2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE COMPANION ANIMAL CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND

RFP0388

Statewide Financial System Event ID # CACF8

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS for the 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE
COMPANION ANIMAL CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND

Competitive Grants to Municipal and Incorporated Not-for-Profit
Pounds, Shelters Humane Societies, and Rescue Facilities
RFP Posted

INTRODUCTION:

Overview:

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Department) invites eligible
municipal and incorporated not-for-profit pounds, shelters, humane societies, and rescue
facilities, excluding rescues operating from a residence, to submit proposals for funding
consideration from the Companion Animal Capital Projects Fund (Program). Grant funds
are available for the costs of capital projects including, but not limited to, construction,
renovation, rehabilitation, installation, acquisition or expansion of buildings, equipment or
facilities necessary for the secure containment, health, and adequate care of sheltered
dogs and cats.

Funding for this RFP is available pursuant to an appropriation in the 2025-2026 state
fiscal year Capital Projects budget.

Questions and Answers:

All questions must be submitted in writing and must be received by 4:00 p.m., December
1, 2025. Please submit all written questions to:

Name: Ana Colon, LVT
Address: 10B Airline Drive, Albany, NY 12235
Email: Ana.Colon@agriculture.ny.gov

A list of questions, answers to those questions, as well as any changes, additions, or
deletions to the RFP will be posted in the Funding Opportunities section of the
Department’s website at https://agriculture.ny.gov/funding-opportunities. The Department
will post Questions and Answers as soon as possible, but in no event later than December
5, 2025. All questions and answers shall be incorporated in the RFP as a formal
addendum.

Eligible Applicants:

Municipal and incorporated not-for-profit pounds, shelters, humane societies, and rescue
facilities, excluding rescues operating from a residence, are eligible applicants. Such
entities must be a pound or shelter for dogs established and maintained pursuant to
Section 114 of the New York Agriculture and Markets Law or registered with the
Department pursuant to Section 408 of the Agriculture and Markets Law. Please note,
entities that have been awarded funds during previous Companion Animal Capital
Projects funding opportunities are eligible to apply for an award under this RFP only if the
previously funded projects are complete at the time of application.

All not-for-profit applicants must be pre-qualified in the Statewide Financial System (SFS)
at the time the application is submitted for their application to be eligible for review. See
Section 3 of this RFP for information on how to register and prequalify in SFS.

Available Funding:

Funding in the amount of $10,000,000 will be available under this RFP. $1,000,000 will
be reserved for projects in underserved municipalities or regions, for such pounds,
shelters, humane societies, or rescue facilities excluding rescues operating from a
residence, that are not operated by or under contract with one or more municipalities for
the provision of pound or shelter services but that are registered with the Department and
can demonstrate providing similar pound or shelter services.

Grants will be awarded in an amount not less than $20,000 and not more than $500,000.

The amounts awarded shall not exceed 90% of the total project cost.

Proposal Submission Requirements:

Proposals for funding under this RFP must be submitted online through the Statewide
Financial System (SFS) Vendor Portal. PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED through
the SFS Vendor Portal by 4:00 p.m. local time on January 30, 2026, to be considered
for funding. Applicants, and not computers or servers, are responsible for the timely
submission of proposals. Proposals received after the scheduled date and time will not
be accepted. Faxed, mailed or emailed proposals will not be accepted.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:

Eligible Projects:

Only capital projects necessary for the secure containment, health and adequate care of
sheltered dogs and cats are eligible for funding. For purposes of this Program, a project
may be a distinct portion of a larger overall capital project. For example, if your
organization is building a new shelter; you may request funding for only a heating and
ventilation system, with the understanding that this is a portion of a larger capital project
that you are funding with other resources. In this instance, the total project cost for the
Program would be the cost of the heating and ventilation system.

Eligible Costs:

Eligible expenses include direct costs related to the:
• construction,
• renovation,
• rehabilitation,
• installation,
• acquisition, or
• expansion of buildings, equipment or facilities.

See Appendix 1 of this RFP for further guidance on eligible costs.

Match Requirements:

Applicants will need to provide a minimum of 10% of the total project costs. Matching
funds must be in the form of cash and applied to cost categories listed in Section 2.2.
Applicants must provide proof of matching funds at the time of application submission.
See Appendix 2 of this RFP for further guidance on the proper calculation of matching
funds.

Project Duration:

The project must have the capability of being completed and invoiced within three years
of the contract start date.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION - SFS:

Accessing the SFS Vendor Portal:

Interested applicants must be registered in SFS and have access to the Grants
Management System to apply for this grant. If you have access to login to the SFS Vendor
Portal and are interested in applying for this Grant Opportunity you can search for this
Grant Opportunity in SFS using the Event ID: CACF8 click the Log into SFS and Apply
for Grant button to access the SFS Vendor portal. If you do not have access to the SFS
Vendor Portal, but your organization is already established within the SFS Vendor portal,
an SFS Delegated Administrator has been authorized within your organization to provide
user login credentials, unlock accounts, or reset passwords. Please reach out to your
SFS Delegated Administrator directly.

SFS Registration:

If your organization is new to the SFS Vendor portal, does not have a login, and would
like to establish an account for the purposes of applying for this Grant Opportunity and
doing business with the State of New York please read the instructions found here:
https://grantsmanagement.ny.gov/register-your-organization-sfs .

NOTE: New York State Grants Management reserves 5-10 business days from the
receipt of complete materials to process a registration request. Due to the length of time
this process could take to complete, it is advised that new registrants send in their
registration form as soon as possible. Failure to register early enough may prevent
potential applicants from being able to complete a grant application on time.
Organizations are notified by email once registration is complete.

Pre-Qualification in SFS:

All not-for-profit organizations that intend to submit a proposal in response to this RFP
must be prequalified by the date and time applications are due. Your proposal will be
rejected and not considered for funding under this RFP if your organization is not
prequalified in SFS by the date and time applications are due.

To prequalify, a not-for-profit organization must first register with SFS and complete an
online Prequalification Application. This includes answering basic questions regarding the
organization and uploading key organizational documents.

Note: Once prequalified, it is the responsibility of the organization to maintain its
prequalification. Three essential financial documents of a not-for-profit organization – the
IRS990, Financial Statement, and Charities Bureau filing – expire on an annual basis. A
not-for-profit organization must upload current versions of these documents and submit
an updated prequalification application for review and approval each year to maintain its
prequalification status. Not-for-profit organizations are provided a full 10.5 months from
the end of their fiscal year to provide a current IRS990 or Financial Statement without the
interim requirement of uploading extension requests. For more information regarding the
prequalification process, please view the Prequalification Manual for Grantees.

Note: New York State reserves 5-10 business days from the receipt of complete
Prequalification Applications to conduct its review. If supplementary information or
updates are required, review times will be longer. Due to the length of time this process
could take to complete, it is advised that not-for-profit organizations prequalify as soon as
possible. Failure to successfully complete the prequalification process early enough may
result in a grant application being disqualified.

RFP Posted November 4, 2025
Questions Due December 1, 2025
Final Answers Posted December 5, 2025
Proposals Due January 30, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
Tentative Award Date March 3, 2026
Tentative Contract Start Date July 1, 2026