​How AmeriCorps State and National Works

Multi-state, state, local and tribal grantees recruit, train, and manage AmeriCorps members in direct service and capacity building activities to address unmet community needs in six focus areas:  education, healthy futures, environmental stewardship, veterans and military families, disaster services, and economic opportunity.

 

AmeriCorps members help organizations expand services, build capacity, develop partnerships, leverage resources, create sustainable programs, and recruit and manage other volunteers. Each year, AmeriCorps engages more than 80,000 members in intensive service with thousands of nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations, helping them expand their reach and better meet their mission. 

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Eligibility to Apply for an AmeriCorps State Grant

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Interested Applicants should:

• Have a DUNS number

• Be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)

• Eligible entities:

  • Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, Local Governments, Nonprofit Organizations, States

• Request no more than 20 AmeriCorps members (as a new applicant)

• Have experience in managing a state and/or federal grant

• Have an A-133 Audit or Independent Financial Audit available

• Request members to provide services exclusively within the state of Alabama

• Proposed programs with a focus on: Disaster Services, Economic Opportunity, Education, Environmental Stewardship, Healthy Futures, and Veterans and Military Families

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Other Key Points to Consider When Applying:

• A first-time successful applicant is required to match at 24% for the first 3-year funding period.

• Funding is solely for program expenses and cannot be used for general organizational operating expenses.

• The grants include an allotment of AmeriCorps member positions and the funds awarded by CNCS are directly tied to the specific number of members awarded.

• Organizations must design activities for AmeriCorps Members that demonstrate an evidence-based or evidence-informed approach to strengthening communities and solving community problems.

• AmeriCorps State funds cannot be used to duplicate, displace, or supplant resources that exist in a community.

• Organizations seeking to host an AmeriCorps State program understand that there are certain activities that AmeriCorps members and staff are NOT permitted to engage in while charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or CNCS. Please click here for more information.

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How Does an Organization Become an

AmeriCorps State Program in Alabama?

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Your organization can submit an application to the Alabama State Service Commission, also known as the Governor's Office of Volunteer Services during the Commission's AmeriCorps State Grant Application process. 

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Single-state AmeriCorps programs are implemented by organizations receiving an AmeriCorps grant to address needs in only one state. These applications are submitted by the program to their state service commission, and then the commission submits the grant application to CNCS.

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AmeriCorps State Grant Applications

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In establishing a competition for AmeriCorps funds, CNCS releases a Notice of Funding Opportunity or NOFO and application instructions. The Commission releases the NOFO with any additional application instructions and a specific timeline for applicants who will apply directly to the Commission as a single-state applicant. 

 

Before an interested organization submits an application, they first must submit:

• Letter of intent

• Program Readiness Assessment with supporting documentation

• Financial Readiness Assessment with supporting documentation

 

A complete application consists of a:

• multi-part narrative

• budget

• performance measures

• logic model

• supplementary items including, but not limited to:

  • a program diagram, most recent financial audit, letters of support

• applicants submit grant applications through a federal grants system called eGrants

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