Funding Opportunities

2021 AmeriCorps Funding Priorities

CNCS seeks to prioritize the investment of national service resources in the following areas:

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 FinancialInstitutions 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.

2021 - Funding Announcement, Mandatory Supplemental Information, and Application Instructions

2024 - Funding Announcement, Mandatory Supplemental Information, and Application Instructions

2025 - Funding Announcement, Mandatory Supplemental Information, and Application Instructions

2021 - Performance Measure Instructions

2024 - Performance Measure Instructions

Applicant Operational and Financial Management Survey (OFMS)

All new and recompeting applicants regardless of funding level are required to submit an Operational and Financial Management Survey (OFMS).
Some grantees may have completed a Financial Management Survey (FMS) in the past. The Operational and Financial Management Survey (OFMS) is a different document, and the old FMS will not be accepted in place of the OFMS.
The form needs to be completed fully, a response for every question. If there are additional comments needed to explain certain responses, please utilize the ‘preparer’s comments’ section.
The OFMS must be submitted as Word Document. All other formats, including PDF, will not be accepted.
If possible, please limit the amount of times and locations the document is saved prior to submitting to CNCS. We’ve found that the macros used to extract data from the form can be corrupted by saving the file in different formats or locations.

Clarification

The AmeriCorps State and National Grants Competition will include a Clarification period. During the Clarification period, applicants may be asked for clarifying information regarding issues of significance, and may be asked for corrections or changes to elements of the application and budget. The AmeriCorps State and National Grants process also includes a Resolution period for successful applicants. During the Resolution period, which will occur after applicants have been notified of the results of the competition, successful applicants will make corrections or changes to elements of the application, including Performance Measures, and provide additional requested information. Although not all applications will receive requests for clarification, it is imperative that staff involved in the development and submission of the application be available to respond to clarification, if requested.

Dates for these periods appear below. Single-state subapplicants should be aware that Commission Clarification periods may be shorter than those below.

Clarification for New/Recompete Applicants: Coming Soon

Technical Assistance Information

Technical Assistance Calls & Webinars

2021 AmeriCorps State and National Technical Assistance Calls & Webinars:

2021 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Developing Performance Measures
Pre-recorded webinar and live Q&A session about how to create high-quality performance measures that align with an applicant's program design and meet AmeriCorps State and National requirements. Applicable to new, recompeting and continuation applicants. Prior to attending the Q&A session, participants must watch the pre-recorded webinar and review the 2021 Performance Measure Instructions.
Pre-Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/nnci_TuPHEE

Live Q&A Date & Time: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 2:30pm ET
Conference Call Number: 888-282-1676 Passcode: 7847231

2021 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Demonstrating Evidence
Pre-recorded webinar and live Q&A session about how to support a proposed program design with relevant high-quality data, studies, and/or evaluation reports. Applicable to new and recompeting applicants. Prior to attending the Q&A session, participants must watch the pre-recorded webinar and review the relevant sections of the 2021 Notice of Funding Opportunity (Evidence section) and 2021 Mandatory Supplemental Information (Evidence Tier definitions).
Pre-Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/SHn-CFvThaM

Live Q&A Date & Time: Thursday, November 12, 2020 at 1pm ET
Conference Call Number: 888-282-1676 Passcode: 7847231

2021 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Budget Development
In this webinar, the Office of Grant Administration provides guidance about how to create a compliant grant budget for an AmeriCorps program. Participants are encouraged to review the Budget Instructions section of the Application Instructions, as well as resources available on the AmeriCorps Knowledge Network Financial and Grants Management webpage.
Live Webinar Zoom Link: https://americorps.zoomgov.com/j/1602802993
Live Webinar Date & Time: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 2pm ET
Live Webinar Call Number: 669-254-5252 Passcode: 160 280 2993

2021 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Writing an Evaluation Plan
Pre-recorded webinar that provides an overview of how to develop an evaluation plan that meets AmeriCorps’ requirements for recompeting applicants. Key components of the plan are reviewed, and examples of best practices and common challenges are presented. AmeriCorps’ evaluation technical assistance provider, NORC, facilitates the webinar and describes the resources available to support evaluation plan development and implementation.
Pre-Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/jnsX9unZi50

Pre-Recorded Webinar Resources: Best Practices in Writing an Evaluation Plan Handout, PowerPoint

2021 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Evaluation Reporting
Pre-recorded webinar that explains what information to include in an evaluation report and how to organize and present it effectively. Applicable to recompeting applicants who are required to submit evaluation reports with their grant applications. AmeriCorps’ evaluation technical assistance provider, NORC, facilitates the webinar and describes the resources available to support evaluation reporting.
Pre-Recorded Webinar: https://youtu.be/Kz7mbkW_Spg

Pre-Recorded Webinar Resources: PowerPoint
Please note: The Best Practices in Writing an Evaluation Plan and Best Practices in Evaluation Reporting webinars do not have a live Q&A session. If you have any questions after reviewing the pre-recorded webinars, please review the materials on the Evaluation TA Portal or the email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This page will be updated with additional calls and webinars as they are scheduled.

Resources