The Social Innovation Fund is Currently Accepting Applications

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has launched the third annual new grant competition for the Social Innovation Fund, with the release of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA). CNCS is seeking highly qualified, experienced grantmaking intermediaries to partner with the agency in growing and evaluating promising nonprofits making an impact in their communities.

Applications are due by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

In this competition, we expect to award $10-$15 million to up to six new “intermediary” grantees. Each award will range from $1-5 million per year and will be renewable for up to five years. Selected grantees will then match the funds 1:1 and make subgrants to promising nonprofit organizations in local communities.

Interested grantmakers are encouraged to read the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and participate in our Technical Assistance conference calls.

View the press release announcing this grant opportunity.

Supporting Community Solutions

The Social Innovation Fund is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) intended to improve the lives of people in low-income communities. It does so by mobilizing public and private resources to grow promising, innovative community-based solutions that have evidence of compelling impact in three areas of priority need: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development.

The Social Innovation Fund employs an operating and program model that is itself innovative and truly represents a “new way of doing business” for the federal government. This model is distinguished by four key characteristics:

The requirement that each federal dollar granted be matched 1:1 by the grantees and again by their subgrantees with money from private and other non-federal sources, thereby increasing the return on taxpayer dollars and strengthening local support.

• Reliance on outstanding existing grantmaking “intermediaries” to select high-impact community organizations rather than building new government infrastructure.
• On requirement that each federal dollar granted be matched 1:1 by the grantees and again by their subgrantees with money from private and other non-federal sources, thereby increasing the return on taxpayer dollars and strengthening local support.
• Emphasis on rigorous evaluations of program results not only to improve accountability but also to build a stronger marketplace of organizations with evidence of impact.
• Effective leverage of the grant program through supplementary initiatives that advance social innovation more generally in the nonprofit sector.

The Social Innovation Fund was established in 2009 under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.