Connecticut's Nonprofit Grant Program Reopens With $19.5M, Due January 5. It's 45% Smaller Than Round 8, and Fewer Than Half of Applicants Won Last Time.

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Governor Ned Lamont opened the ninth round of Connecticut's Nonprofit Grant Program (NGP): $19.5 million in state capital funding for nonprofit health and human service providers. Applications are due January 5, 2027. The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) expects to announce awards in spring 2027.

The program is popular, so the reopening is welcome. The size of the round is the bigger story. Round 8 awarded $35.5 million. Round 9 is about 45% smaller, and in Round 8 fewer than half of applicants were funded. Expect a crowded field competing for a much smaller pool.

This is a guide to the program's history, who qualifies, what the money buys, and how to put together an application in the ten weeks before the deadline, a period that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

The round at a glance

What the money buys

NGP is a capital program. It does not fund operations or direct services. The governor's release lists these eligible uses:

• Renovations, additions and new construction
• Health and safety improvements, including ADA compliance
• Energy conservation and efficiency upgrades
• Information technology infrastructure and systems
• Technology that promotes client independence
• Vehicles needed for service delivery
• Property acquisition

In practice, the program covers group-home roof replacements, sprinkler and fire-alarm upgrades, accessible bathrooms, HVAC replacement, electronic health record migrations, wheelchair-accessible vans, and purchases of buildings that providers have rented for years. "We want them focusing their time and resources delivering services," Lamont said in the release, and that describes the purpose: capital costs that state service contracts don't cover and providers can't fund from thin operating margins.

Who qualifies, and who doesn't

Eligibility is narrower than the program name suggests. Being a Connecticut nonprofit isn't enough. Applicants must be tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations that receive state funding, including Medicaid, to provide direct health or human services to clients of state agencies.

That generally includes providers under contract with or billing the Department of Developmental Services, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Children and Families, Department of Social Services, Department of Correction (community programs), the Judicial Branch's Court Support Services Division, and similar agencies.

It generally excludes arts and culture groups, environmental organizations, most foundations, and nonprofits whose funding is entirely private or federal-direct. Check the Round 9 materials on CTsource for the exact definitions. Past rounds' guidelines specified which funding relationships counted, and a provider with a small state contract should confirm it qualifies before spending weeks on an application.

Nine rounds, and the trend

NGP started in 2013. According to OPM's program history, the rounds have looked like this:

(OPM's history page doesn't label every round clearly. The groupings above follow its chronology.)

Including Round 9, the state has made more than $185 million available. Rounds 1 through 8 awarded about $166 million across more than 700 capital projects.

The table shows three things applicants should keep in mind.

Awards have grown larger and fewer. The early rounds spread $20 million across 140 to 156 grants, roughly $130,000 to $140,000 each. Round 8 spread $35.5 million across 98 grants, about $362,000 each, with a top award of $2 million. If Round 9 averages the same as Round 8, $19.5 million funds only about 50 to 55 projects. That is our estimate; OPM has not given a target count.

Rounds are irregular. NGP depends on bond allocations, not a standing appropriation. Round 7 awards went out in January 2019, and Round 8 didn't open until August 2023, a gap of more than four years. Nothing guarantees a Round 10 on any schedule. If your capital need is urgent, this round may be the only option for some time.

The pool is smaller than promised. According to reporting by Connecticut Intel, the governor's office said in April 2024 that $50 million would be available for the next round. Round 9 is $19.5 million. The State Bond Commission approved $15 million on May 29, and the announcement doesn't say where the rest comes from. The CT Community Nonprofit Alliance had requested $25 million in bonding. Its CEO said nonprofits' buying power "remains 30 percent behind" where it was 20 years ago.

How competitive will it be?

In Round 8, about 210 organizations applied and 94 were funded, according to Connecticut Intel. OPM's own history lists 98 awards, and some organizations may have received more than one. Either way, the success rate was under 50%, with $35.5 million available.

If Round 9 draws the same applicant pool, which is plausible given years of deferred maintenance and higher construction costs, about half the money means the success rate could fall to around 25%. That's a rough estimate, but it should affect how you plan:

• Ask for a project, not a wish list. A focused, fully scoped request for a defined need, such as a life-safety system, an ADA retrofit, or an energy upgrade with documented savings, is easier to fund at partial levels than a multi-building plan.
• Expect partial awards. With more applicants than money, reviewers may fund part of a request. Structure your budget into separable components so a partial award still completes something.
• Lead with health, safety and compliance. Fire code, ADA, and environmental hazards in client-occupied buildings are the hardest needs for any reviewer to pass over. If your project has a code-compliance element, say so plainly and document it with inspection reports or citations.

Building a strong application

OPM's Round 9 scoring criteria are in the CTsource solicitation, and you should write to that document. Based on the program's design and past rounds, the strongest applications tend to show:

1. A direct link to state clients. Show which state agency's clients use the facility or asset, how many, and what happens to service if the need goes unmet. The program exists to protect state-funded service capacity, so tie the project to it.
2. Contractor quotes, not estimates. Get written quotes or an architect's opinion of probable cost. Since 2023, escalation has made many capital budgets inaccurate within months, so include a contingency and explain it.
3. Site control. For renovations and additions, show you own the building or have a lease long enough to justify the investment, plus landlord consent. For acquisitions, show a purchase agreement or letter of intent and an appraisal. State capital grants for real property often come with use restrictions or recapture terms. Read the Round 9 special conditions before committing.
4. Readiness. OPM reimburses costs, and no grant-funded work may begin before a signed contract. Work started before then is generally not reimbursable. If you have to start a project in early 2027, before awards, you may lose eligibility for those costs. Plan the sequence carefully.
5. Cash flow for reimbursement. On a reimbursement basis, you pay contractors first and wait for the state. Show the board-approved line of credit or reserves that will cover that gap. A provider that can't float a $300,000 HVAC job for 60 to 90 days has a weak application no matter how urgent the need.

Who should act now

IDD and behavioral health residential providers with aging group homes. Roofs, boilers, sprinklers and accessibility upgrades in licensed residential settings are the program's core use.

Community health and substance use treatment providers with outdated clinical IT. Eligible uses include IT infrastructure and systems, so EHR replacements, network security and telehealth infrastructure qualify if properly scoped as capital.

Providers paying market rent on long-term program sites. Property acquisition is eligible. If you've rented the same building for a decade and the landlord wants to sell, NGP is one of the few public sources that can help a human service nonprofit buy it.

Transportation-dependent programs. Day programs and supported employment providers whose accessible vans are near the end of their life can apply for vehicles.

Connecticut has other capital and resilience programs open this fall. Providers that are also critical facilities should look at DEEP's re-released Energy Resilience Construction Grants, due December 1, which may pair with an NGP energy project. Separately, the state's Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds security hardening and runs on its own cycle.

A ten-week plan

• This week: Register in CTsource if you haven't, and download the Round 9 solicitation and any special conditions. Confirm your organization meets the state-funding eligibility test.
• By November 20: Choose one primary project. Get contractor quotes or an architect's estimate, and collect inspection reports, code citations, or energy audits that document the need.
• By December 11: Get board approval for the application and for reimbursement cash flow. Collect site-control documents. Draft the narrative linking the asset to state-agency clients by number.
• By December 22: Finish the full application and budget with separable components. Have someone outside the project team read it.
• December 28 to January 4: Submit early. January 5 is the first Monday after the holidays, and any portal problem that day leaves no time to recover.

Round 9 is smaller than providers hoped, but it may be the only state capital money for this sector until the next bond allocation, which could be years away. If you have a defined capital need and want help turning quotes, inspection reports and service data into a competitive narrative before January 5, Granted can help you draft it.