Table of Contents
2019 AmeriCorps Funding Priorities
Application Deadline
State Commission Competition Contacts and Due Dates
Intent to Apply
Funding Announcement, Mandatory Supplemental Guidance, Application Instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions
Performance Measure Instructions
Financial Management Survey (FMS)
Clarification
Technical Assistance Information and Documents
Technical Assistance Call Schedule
2019 AmeriCorps Funding Priorities
In the FY 2019 AmeriCorps competition, CNCS seeks to prioritize the investment of national service resources in:
- Economic Opportunity - increasing economic opportunities for communities by engaging opportunity youth to prepare them for the workforce.
- Education - selection of one of the evidence-based interventions in three categories: School Readiness (three evidence-based interventions), K-12 success (nine evidence-based interventions), and Post-Secondary Support (one evidence-based intervention). In order to qualify for this priority, the applicants must be assessed as having Moderate or Strong evidence by the reviewers.
- Healthy Futures - reducing and/or preventing prescription drug and opioid abuse.
- Veterans and Military Families - positively impacting the quality of life of veterans and improving military family strength.
- Rural intermediaries - organizations that demonstrate measurable impact and primarily serve rural communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure.
- Safer Communities - programs that focus on public safety, and/or partnerships between law enforcement and the community.
- Faith-based organizations.
Application Deadline
The deadline for applications to the 2019 NOFO is Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 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 which may be significantly before the CNCS deadlines and may have additional requirements.
Single-state applicants from South Dakota are eligible to apply directly to CNCS for the FY 2019 competition. If you are a potential applicant from South Dakota, please contact AmeriCorpsGrants@cns.gov for additional guidance.
State Commission Competition Contacts and Due Dates
2019 State Commissions Contacts and Due Dates (PDF) | Last updated December 19, 2018
Intent to Apply
Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a Notification of Intent to apply for this competition, but it is not required. Notifications of Intent to Apply should be filed by Wednesday, December 12, 2018. You can access the (optional) Notification of Intent to Apply here.
Funding Announcement, Mandatory Supplemental Guidance, Application Instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions
2019 Notice of Funding Opportunity (PDF)
2019 Mandatory Supplemental Guidance (PDF)
2019 Application Instructions (PDF)
2019 Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) | Last updated December 19, 2018
Performance Measure Instructions
2019 Performance Measure Instructions (PDF)
Financial Management Survey (FMS)
Financial Management Survey (FMS) (PDF)
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, but will not generally be asked for corrections or changes to elements of the application, including Performance Measures. The AmeriCorps State and National Grants process also includes a Resolution period for successful applicants. It is during the Resolution period, which will occur after applicants have been notified of the results of the competition, that 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: Thursday, March 14 – Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Technical Assistance Information and Documents
If you are having technical difficulties with creating an account or preparing or submitting the application in eGrants, please contact the National Service Hotline at (800) 942-2677 or via Questions.
For all other application questions, please contact AmeriCorpsGrants@cns.gov.
Technical Assistance Documents
Technical Assistance Calls & Webinars
2019 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Overview
For an overview of the 2019 AmeriCorps State and National Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the application timeline, or other general questions about AmeriCorps and the grant competition. Participants are encouraged to review the following materials before the call: 2019 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and 2019 Mandatory Supplemental Guidance. The call will include a Q&A session.
Replay Recording: 888-300-0067
Available until January 30, 2019
2019 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Developing Performance Measures
For guidance about how to create high-quality performance measures that align with an applicant's program design and meet AmeriCorps requirements, attend this session. Webinar content is applicable to new, recompeting and continuation applicants. Participants are encouraged to review the 2019 Performance Measure Instructions prior to attending this webinar.
2019 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Budget Development
In this webinar, a CNCS Grants Officer 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 CNCS Knowledge Network Financial and Grants Management webpage.
2019 AmeriCorps State & National Grant Competition: Best Practices in Demonstrating Evidence
This webinar provides guidance on how to identify a program’s level of evidence, and how to support it with relevant data, studies, and/or evaluation reports. Participants are encouraged to review the Mandatory Supplemental Guidance section on Evidence Tiers, prior to attending this session.