Corporation for National and Community Services (CNCS): 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 interventions 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.

The 2015 AmeriCorps funding priorities include:

• Disaster services: Improving community resiliency through disaster preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation.
• Economic opportunity: Increasing economic opportunities for communities, specifically opportunity youth, both as the population served and as AmeriCorps members. Opportunity youth are economically disadvantaged individuals age 16-24 who are disconnected from school or work for at least six months prior to service.
• Education: Improving student academic performance including STEM.
• Environment: 21st Century Service Corps (CSC), a national effort to put Americans and veterans to work protecting, restoring, and enhancing America’s outdoors. The 21st CSC, built on the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps, will complete projects on public and tribal lands and waters across the nation. Goals are: 1) Put Americans to work, providing service, training, education, and employment opportunities; 2) Preserve, protect, and enhancing public and tribal lands and waters as well as natural, cultural, and historical resources and measures; 3) Build America’s future by developing a generation of skills workers, educated and active citizens, future leaders, and stewards of natural and cultural resources, communities, and the nation. To qualify, applicants must demonstrate that they are a 21st CSC member organizations. Applications for membership are reviewed quarterly.
• Veterans and military families: Positively impacting the quality of life of veterans and improving military family strength.
• Governor and Mayor initiatives: CNCS will accept one application per state in each year’s new and recompete competition. The application must address a challenge the Governor wishes to solve in his or her state. A Governor must apply with one Mayor and a minimum of two nonprofits.
• Programming that supports My Brother’s Keeper (MBK): An initiative, launched by President Obama, to address opportunity gaps faced by young men of color. MBK encourages communities (cities, rural municipalities, and tribal nations) to implement a cradle-to-college career strategy for improving life outcomes for young people. MBK is focused on: 1) Getting a healthy start and entering school ready to learn; 2) Reading at grade level by third grade; 3) Graduating from high school ready for college and career; 4) Successfully entering the workforce; and 5) Keeping kids on track and giving them second chances.
• Multi-focused intermediaries that demonstrate impact and primarily serve communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure.

Amount: The level of funding will be subject to the availability of annual appropriations, which have not yet been made. Grant awards have two components: operating funds and AmeriCorps member positions. Grant award amounts vary, both in the level of operating funds and in the type and amount of AmeriCorps member positions. Grants generally cover a three-year period.

Eligibility: Public or private nonprofit organizations, including faith- based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties); labor organizations; partnerships and consortia; and Indian Tribes. Receiving funding previously from CNCS within the past five years is a prerequisite to applying.

Link: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/nmccv/GrantsRFPs

Notes: Applicants must submit a Letter of Acknowledgement by December 3, 2014 to be eligible. A pre-proposal conference will also be held on December 3, 2013.

The New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism (NMCCV) is the Governor-designated National Service Commission in New Mexico and administers the AmeriCorps State grant program. Organizations that are proposing a project that operates in New Mexico must apply via this Request for Proposal to NMCCV to be considered by CNCS. NMCCV will then put forward the projects it selected to CNCS to compete for funding. Applicants proposing multi-state projects may apply directly to CNCS.

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