Manage Your NYSCA Capital Projects Grant

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).

This section includes important information about managing a Capital Projects grant award after receipt of a grant award letter.

1. Who to Contact at NYSCA For Help

Questions about contract or reporting requirements, changes in project scope, or other program-related items should be directed to the capital projects team at [email protected].

The NYSCA help desk is always available at [email protected] for technical questions about logging into the NYSCA.org and SmartSimple portals, updating contact information for your organization, and deadlines or other questions related to non-capital grants.

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. Role-Mapping in SFS

Before you can access the grant management functionalities in SFS, you must role map your organization’s users in the SFS portal, if you have not already done so.

Verify access to SFS by having your organization’s primary contract (SFS Vendor Delegated Admin) log into the SFS Vendor Portal
Add user access to Grants Management functionalities in SFS
- Navigate to: View Your Information > Maintain Users
- Select a user and click “Add a User Role”
- Click the checkbox(es) associated with the applicable role(s) for the user:
  - Prequalification Processor: to apply and review existing prequalification applications.
  - Grants Contract Approver: to review, approve, and sign grant contracts.
Make sure to update your organization’s grant profile information. From the homepage, navigate to the following tiles and verify your organization’s:
- Address: View Your Information > View Address Information
- Contact Information: View Your Information > View Contact Information
- Charities Registration No.: View Your Information > View Grants Information

Review the information and if changes are needed, initiate a Supplier Change Request.

3. Contract Steps After Receipt of Award

Please note: Any representative responsible for signing an organization’s NYSCA contract must verify their name is added to their SFS profile.

Add a Grant Contract Approver’s Name to your organization’s profile:

From the NavBar, navigate to: Menu > Maintain Supplier Information > Manage User Profiles
Find your Contract Approver’s User ID and enter the contract approver’s name in the Description field in this format: Last Name, First Name.
Click Save

You may refer to pages 18-21 of the SFS Grantee User Manual for more information.

After notification of your award, you may follow the instructions in the next sections to complete the documentation required for your contract. 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. The activity period for all capital contract terms is three years with an optional two-year extension. Grantees that complete their projects sooner may submit a final report to close their grants at any time before the contract term ends.

Contracts for grants of all sizes will be executed in the SFS portal. Capital grants of $50,000 and up require additional documentation that will be collected in the SmartSimple portal prior to executing the contract in SFS. Requirements differ depending on grant size, so please follow the instructions specific to your award amount in sections 4, 5, 6 and 7.

To find a full version of your SFS contract

Login to SFS
Open the “Grants Management” function
Enter ART01 in the Business Unit line; click Search
Click on your Capital Contract
This will take you to the Document Management screen
- Click the hyperlinked text "View Executed Documents."
This will take you to “Executed Documents History”
- Click ”View” to open a PDF of your contract.

For more information, follow the instructions on pages 122-127 of the SFS Grantee User Manual

4. Instructions for Capital Contracts of $25,000 or less

Contract with standard terms and conditions is set out in SFS.
Workplan and grant use budget attached to SFS are specific to your organization’s award.
Contract is 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.

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.

NYSCA reserves the right to hold contract processing to organizations with overdue NYSCA final reports.

5. Instructions for Capital Contracts of $50,000

Contract instructions for Capital Project grants of exactly $50,000 can be found HERE.

6. Instructions for Capital Contracts of $50,001-$99,999

Contract instructions for Capital Project grants of $50,001 - $99,999 can be found HERE.

7. Instructions for Capital Contracts of $100,000 and Above

Contract instructions for Capital Project grants of $100,000 and above can be found HERE.

8. Updating Your Organizational Contacts

You must keep your organizational contacts up-to-date in both the NYSCA Application Portal and in SFS to ensure receipt of important communication related to your grant.

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 on pages 13-18 of the SFS Grantee User Manual.

For questions regarding the content of your application or award, please contact [email protected]

9. Reports and Payments

Payment terms and reporting requirements for most* current capital grants are available at the links below:

Reporting instructions for Capital Grants under $100,000

Reporting Instructions for Capital Grants at $100,000 and above

*If you have a 2019 or 2020 Midsize Capital grant, the payment terms and reporting requirements can be found here:

Reporting Instructions for 2019 and 2020 Midsize Capital Grants

Organizations must be prequalified in the Statewide Financial System at the time of each payment in order to receive funds. If you need guidance on prequalification, refer to pages 24-60 in the SFS Grantee User Manual or watch this video tutorial.

Submitting Reports

We are currently developing a new module in the SmartSimple portal to accept Capital Projects reports, which we expect to be available in the coming weeks. New instructions will be posted here as soon as they are available.

If you are ready to submit a report before the new system launches, please contact [email protected] for temporary instructions on how to submit your report via email.

Surveys and Status Updates

Required Capital Projects reports are progress based, rather than time based. While there are no scheduled reporting deadlines beyond the final report due at the end of the contract term, we may periodically contact you to request information about the status of the project in the form of a short survey or email inquiry. We ask that all grantees please complete these requests promptly to keep the agency abreast of the progress of your project.

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.

NYSCA reserves the right to hold grant payments to organizations with overdue NYSCA Final Reports.

10. Crediting NYSCA:

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 materials offered to the public including press releases, advertisements and programs. Failure to comply with crediting requirements may jeopardize future funding from the Council.

Required crediting language:

[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 in Green, Black and White. Each zip folder contains .EPS, .TIFF and .PNG format of the logo. Black and green logos are also provided in .PDF and .JPG formats. 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.

Groundbreakings, Ribbon Cuttings, and Facility-Related Events

Please [email protected] and [email protected] to inform the agency of any groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, or other public events related to the capital project funded by NYSCA.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. Webinars and Office Hours for Capital Projects Grantees

Webinar: Completing Your NYSCA Capital Projects Contract

This webinar has been recorded. You may view it below:

Office Hours: Open Forum Q & A on Completing Your NYSCA Capital Projects Contract

Thursday, July 11, 3-4

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclduuvrjooGtxmc-q_i54mh8Fr8kkwYY9y

Monday, July 22, 11-noon

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscOmvrzkpG92Mpb0QdNjeQi-DZ3RMdWTu

Wednesday, August 7, 3-4pm

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsfu2hrzoiGtCSrrGfac3uZicI5GmdkQIk

Tuesday, August 20th, 10-11am

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdu6sqjguGtA-X15CGEBWg7q0hHUrrHU6

MWBE Webinar (for grants of $100,000 or more)

In this video, we'll walk you through what you need to understand about the Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) goals when completing the NYSCA Capital application, how to use the MWBE Directory, and how to complete the MWBE Checklist once you are awarded a Capital Grant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFMOA_15jgQ

Manage Your NYSCA Capital Projects Grant

Manage Your NYSCA Capital Projects Grant

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