Volunteer Management Grants

End Date: 9/10/2007
CFDA # 94.007

The Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) announces the availability of up to $800,000 for grants to support the efforts of national and statewide nonprofit organizations to increase volunteer retention and expand the use volunteers to address societal challenges. Grants may range in size from approximately $50,000 to $200,000.

Important Message to Volunteer Management Applicants

Dear Volunteer Management Applicants:

The Corporation for National & Community Service’s eGrants system was experiencing challenges on the due date for the Volunteer Management Grant applications; due to those challenges, we are extending the deadline to submit applications for those applicants who have already initiated an application in eGrants. The new deadline for submission of the Volunteer Management Grant applications in eGrants is Monday, September 10, 2007 at 12:00 pm ET.

An automated message in eGrants will notify you if your application was successfully submitted, so you do not have to submit it again. If you continue to have trouble in submitting an application please contact the eGrants Help Desk at eGrantshelp@cns.gov or (888) 677-7849. Please note the eGrants Help Desk will not be staffed between 6:00 pm ET Friday evening and 8:00 am ET Monday morning.

Thank you for your patience and perseverance in submitting your application to the Volunteer Management Grant competition.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Submission Requirements

1. Does the 25,000-character limit apply to the program design, organizational capacity, and budget as well?
   
   The total number of characters available for the entire application is 25,000. Thus, it applies to the combined number of characters for all three narratives of the application: program design, organizational capacity, and budget. Your application should be submitted online using our eGrants system. To access the eGrants system, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/egrants/index.asp.
       
2. Should we submit other items such as letters of support or a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in addition to submitting an application in eGrants?

   No, please do not submit anything other than the required items in eGrants. If you submit additional items, they will not be reviewed.

3. One of our offices is a non-profit incorporated in North Carolina, while our satellite office is based in Las Vegas. Which address should I use in my application?

   Use the address of the legal applicant in your application.

4. Whom do I contact if I am having trouble submitting my application in eGrants?
   
   In the event you are prevented from completing and submitting your application by the deadline because the eGrants system is unavailable or you are having technical eGrants submission issues, you must contact the eGrants Helpdesk at 888-677-7849 or email at egrantshelp@cns.gov, prior to the 5:00 p.m. ET on September 6, 2007, to explain your technical issue and receive an eGrants ticket number. The eGrants Help Desk is staffed Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

5. Are there helpful hints that I should take into account when applying through eGrants?
   
   

   • We suggest that you prepare and save your application as a word processing document prior to inputting it into eGrants.
   • Use only uppercase letters for all section headings and other information you would like to highlight in your narrative. Bold face, bullets, underlines, or other types of formatting, charts, diagrams, and tables will not copy into eGrants. Do not use any of these in your application whether using eGrants or submitting by paper.
   • Remember to follow the character limits. We use character limits rather than page limits because of the structure of eGrants. Characters include letters, punctuation, and spaces in the document. Your word processing software can provide a character count.

Eligibility

6. I work for a state or local government agency. Are we eligible to apply?
   
   State and local government agencies are eligible for this competition.

7. We are a local organization that operates throughout a regional area. What do you define as regional? As a local entity, are we eligible to apply?
   
   

   • Regional organizations may include organizations that operate in multiple states or organizations that operate throughout a city, metropolitan area, or county.
   • As stated in the funding notice, we are especially interested in funding national and regional nonprofit organizations that engage local affiliates/chapters, as well as regional and state-based collaborations or consortia that use, supply, or help connect volunteers in their respective states.
   • A regional organization could propose developing a collaborative initiative among organizations throughout the region or state to better leverage their collective resources toward the stated purpose of this grant competition.
   • One of the stated evaluation criteria is the ability of the requesting organization or consortium to actively engage a broad network (national, regional, or statewide).
         

8. Are organizations with applications for funding pending with the Corporation eligible to apply?
   
   Yes, organizations with applications for funding pending with the Corporation are eligible to apply. However, applicants must differentiate between this grant’s proposed activities and those of the pending application.

9. My organization currently receives funds through RSVP. Are we eligible to apply?
   
   Yes. Recipients of other Corporation grants are eligible to apply. However, applicants must differentiate between this grant’s proposed activities and those of the currently funded program.

10. Do the organizations that we are proposing to work with have to be non-profit organizations?
    
    

    No, the organizations that you work with can be non-profits or for-profit organizations.
        
11. Is there preference for an organization that collaborates with a network of organizations or an umbrella/parent organization with local affiliates or chapters?
    
    There is no preference. We are interested in the ability of the requesting organization to leverage a broad network (national, state, or regional).

Clarification & Interpretation

12. The press release states, “There is a 50% required in-kind or cash match for this grant.” In the FULL TEXT OF ANNOUCEMENT, it states under ‘Cost Sharing or Matching’, “there is a 33% required non-federal match.” Which is correct?
        
    There was an error in the press release. The correct match requirement is 33%, as stated in Notice of Federal Funds Available.
        
13. Will providing more than the required matching amount increase an applicant's chance of receiving funding?
    
    The funding notice states that there may be a preference given to those organizations that surpass the minimum matching requirement. All things being equal, the amount of the match will be considered under the following evaluation criterion:
             
    • Cost effectiveness and capacity to leverage Corporation funds
               
14. Will the grant require the successful applicant to measure their performance in any particular way?
    
    We expect the successful grantee will measure their performance by collecting and analyzing data, and reporting on at least the four indicators of success published in the Notice:
    
    
    • increase volunteer retention;
    • expand current use of volunteers by creating new volunteer roles and recruiting the appropriate volunteers to fill them;
    • improve both the impact of volunteers’ activities and how that impact is measured; and
    • develop strategies that sustain the impact and results associated with the project after the conclusion of Corporation funding.
          
15. What is the history of this grant competition?
    
    This is the first time we are running this competition.

Partners & Volunteers

16. Can two or more organizations apply together for funding?
    
    Organizations may jointly apply for funding as a consortium or collaboration. For the purposes of the application, one organization should be listed as the applicant and the partnering organizations can be referenced in the narrative of the proposal.
        
17. If we plan to collaborate with other organizations already working nationally or in a specific region, should we name these organizations in our application?
    
    It will strengthen your application if you disclose any identified entities that you plan to work with. It would also help to describe your present relationship, or if you plan to develop a relationship.
        
18. Can we collaborate with other organizations with the same focus or similar missions
    
    

    Yes. Where organizations share a specific societal mission and use volunteers to meet similar objectives, we encourage them to consider collaborating.
    

19. Within the NOFA, one of the stated objectives is to improve the impact of volunteers and how it is measured. By impact, do you mean the impact volunteers have on the capacity of the nonprofit organization or the impacts they make in the communities in which they serve?

    We expect organizations to explain how their proposal will improve the impact of volunteers and how it is measured with respect to the organization’s overall strategic framework. For example, efforts to better measure the volunteers’ impact on the organizations in which they serve should be logically linked to the organization’s expanded ability to achieve its societal mission and goals.

    This funding competition is not intended to fund independent research and evaluation projects but rather to, as a part of a systemic approach, assist organizations in improving volunteer impact and how its measured within their networks.
    

20. What sort of restrictions exist on how these funds are used? For example, is there a cap on indirect costs?
    
    This particular first-time program is not described in the federal regulations. The NOFA provides all of the substantive elements for this program. As one of several innovative grant programs supported by the Corporation, recipients will be subject to the government-wide administrative requirements set out in 45 CFR 2541 and 2543, as appropriate, and other applicable government-wide regulations

    We will pay 5% of the funds we are contributing to the grant for indirects. However, we will accept the grantees negotiated rate provided they have a copy of the agreement, and the remaining amount can be reflected as the Grantee Share. If they do not have proof of their negotiated rate, they can charge 5% of the funds we are providing to our share, and 10% of the TOTAL of sections 1 and 2 to the grantee share. They have the option of using their negotiated rate or the 5 and 10% Corporation rates, whichever is in their best interest.

Post-Submission Expectations

21. Do you know about how many grants will be awarded?
    
    We estimate that approximately 4 to 10 grants will be awarded.
        
22. Do you expect this program to be very competitive?
    
    We have received more than 450 inquiries to date regarding this competition.
        
23. Does the Corporation intend to contact organizations that we list in our application as possible partners?
    
    No, the Corporation will not contact organizations that you list in your application as possible partners.
        
24. When will the successful applicant(s) be notified?
    
    We plan to notify successful and unsuccessful applicants by late Fall 2007.
        
25. Are you interested in project models that have the potential to be replicated?
    
    We hope that we will identify some lessons learned and best practices through this grant competition; however, we have not specified any evaluation criteria related to the ability of the project to be replicated. As stated in the Notice of Funds Available, we are more interested that the proposed project demonstrates the potential to have a large-scale impact and that the applying organization has the ability to leverage a broad network.
        
26. Will any of the awardees work be published?
    
    We are interested in learning from the selected grantees and promoting any identified effective practices, but we do not have specific plans at this time to publish the findings from this grant competition.

Technical Assistance Information:

The Corporation hosted a technical assistance call to answer questions from potential applicants about funding opportunities on August 7. This call has been recorded and is available for replay in its entirety by dialing:  866-395-4269.

For additional information on volunteer management practices and effective volunteer retention strategies, please visit http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/volunteerweek/.