According to Reuters.Com:
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed increasing bridge loans to nonprofits by 150 percent and expanding the city's revolving loan guarantee program to nonprofit borrowers. He also proposed that the New York City Returnable Grant Fund be increased to $20 million from $8 million for the next two fiscal years. The mayor also proposed increasing the amount of organizations the loans can be extended to and the conditions under which they would qualify.
The city has contracted with a group of lenders specializing in nonprofit lending and revolving lines of credit. The group includes Nonprofit Finance Fund, Citibank, Accion, Brooklyn Cooperative and Seedco. The city will continue with a pilot program in which separate nonprofit organizations will collectively purchase goods and services in order to preserve cash. The mayor said joint purchasing of information technology will begin for all nonprofits this summer and a plan for insurance purchasing will be in the place by the end of the year. The city will also speed the process for nonprofits to show they comply with the city's charity regulation and post all contract information online so organizations can easily check their status. Bloomberg will also assist nonprofits by teaming up with philanthropists Blair and Cheryl Cohen Effron and Gretchen and Jamie Rubin to create Greater NY, a program aimed at pairing business executives with nonprofit executive directors in two-year one-on-one partnerships.
So, a recipe to help preserve the NY City nonprofit sector -- loans, joint purchasing, improved contracting processes and "free" technical assistance -- ? Maybe. Certainly the lenders will help ensure the nonprofits have the potential to repay their loans or line of credit (this presumes there are sources to help repay and that the City budget for contracting remains steady). Joint purchasing can help save some overhead costs - especially with IT. I am not really sure what the business executives can accomplish through their partnerships but maybe they can be helpful (if they understand nonprofit management and governance).
Overal though, I give this effort a B+ and certainly an effort worth monitoring and maybe replicating throughout big-city America.