Equip ten East New York nonprofits with development capacity they cannot afford to staff alone.
A drawdown commitment, administered by LDCENY, that installs durable grant-development capacity inside participating organizations — helping staff identify qualified funding, protect deadlines, prepare drafts for review, and retain institutional knowledge.
The capacity problem
East New York’s nonprofits do not miss funding because their programs lack merit. They miss it because development work competes with service delivery for the same limited staff time.
The executive director who runs programs, manages staff, and answers to the board is often also the person expected to research grants, protect deadlines, prepare applications, and handle reporting. Qualified opportunities lapse before anyone has the hours to act on them.
A nonprofit can have a strong program, a trusted board, and real standing in its community — and still miss a deadline because its executive director is writing the proposal at 11:30 at night, after everything else.
The initiative
The East New York Capacity Initiative brings GABI — a managed grant-development function built by Matchup Labs — to as many as ten East New York nonprofits. LDCENY selects, vets, stewards, and safeguards the program on the community’s behalf; Matchup Labs implements each installation under contract to LDCENY. Every external submission requires a staff member’s approval.
GABI works alongside an organization’s existing staff — helping them identify qualified opportunities, rank them, protect deadlines, prepare drafts for review, track the pipeline, and produce board- and funder-ready reporting — without adding a full development payroll line. It does not replace mission staff, make funding decisions, or submit anything without human approval.
What each organization receives
- A funding eligibility profile for the organization
- A ranked opportunity pipeline — by fit, dollars, and deadline
- A managed grant calendar with advance notice for every tracked deadline
- Draft applications prepared for a staff member’s approval
- Board- and funder-ready reporting
Each installation — approximately $25,000 — covers discovery, funding-profile development, configuration, opportunity setup, the deadline calendar, implementation, staff onboarding, governance controls, and acceptance testing.
- 1Discovery & intake
- 2Funding profile
- 3Pipeline & calendar
- 4First drafts for review
- 5Reporting & governance
- 6Handoff & acceptance
Funding & safeguards
Under the proposed structure, Harmony Housing would establish a drawdown pool of up to $250,000. The initiative begins with an initial cohort of three organizations; after their installation and a joint review, LDCENY may continue drawing for up to seven more — as many as ten in total. Approximately $25,000 is drawn only after each organization is selected, implemented, and accepted against documented standards. An installation counts as accepted only when its funding profile, opportunity pipeline, grant calendar, drafting-and-review process, staff onboarding, and data-export test are complete and the organization signs off.
This gives smaller organizations access to development capacity they often cannot justify hiring for on their own. For comparison, a full-time development hire can represent an $80,000–$120,000 annual payroll commitment, before benefits and overhead.
A drawdown commitment of up to $250,000 to install grant-development capacity in as many as ten East New York nonprofits — beginning with an initial cohort of three, expanding after a joint implementation review.
This is a governed, reversible way to strengthen organizations HHAD can stand behind. No organization is billed in advance — each installation is selected, completed, reviewed, and accepted before any funds are drawn.
Program recipient & administrator
Local Development Corporation of East New York (LDCENY)Bill Wilkins · Umbrella to EBBID, ENYHDC & East Brooklyn HDC
Implementation partner · under contract
Developer of GABI