Corporation for National and Community Service: AmeriCorps State and National Grants
The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. AmeriCorps grants are awarded to organizations proposing to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions/practices to strengthen communities. An AmeriCorps member is an individual who engages in community service through an approved national service position. Members may receive a living allowance and other benefits while serving. Upon successful completion of their service, members earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award from the National Service Trust that members can use to pay for higher education expenses or apply to qualified student loans.
In the FY 2021 AmeriCorps competition, CNCS seeks to prioritize the investment of national service resources in:
- Efforts to help local communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants may propose programming in any CNCS focus area to aid communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Programs that actively engage in removing structural racial inequities, advancing racial equality, and increasing opportunity in order to achieve sustainable change in communities.
- Economic Opportunity – a program model that increases economic opportunities for communities by preparing people for the workforce.
- Education – see sixth bullet.
- Healthy Futures – a program model that reduces and/or prevents prescription drug and opioid abuse.
- Evidence-based interventions on the CNCS Evidence Exchange (https://www.nationalservice.gov/impact-our-nation/evidence-exchange) that are assessed as having Moderate or Strong evidence.
- Veterans and Military Families – a program model that positively impacts the quality of life of veterans and improves military family strength.
- Rural intermediaries – organizations that demonstrate measurable impact and primarily serve rural communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure.
- Faith-based organizations.
- Programs that reduce child poverty.
- Environmental stewardship.
- Economic Mobility Corps – a joint initiative with the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to place national service members at Certified Community Development Financial Institutions to enhance their capacity to provide financial literacy, financial planning, budgeting, saving, and other financial counseling activities in distressed and underserved areas.
The Maximum Costs per Member Service Year (MSY) are as follows:
- Cost reimbursement: $16,300 maximum/traditional
- Fixed amount: $16,300 maximum/full time
- Professional Corps fixed amount: $1,000
- Education Award Program (EAP): $800 or $1,000
The general practice is to award no more than 50 member positions (slots) to organizations receiving an AmeriCorps grant for the first time. New applicants are eligible to apply for cost reimbursement and Education Award Program (EAP) grants but are not eligible to apply for full-time fixed amount grants.
A first-time successful applicant is required to match at 24 percent for the first three-year funding period. Starting with year four, the match requirement gradually increases every year to 50 percent by year ten (see solicitation for a chart showing required share percentages for each year).
Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations; states; local governments; institutions of higher education; and Indian tribes. Organizations must apply to operate in more than one state.
Note: Organizations that propose to operate in only one state must apply through the Governor-appointed State or Territory Commissions. Each state and territory administers its own selection process and puts forward to CNCS the applicants it selects to compete for funding. State applicants must contact their State Commissions to learn about their state or territory processes and deadlines. The State Commission for New Mexico is the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism: https://www.dws.state.nm.us/nmccv/Funding-Opportunities/Funding-Overview
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