2014 Social Innovation Fund Notice of Funding Availability Fact Sheet

Up To $65.8 Million in Grants Available To Grow Innovative, Effective Community Solutions

“Instead of wasting taxpayer money on programs that are obsolete or ineffective, government should be seeking out 

creative, results-oriented programs ... and helping them replicate their efforts across America.”

– President Obama (June 30, 2009).

What Is The Social Innovation Fund (SIF)? 

The SIF is a key White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) that 

addresses the President’s view that “government should be seeking out creative, results - oriented programs...and helping 

them replicate their efforts across America.” The SIF has the simple, but essential goal of finding solutions that work, and 

making them work for more people. The SIF unites public and private resources to evaluate and grow innovative 

community-based solutions that have evidence of results in low -income communities in three priority areas: economic 

opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. The SIF invests in innovation, evidence and scale, while deepening 

its reach and impact. The SIF does this by working through grantmaker intermediaries, requiring a dollar for dollar match 

for grantees and subgrantees, and collecting and sharing knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned along the way.

Who Can Apply? 

This competition is open to existing grantmaking institutions (organizations that provide grants to nonprofits as an 

essential means of fulfilling their mission) or eligible partnerships (between grantmakers, a State Commission on National 

and Community Service, or a chief executive officer of a unit of general local government where the partner organizations 

will share responsibilities under the award). Affiliated Network organizations that are existing grantmaking institutions 

are also eligible to apply if they are willing to grant SIF dollars through competitions that are open beyond their exclusive

networks. Current SIF grantees may apply for new interventions; however, previous funding from CNCS or another 

federal agency is not a requisite to apply.

What Are We Looking For? 

The SIF seeks grantmakers who will run open competitions to select, fund, support, and eva luate community-based 

nonprofit organizations that are growing promising, innovative approaches to overcoming challenges facing local 

communities in the areas of youth development (preparing youth for success in school, active citizenship, productive 

work, and healthy and safe lives), economic opportunity (increasing economic opportunities for economically 

disadvantaged individuals) and healthy futures (promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing the risk factors that can lead 

to illness). 

Funding priority will be given during the 2014 competition to applicants that are not only enhancing or expanding their 

own model but also addressing the most critical local and national challenges, seeking to fill gaps in the available 

evidence base, expanding opportunity for youth disconnected from school or work, leveraging collective impact 

approaches, or serving America’s most vulnerable populations and underserved communities. Specific detail on these 

priorities can be found in the detailed Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). 
What Are The Funding Amounts? 

The SIF will award up to $65.8 million in grants during the 2014 fiscal year. 

Each selected grantmaker will be awarded between $1 million and $10 

million and will match every federal dollar of the grant award. At least 80 

percent of awarded federal funds must be invested in subgrantee 

programs. CNCS expects to provide the first three years of funding at the 

time of the initial award to all intermediaries, so long as they have 

demonstrated the capacity to meet SIF’s rigorous compliance and match 

raising standards for all three years.

Why Should You Apply For A Social Innovation Fund Grant?

We all know that progress on our social challenges has been too slow and 

limited resources have been spent on approaches that do not work. We 

need innovation that will help achieve faster, longer lasting progress, as 

opposed to marginal or incremental progress on our social problems. We 

must help effective organizations grow their impact and transform more 

lives by investing in cost-effective, evidence-based approaches that lead to 

better results for the public good. The SIF is designed to help funders who 

share these beliefs by significantly increasing resources and attention to 

this important work, and supporting evaluation and expansion efforts 

through government funding and a robust network of peers. SIF grantees 

are part of the leading edge of high-performing, impact-oriented 

grantmakers that are serious about disrupting the status quo and 

accelerating solutions that work. 

Where Do You Go For More Information And Assistance? 

The SIF Notice and Application Instructions can be found online at:

www.nationalservice.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa.asp. 

For further information or for a printed copy of related material, call (202) 

606-3223 or email innovation@cns.gov. The TTY number is (800) 833-3722. 

CNCS will host technical assistance calls and/or workshops to answer 

questions about the funding opportunity and eGrants. The schedule of 

calls and call-in information will be posted on CNCS’ website: 

www.nationalservice.gov/build-your-capacity/grants/fundingopportunities. 

How Do You Apply?

STEP 1 – GET FAMILIAR:

Prospective applicants are encouraged to 

read the 2014 Notice of Funding 

Availability to familiarize yourself with 

our priorities and expectations. The 

NOFA can be found at 

www.nationalservice.gov/for_organizati

ons/funding/nofa.asp. On this page you 

can also find materials from the previous 

competitions that may help you better 

understand the SIF and our work. These 

materials include applications from all 

organizations awarded grants and 

executive summaries of all proposals 

submitted by applicants.

STEP 2 – NOTICE OF INTENT:

Let us know that you intend to apply by 

contacting innovation@cns.gov, with 

“Notice of Intent to Apply” in the email 

subject line. In the body of the email, 

include the name of the applicant 

organization, address, contact person, 

and phone number. 

STEP 3 – PREPARE AND APPLY:

Prepare your responses and submit 

applications electronically via eGrants, 

CNCS’ web-based application system: 

https://egrants.cns.gov/espan/main/login.

jsp. Give yourself plenty of time. 

Successful applicants will be notified 

August of 2014.

When Do You Need To Apply? 

The Notice of Intent deadline is 

March 24, 2014.

The Application deadline is 

April 22, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.