CNCS Social Innovation Fund FY 2010 CFDA 94.019

This Notice of Federal Funds Availability (Notice) announces the availability of funding for the newly-created Social Innovation Fund (SIF), authorized by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009. The SIF is a vehicle to: 1) promote public and private investment in effective and potentially transformative portfolios of nonprofit community organizations to help them strengthen their evidence base, and replicate and expand to serve more low-income communities; 2) identify more effective approaches to addressing critical social challenges and broadly share this knowledge; and 3) develop the grantmaking infrastructure necessary to support the work of social innovation in communities across the country. The Corporation considers “social innovation” as the development of a potentially transformative practice or approach to meeting critical social challenges. Applications must be sumitted through the CNCS grant system and NOT through grants.gov. Applications are due by April 8, 2010.


An approach is “transformative” if it not only produces strong measurable outcomes, but also 1) significantly impacts or informs the public discussion about systems of service delivery, 2) addresses more than one critical social challenge concurrently, or 3) produces dramatic cost savings through efficiency gains. In FY 2010, SIF awards will be made to a small number of intermediaries (existing grantmaking institutions or eligible partnerships) which make investments in nonprofit community organizations as an essential (rather than collateral) means of fulfilling their mission and vision.

The resulting national network of intermediaries will identify through competitive processes, invest in, support, and monitor promising, later-stage (as opposed to nascent or early-stage), innovative nonprofit community organizations (subgrantees) working with low-income communities in one or more of the following priority issue areas:
• Economic Opportunity – Increasing economic opportunities for economically disadvantaged individuals
• Youth Development and School Support – Preparing America’s youth for success in school, active citizenship, productive work, and healthy and safe lives
• Healthy Futures – Promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing the risk factors that can lead to illness

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the Corporation will award up to $50 million in Federal funding to an estimated seven to 10 intermediary organizations. Annual SIF awards to intermediaries will be in the range of $1 million to $10 million, and must be matched 1:1 in cash. The SIF award periods are up to five years. The SIF funding mechanism will leverage $3 of private funding for every $1 in federal funding, generating a total public-private investment of $200 million in FY 2010.

APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE SUBMITTED THROUGH GRANTS.GOV APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE CORPORATION’S EGRANTS SYSTEM: https://egrants.cns.gov/espan/main/login.jsp

Deadline:
The Letter of Intent to Apply deadline is March 1, 2010, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications are due by April 8, 2010, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Certification of matching funds to determine eligibility is due at the time of application. Successful applicants will be notified by July 2010.

Eligible Applicants
State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Private institutions of higher education

Additional Information on Eligibility:
To be eligible for a SIF intermediary award, an applicant must: • Be an existing grantmaking institution or an eligible partnership; • Properly propose to be either a geographically-based or issue-based SIF that will focus on improving measurable outcomes; • Have a strong track record of using rigorous evidence to select, invest in, support, and monitor the replication and expansion of grantees; • Have a well-articulated plan to: o Replicate and expand research-proven initiatives that have been shown to produce sizable, sustained benefits to participants or society; and/or o Collaborate with a research organization to undertake rigorous evaluations to assess the effectiveness of initiatives. • Have appropriate policies on conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and other improper practices; and • Demonstrate either cash-on-hand or commitments (or a combination thereof) toward meeting 50 percent of the first year matching funds, based on the amount of grant funds requested. For example, a request of $1 million needs to be accompanied by documentation of $500,000on-hand at the time of application.

Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: CNCS-GRANTS-02182010-001
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Feb 18, 2010
Creation Date: Feb 18, 2010
Original Closing Date for Applications: Apr 08, 2010
Current Closing Date for Applications: Apr 08, 2010 The deadline for submission of applications is 5:00 pm Eastern Time on April 8, 2010. Applications must be submitted through the Corporation’s eGrants system: https://egrants.cns.gov/espan/main/login.jsp
Archive Date: Apr 09, 2010
Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement
Category of Funding Activity: Community Development
Education
Employment, Labor and Training
Energy
Food and Nutrition
Health
Other (see text field entitled "Explanation of Other Category of Funding Activity" for clarification)
Regional Development
Category Explanation: Social Innovation Fund FY 2010
Expected Number of Awards: 8
Estimated Total Program Funding: $50,000,000
Award Ceiling: $10,000,000
Award Floor: $1,000,000
CFDA Number(s): 94.019 -- Social Innovation Fund
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes

Full announcement and directions on submitting an application