2021 RSVP Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (United States)

Deadline: 01-Sep-20

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is releasing the Fiscal Year 2021 Senior Corps RSVP Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, CNCS has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.

For decades, Senior Corps RSVP has engaged older Americans in volunteer service that meets national and community needs and delivers lasting, meaningful results. With this NOFO, CNCS intends to fund successful applicants that increase the impact of volunteers age 55 and older who provide volunteer service in response to local community needs.

Funding Information

• CNCS expects to make awards in the range of $50,000 to $518,000.

Funding Priorities

• Programs that actively engage in removing structural racial equities, advancing racial equality, and increasing opportunity in order to achieve sustainable change in communities.
• In addition, work plans are encouraged to include efforts to help local communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants may propose programming in any focus area to aid communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Focus Areas

CNCS has the following Focus Areas:

• Disaster Services – COVID 19 recovery
  • Grants will help individuals and communities prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate disasters and increase community resiliency. Activities may include assisting in disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and/or mitigation
• Economic Opportunity
  • Grants will provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to the improved economic well-being and security of individuals who are economically disadvantaged. Activities may include providing housing-related assistance for economically disadvantaged people, including homeless individuals.
• Education
  • Grants will provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to improved educational outcomes for people who are economically disadvantaged, especially children, and for children with special and/or exceptional needs. Activities may include providing support and/or facilitating access to services and resources that contribute to school readiness; providing the support that improves academic performance; and providing the support that improves academic engagement
• Environmental Stewardship
  • Grants will provide services that contribute to increased energy and water efficiency, renewable energy use, or improved at-risk ecosystems. Grant activities will support increasing citizen behavioral change leading to increased efficiency, renewable energy use, and ecosystem improvements particularly for economically disadvantaged households and communities. Activities may include improving at-risk acres (land and/or water) in national, state, city or county parks, or other public or tribal lands.
• Healthy Futures
  • Grants will assist with meeting health needs within communities including access to care, aging in place, and childhood obesity. Activities may include supporting the ability of adults who are homebound or older adults and individuals with disabilities, to live independently and assisting individuals with access to food resources.
• Veterans and Military Families
  • Grants will positively impact the quality of life of veterans and improve military family strength.
    Activities may include supporting veterans, veterans’ family members, military service members,
    and military service members’ families.

Eligibility Criteria

The following non-federal entities are eligible to apply:

• Indian tribes
• Institutions of higher education
• Local governments
• Nonprofit organizations
• States

For more information, visit https://nationalservice.gov/rsvpcompetition