Cooperative Sustainability Fund

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The Cooperative Sustainability Fund supports worker cooperatives to enhance integral aspects of their business utilizing professional services. The fund can cover up to $2000 of services. This grant gives worker cooperatives the opportunity to identify area(s) of needed support and outcomes they are looking to achieve to make their business sustainable.

What You Need to Know

  • MARKETING STRATEGY & BRANDING

    If your cooperative needs to hire a marketing consultant or graphic designer to help develop a marketing plan or revamp your image.

    FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

    If your cooperative needs to hire a finance consultant to build the financial literacy of worker-owners, implement payroll protocols, and develop open book management systems.

    WEB DEVELOPMENT

    If your cooperative needs to create a website for your business

    STRATEGIC PLANNING

    If your cooperative needs a business consultant to develop a business plan, build worker-owner consciousness or to receive direct startup support.

    HUMAN RESOURCES

    If your cooperative needs to hire a consultant to lead a business retreat to update employee manuals, employee benefits and/or any other HR needs.

    CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

    If your cooperative needs to hire an independent mediator to help facilitate a conflict resolution process.

    LEADERSHIP TRAINING

    If your cooperative needs to hire a consultant or trainer to train members internally on a specific and pressing need.

    MENTORSHIP

    Alternatively, your cooperative can recruit a mentor to train worker-owners on how to best address the marketing, financial, and other identified needs of your business.

    OTHER PROJECTS

    If your cooperative has any other project that requires hiring a consultant or professional services provider can with a clearly defined scope.

    • Any worker cooperative located in NYC. Cooperatives may be a pre-start up, startup or an operating worker-owned business.

    • To apply, cooperatives must have an identified vendor as well as a description & invoice of their prospective services.

    • Cooperatives must have a follow-up plan and create room in their budgets for these needs in future years if this will be a recurring need or if services exceed $2000.

    • Members of NYC NOWC

    • Have not received the fund before

    • Black and Indigenous-led

    • Trans and LGBQ-led

    • Women-led

    • Immigrant led

  • We encourage the applicant to have the vendor identified. If a vendor has not been identified, NYC NOWC will work with the applicant to determine an adequate vendor. As a worker cooperative network, we believe in Principle 6: Cooperation among cooperatives, and we will work closely with applicants to identify a vendor from the worker cooperative community.

    The applicant has full control over who is hired throughout the process.

    • Applicants fill out the application. Feel free to reach out if you have questions/need support to fill out this application

    • NYC NoWC Staff reviews the application

    • NYCNoWC staff schedule a conversation with participants

    • If approved, Applicants fill out a Scope of Service Form

    • Applicants negotiate the terms with participants. NYCNoWC will do our best to make referrals where we can, but applicants have control over their own hiring.

    • NYCNoWC hires/pays the consultant directly, with approved contract

    • Applicants fill out a report-back form no later than 1 month after the contract. We want to hear how it went! If your consultant is good, we will recommend it to others. It will also be helpful to know if they were not a good fit and concerns that came up during the process.

    • NYCNoWC staff and applicants will have a follow-up call about how it went.

  • Applications are currently closed.

    Grants for the 2026 fiscal year (July 2025-June 2026) have already been selected.

    Stay tuned in spring 2027 for updates on the new application launch.