Social Innovation Fund Guidelines Expected by End of the Year

The Corporation for National and Community Service plans to issue final guidelines by the end of the year for groups that plan to apply for grants from the new Social Innovation Fund, with the first awards likely to take place in late spring or summer, corporation officials said today.

Congress has not yet adopted a budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which began October 1. However, while waiting for the official allocation, the corporation “can and expects to move forward” with the guidelines, or “notice of funding opportunity,” said Marta Urquilla, senior adviser for social innovation.

President Obama proposed $50-million for the fund, which will provide grants to help nonprofit groups expand promising programs to tackle pressing national social problems. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved that amount, but the House voted to cut it to $35-million. The full Senate has not yet acted.

The corporation, the federal agency that will manage the Social Innovation Fund — which it now calls “the Sif” — held the conference call to explain how the money will be allocated and to answer questions from the field. Ms. Urquilla and Bob Grimm, the director of research and policy development, spent much of the time explaining the goals and procedures outlined by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which authorized the money.

But they also gave some hints about how the corporation will carry out the law:

• The Serve America Act says at least 85 percent of the money should go to established grant-making institutions or consortia, which would in turn provide grants to nonprofit groups. It says the corporation may, however, provide up to 10 percent of the money directly to nonprofit groups. But the officials said the corporation will not give any money directly to nonprofit groups — or seed capital for start-up operations — during the fund’s first year.

• The corporation will not award grants to specific geographic regions. However, it will look for a “geographic balance.”

• The Serve America Act requires both the intermediary grant makers and the nonprofit groups that receive their grants to provide matching funds. A grant maker could provide both the matching funds to receive the federal money and money to help its grant recipients meet that requirement. The only requirement for matching funds is it come from non-federal sources.

• The corporation expects to provide awards to some grant makers that detail in their application some or all of the nonprofit groups that will be part of their “portfolios.” However, it will also select one or more applications where grant makers plan to host a grants competition for nonprofit groups after they receive the federal money.

Under the Serve America Act, the corporation will award five-year grants of $1-million to $10-million to the intermediary grant makers (which can include partnerships between grant makers or with certain state or local government entities).

They will provide grants of at least $100,000 a year for three to five years to the nonprofit groups, following consultations with “a diverse cross section of community representatives.” Those groups must provide data on the “measurable outcomes” their work has had.

Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the maximum grant to intermediary grant makers was $5-million.