issue area based on the program or nonprofit’s name; this is not an exact science, so we may not have gotten it exactly right.

**The housing/homelessness amount here includes only one new state grants program and one allocation going directly to a housing program. The Governor and legislature have agreed to spend $12 billion on housing and homeless programs, including nearly $4 billion in new one-time expenditures that will flow primarily through counties. Many nonprofits partner with local governments to deliver housing and homelessness programs and will receive state funding for those efforts at the local level. Here is more information about budget allocations to address homelessness.

***There are likely to be more environment-related grants once climate, drought, and water-resilience packages are finalized; those packages, and several others, are still being negotiated.

We are grateful to the Governor and legislature for these one-time funds and for the new and expanded relief programs that will help Californians struggling as a result of the pandemic. With this early look into the budget (and more budget bills signed yesterday!), we are cautiously optimistic, but recognize that successful distribution of funds and program implementation will be key. And adding to our caution is the fact that we are already hearing that next year will be a tighter year financially!

This level of one-time funding for nonprofits reflects the hard work and effective advocacy of our nonprofit community and our allies and partners. There is still more advocacy to do as budget negotiations continue and as funded programs get implemented. For example, CalNonprofits will continue to advocate for improvements to the CA Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program application process for nonprofits so that more of us receive those grants.

Many of these opportunities will end up on the amazing state grants portal that CalNonprofits advocated for. Keep in mind, though, that it will likely be months before these funding opportunities appear on the portal, and agencies typically keep about 5% to administer grant programs.

And please don’t forget that the federal American Rescue Plan Act brought billions of dollars directly to local governments, so it is critical that we advocate with our mayors, city councils, and boards of supervisors to make sure nonprofits are included when those federal funds are distributed locally.