American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The Act (ARRA)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law on February 17, 2009. Also known as the economic stimulus package, ARRA has the potential to positively impact the nonprofit sector and the people they serve.  Overall, ARRA focuses on job creation, tax cuts and incentives, and financial relief for families, businesses and individuals. The legislation also incorporates funding to inject cash into struggling state budgets, which is very important to nonprofits as they continue to deal with state funding delays.   Finally, programs included in the stimulus package that help nonprofit clients get back on their feet and address their financial situation will have an indirect effect on the functioning of nonprofits who are suffering under the strain for increased services.

Bill text, updates and tracking information is available at www.recovery.gov.

Economic Stimulus Funds to Maine
The State of Maine has put together resources to help you understand the economic stimulus funds coming to Maine. All areas of this website are useful and informative. Here are a few that might be more relevant to nonprofits:

• The Home Page - Recent news on the right and an overview of the programs at the bottom
• Frequently Asked Questions - Clean and easy to read
• Agencies - Links to the four state agencies that are currently tasked with administering funds

National Council of Nonprofits' Special Reports on Economic Stimulus & Recovery
Our national partner has published several valuable reports for nonprofits interested in ARRA. These reports cover topics from federal grant opportunities and tips on acquiring grants, to proposed changes affecting nonprofits in the President's 2010 budget. These reports can be downloaded for free from http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/stimulus.

Federal Grant Opportunities
The federal government maintains a central clearinghouse for many of the grant opportunities at Grants.gov. Follow this link for a listing of grant opportunities now available through the ARRA.