We Started a Non-Profit During a Pandemic
Making the decision to start a non profit organization during March, 2020 in the heart of NYC might sound a bit crazy. But within a few weeks span, we had seen countless small businesses pull down their gates, and post messages on Instagram saying “We will be back...when it is safe.” Other small business owners made the difficult decision to stay open, hopeful for federal guidance and assistance to arrive any day, but worried that they were putting the health and safety of their families and employees at risk. We knew we had to do something to help our beloved small businesses weather the storm.
Looking back at the last 8 months, it’s unbelievable what our city has gone through, but, despite it all, we’ve seen our Brooklyn community come together to support one another. We initially helped local business owners in any way we could; and we quickly recognized that small businesses needed help increasing their online presence. We created an Instagram account and a Facebook page, and began by collecting the Venmo and GoFundMe accounts of small businesses throughout Brooklyn, and encouraging direct donations to help these businesses survive. We even hung signs all across Brooklyn to draw attention to the businesses that really needed help. Within a few weeks, we had gathered a strong following on social media, and Business Improvement Districts and Neighborhood Associations were reaching out to us to support their neighborhood establishments. We received a lot of feedback from local businesses that our account was working and was driving donations to their page.
Not long after, we made the decision to formally incorporate as a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. We did not take this decision lightly, but we believed we could move more effectively in our efforts to help Brooklyn small businesses overcome the pandemic and its associated economic effects. This was in April of 2020, the month where the pandemic was hitting New York the hardest. By May, we were able to start collecting donations from our community - with a median donation of $50, and our most frequent donation being just $100 - we raised over $50,000 in our first month collecting donations. We have now more than doubled that number through a combination of grassroots donations and grants.
Every donation or grant we have received goes directly towards helping small business owners and their employees. We do not pay ourselves any type of salary for the work we do: every cent goes right back into our COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund, or, more recently, towards our fund for helping restaurants purchase outdoor heaters and plexi-glass in order to make dining work this winter. We realized that if businesses couldn’t afford heaters, they wouldn’t be able to make it through the winter months with indoor dining at only 25% capacity.
“We’re all struggling, you know, and in a couple of weeks it’s going to get cold, we won’t have this outdoor dining.”
Some of our recent grant recipients include Flatbush’s Sip unWine, Crystal Lake in Williamsburg, Borough Park’s Pure Life Movement Studio, The Hills Restaurant in East Flatbush, Brooklyn Height’s Seedlings Preschool, and Windsor Terrace’s Le Paddock. We have distributed funding to businesses who have been around 30+ years like The Bean Post Pub in South Brooklyn, and to businesses in their first or second year of operations like Brooklyn Brew Cafe in Bay Ridge. We have built relationships with hundreds of small businesses in neighborhoods from Park Slope to Cobble Hill to Crown Heights to Bed-Stuy to Bushwick, and we make an effort to reach out to a variety of small business owners and promote them on our social media.
We pride ourselves on assisting small business owners from all walks of life. Immigrant owned businesses like El Rinconcito Mix Restaurant in Crown Heights are beloved by their community, but may not have the same resources and opportunities as other businesses to receive government assistance. Many of our grant recipients have been small businesses owned and operated by racial minorities, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
In the next few months, we will be releasing a video we worked on this summer which highlights a few amazing small businesses in Brooklyn. Du Jour Bakery and Al-Maktoum Goods in Park Slope, Prospect Heights’ BCake NY, Ditmas Park’s Westwood Bar, Crown Heights’ El Rinconcito Mix, and Sip unWine in Flatbush are all featured in this short, poignant video about the day to day struggles and triumphs of operating a small business during a pandemic.
As it becomes clear that the pandemic will devastate NYC neighborhoods for years to come, we know our role in helping small businesses survive and recover is just beginning. We encourage you to make every effort to support small businesses in your neighborhood, and to get involved with local organizations working hard to help small businesses through this. None of us want to find out what our city looks like without small businesses.
