2021 Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) Grant

Grants to USA state agencies to develop and support volunteer programs in local communities. Applicants are advised that required registrations may take up to several weeks to complete. Funding is intended for programs that support, manage, and engage volunteers. Priority will be given to programs in the areas of racial equality, pandemic recovery, education or community needs, programs that significantly increase the number of volunteers from specific demographic groups, and activities that specifically recruit skill-based and pro-bono volunteers.

VGF grants will be used to develop and/or support community-based entities to recruit, manage, and support volunteers. AmeriCorps seeks to fund effective approaches that expand volunteering, strengthen the capacity of volunteer connector organizations to recruit and retain skill-based volunteers, and develop strategies to use volunteers effectively to solve problems. Specifically, the VGF grants will support efforts that expand the capacity of volunteer connector organizations to recruit, manage, support and retain individuals to serve in high quality volunteer assignments.

Applicants that receive funding under this Notice may directly carry out the activities supported under the award, or may carry out the activities by making subgrants to community-based entities, supporting volunteer generation at these entities.

Funding Priorities:

AmeriCorps’s priorities for this grant competition are:

• Programs that actively engage in removing structural racial inequities, advancing racial equality, and increasing opportunity in order to achieve sustainable change in communities. VGF encourages grant applications to include work plans that advance justice and equality in areas such as education, access to food and healthcare, workforce development, elder justice, and living independently.
• Efforts to help local communities respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants may propose programming in any AmeriCorps focus area to aid communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Programs that are likely to generate significant, measurable improvements in the number of volunteers generated and retained from specific demographic groups such as youth service, generational/family volunteering, skill-based volunteering or senior volunteering
• Initiatives that specifically recruit, train and deploy volunteers as a strategy to address a clearly identified pressing community need or to address education
• Activities that specifically recruit skill-based and pro-bono volunteers.

To receive priority consideration, applicants must show that the priority area is a significant part of the program focus and intended outcomes and must include a high-quality program design. Proposing programs that receive priority consideration does not guarantee funding.