2013 RSVP Competition

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is releasing the 2013 RSVP Competition Draft Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity (Draft Notice) as a draft on August 2, 2012. CNCS’s intent by offering this Draft Notice on this date is to provide all potential applicants with additional time to become familiar with the requirements and characteristics of the RSVP competition. We recommend potential applicants use this additional time to begin outlining and developing their grant applications.

CNCS will also be holding technical assistance calls during this time. It is emphasized that because this is a draft document, it is possible that the final Notice could contain certain requirements that are not currently contained in this Draft Notice. We anticipate that the final Notice, the final Application Instructions and eGrants will be open for submission of applications on or about September 1, 2012. The deadline for submitting applications is Thursday, October 18, 2012.

APPLICATION DUE: The 2013 Senior Corps RSVP deadline of October 18, 2012 5:00 p.m. has been extended until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 18, 2012. Applicants who have already submitted their applications have the option to request their application be sent back to them if they would like to make additional revisions. Please contact LateApplications@cns.gov if you have any questions

NOTICE OF INTENT DUE: Please note you can still submit a Notice of Intent to Apply after the deadline. If you intend to apply, submit a Notice of Intent to Apply via email to:2013RSVPIntent@cns.gov by September 10, 2012 stating your intent to apply. The Notice of Intent to Apply is not required however, it is strongly encouraged.

The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. For more than 15 years, CNCS—through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, Social Innovation Fund, and other programs and activities—has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.

In 2009, Congress passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (SAA), the most sweeping expansion of national service in a generation. This landmark law not only expands service opportunities, but also focuses national service on key outcomes; builds the capacity of individuals, nonprofits, and communities to succeed; and encourages innovative approaches to solving problems.

In alignment with the SAA and the CNCS Strategic Plan, this Senior Corps RSVP Draft Notice will focus grant making for fiscal year 2013 in the six Focus Areas identified by SAA:

• Education
• Healthy Futures
• Veterans and Military Families
• Environmental Stewardship
• Economic Opportunity
• Disaster Services

In order to carry out the intent of Congress and to maximize the impact of the investment in national service, CNCS seeks to fund programs that can demonstrate community impact and solve community problems through National Performance Measures in the Focus Areas listed above. Please see the full text of this Draft Notice for additional funding priorities.

In this competition CNCS intends to fund RSVP projects that support volunteers 55 years and older serving in a diverse range of activities that meet specific local and community needs and respond to National Performance Measures.

RSVP projects awarded under this Draft Notice must:

• Serve all the counties in the geographic service area associated with the funding opportunity listed in Appendix A Part 1 or Part 2;
• Support at least 80% of the number of volunteers listed in Appendix A;
• Minimize, to the extent possible, disruptions to the current volunteers associated with any incumbent project. Please see Appendix C for more information; and
• Meet the National Performance Measure requirements and other criteria established in this Draft Notice.

In accordance with the Obama administration’s emphasis on open government, CNCS has moved toward greater transparency in grantmaking. This Draft Notice includes a description of the application review and selection process in Section V. In addition, the following information pertaining to this competition for applications will be published on the CNCS website at https://nationalservice.gov/about/open/grants.asp, within a period not to exceed 90 business days after all grants are awarded:

• Blank external review form.
• List of and executive summaries of all compliant applications submitted.
• SF424 face sheet and program narrative for successful applications.
• List of external reviewers.
• Summaries of external reviewer comments for successful applications.

This Draft Notice should be read together with the RSVP regulations [45 CFR Part 2553], the Senior Corps RSVP Grant Application Instructions, and the National Performance Measures Instructions. Publication of this Draft Notice does not obligate CNCS to award any specific number of grants nor does it require CNCS to obligate the entire amount of available funding.

Please see the NOFO (link provided below) for full details