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New York State Health Foundation

Annual Giving
$10.4M
Grant Range
$50K - $0.4M
Decision Time
3mo

New York State Health Foundation (d/b/a New York Health Foundation)

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $10,374,508 (2023)
  • Number of Grants: 167 awards (2023)
  • Decision Time: 12-15 weeks after full application deadline
  • Grant Range: $50,000 - $400,000 (Special Projects Fund)
  • Geographic Focus: New York State (statewide)
  • Total Grantmaking Since Inception: $200 million (as of December 2024)

Contact Details

Website: https://nyhealthfoundation.org

Phone: (212) 246-4411 or (212) 664-7656

Email:

  • Programmatic questions: [email protected]
  • Technical questions: [email protected]

Location: New York, NY

Overview

The New York State Health Foundation, operating as New York Health Foundation (NYHealth), is a private statewide foundation founded in 2006 with a broad mission to improve the health of all New Yorkers, especially people of color and others who have been historically marginalized. Since inception, NYHealth has awarded $200 million in grants (milestone reached December 2024) and leveraged more than $959 million from public and private sources since 2009. The Foundation's assets have grown higher than at inception despite having spent $267 million on grants and operations. Led by President and CEO David Sandman, Ph.D., since 2016, NYHealth concentrates most of its grantmaking in three strategic priority areas while maintaining flexibility through its Special Projects Fund to address emerging health challenges across New York State.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

1. Primary Care Grants Strategic focus on expanding access to primary care and advancing racial health equity. Recent cohorts have totaled nearly $1.1 million to organizations across the State. Examples include support for Community Health Workers, Long COVID patient care initiatives, and advocacy campaigns for increased primary care investments.

2. Healthy Food, Healthy Lives Grants To connect New Yorkers with the food they need to thrive, NYHealth employs four strategies:

  • Support healthy, equitable food systems planning and capacity-building
  • Maximize nutrition benefit programs (SNAP, WIC)
  • Support healthier, culturally responsive food purchasing in public institutions (schools, senior centers, Head Start programs)
  • Promote Food Is Medicine interventions (medically tailored meals, healthy food prescription programs)

3. Veterans' Health Grants Focus on improving health outcomes for veterans through peer-to-peer support services, mental health access, suicide prevention, and culturally competent care. Recent grants have supported expansion of services statewide.

4. Special Projects Fund: $50,000 - $400,000 One-time, nonrenewable funding opportunities for projects addressing important health care and public health issues outside the three priority areas. Typical grants are in the $200,000 range or below. Approximately 5-15 organizations funded annually. Applications accepted through periodic RFPs (one call per year for 2026 cycle).

Priority Areas

  • Racial health equity and reducing health disparities
  • Community-informed solutions to public health issues
  • Projects with potential for replication, scaling, and/or implications for policy and systems change
  • Coordinated interventions to improve efficiency or effectiveness of health systems
  • Quality of care improvements with sustained, measurable outcomes
  • Time-sensitive and emerging health challenges affecting significant numbers of New Yorkers

What They Don't Fund

Explicit Exclusions:

  • Projects within their three strategic priority areas (must apply through those specific RFPs, not Special Projects Fund)
  • Health education and awareness campaigns
  • Medical, biomedical, or clinical research (though pilots of evidence-based interventions are welcome)
  • General operating support or core support (maximum 15% administrative overhead allowed)
  • Renewable or ongoing funding (Special Projects Fund grants are one-time only)

Geographic Requirement:

  • All applicants must be New York State-based

Governance and Leadership

President and CEO: David Sandman, Ph.D., has led NYHealth since 2016 after serving as Senior Vice President since 2008. Dr. Sandman previously served as Executive Director of the Berger Commission and as Managing Director of Manatt Health Solutions. He holds a B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from Haverford College, an M.P.A., and Ph.D. from NYU's Wagner School of Public Service.

Leadership Philosophy: Dr. Sandman emphasizes NYHealth's commitment to being "a private, statewide foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers, especially people of color and others who have been historically marginalized."

Board of Directors: NYHealth operates under a Board of Directors that makes final funding decisions. Executive Assistant to the President and CEO serves as liaison to the Board.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

Two-Stage Application Process:

Stage 1 - Letter of Inquiry (LOI):

  • Submitted online through the NYHealth website application portal
  • Foundation staff review all LOIs
  • Staff decide which applicants receive invitations to submit full proposals
  • Early submission provides no advantage

Stage 2 - Full Proposal (by invitation only):

  • Invited applicants submit detailed grant applications online
  • Proposals evaluated by a panel of reviewers from across New York State with diverse expertise
  • Reviewers evaluate using criteria specified in each RFP
  • Highest-ranked proposals forwarded to Board of Directors for final funding decision

Application Method: Online submission only (rolling or fixed deadlines depending on program)

Current Opportunities: Check https://nyhealthfoundation.org/apply-for-funding/ for open RFPs

Eligible Organizations

Eligibility varies by program:

  • Primary Care: Nonprofits, government agencies, for-profit organizations, academic organizations
  • Healthy Food, Healthy Lives: Nonprofit organizations, tribal governments (fiscal sponsors accepted for non-501(c)(3) applicants)
  • Special Projects Fund: Wide range of organizations including nonprofits, community-based organizations, health departments
  • All applicants must be New York State-based

Decision Timeline

  • Notification: Approximately 12-15 weeks (3-3.75 months) after full application deadline
  • Project Duration: Typically 12-36 months
  • Leverage: Foundation grantees have historically leveraged nearly $189 million from public and private sources

Success Rates

  • Special Projects Fund: Approximately 5-15 organizations funded annually (2024); 8-12 organizations for 2025 cycle
  • 167 total awards made in 2023 across all programs
  • Specific application-to-award ratios not publicly disclosed

Reapplication Policy

Unsuccessful applicants may reapply with important caveats:

  • Submitting the exact same project has "a high likelihood that it will be declined again"
  • Foundation strongly recommends contacting program staff (specialprojectsfund@nyhealthfoundation.org) to discuss the previous application and get feedback before reapplying
  • Applicants should make meaningful changes to their project proposal rather than resubmitting identical applications
  • No waiting period specified, but applicants should seek guidance on eligibility for the next funding cycle

Application Success Factors

What Makes Applications Competitive

The Foundation explicitly states: "The most competitive applications are requests for projects and initiatives that have strong potential for replication, scaling, and/or implications for policy and systems change."

Critical Success Elements

1. Sustainability Planning (Rated "Very Important")

  • Special Projects Fund grants are one-time, nonrenewable opportunities
  • "It is critical to explain your organization's plan to continue the project after the grant period concludes"
  • Important: "It is not sufficient to state that you would seek additional grants from other funders"
  • Must demonstrate a concrete business plan for sustaining the project

2. Evaluation Plans

  • Most successful proposals include evaluation plans to assess achievement of stated goals and measure impact
  • "There is no exact blueprint for a program evaluation; different applicants will have various ways of measuring the success and outcomes"
  • Must demonstrate measurable impact

3. Strong Preference for Projects That:

  • Identify gaps in health systems or care delivery disproportionately affecting marginalized populations
  • Respond to time-sensitive and emerging challenges
  • Support and strengthen community-informed solutions
  • Coordinate interventions that improve efficiency or effectiveness of local or statewide health systems
  • Improve quality of care in sustained and measurable ways

Strategic Guidance

  • Early Contact Encouraged: "The Foundation encourages reaching out to Foundation staff early in the process should you have programmatic questions"
  • Partnership Approach: NYHealth "seeks to partner with a wide range of organizations implementing innovative projects that can improve health at the local, regional, or statewide levels"
  • Timing: Early submission does not provide an advantage, so focus on proposal quality over speed

Recent Grant Examples Demonstrate Success

  • Primary Care: Support for Community Health Workers, Long COVID care initiatives, CHC expansion ($1.6 million to 16 CHCs)
  • Veterans' Health: Expansion of peer-to-peer services, suicide prevention programs, Food Is Medicine for veterans
  • Healthy Food: Black-led food cooperatives, SNAP incentive programs, school nutrition policy implementation

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Focus on scale and impact: The Foundation prioritizes projects with potential for replication, scaling, or policy implications over one-off local initiatives
  • Sustainability is non-negotiable: Develop a concrete business plan for continuing the project post-grant; stating you'll seek other grants is insufficient
  • Equity lens essential: Explicitly address how your project serves marginalized populations and advances racial health equity
  • Measurable outcomes required: Include robust evaluation plans that demonstrate how you'll measure success and impact
  • Build relationships early: Contact program staff with questions before applying to ensure alignment and get guidance
  • Learn from rejection: If declined, seek feedback from staff and make meaningful changes before reapplying—don't submit the same proposal
  • Look beyond Special Projects Fund: If your work aligns with Primary Care, Healthy Food/Healthy Lives, or Veterans' Health, apply through those dedicated RFPs for better fit

References

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