The Corporation for National and Community Service supports a variety of innovation grants, awards, and special initiatives, including:

Special Initiatives

A Billion + Change: This effort aims to generate and harness at least $1 billion worth of professional expertise to help the country’s nonprofits meet critical social and community needs. Companies that participate in A Billion + Change receive customized technical assistance, research and online resources, and the program can even match corporate expertise with deserving organizations.

Disaster Services: Through our AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs, CNCS helps communities across the nation prepare, respond, and recover from natural and man-made disasters.

Faith-Based and Other Community Initiatives: Faith-based and other community organizations recognize the value that national service volunteers bring to their organizations' missions as they help these groups accomplish more by recruiting, training, and supervising additional volunteers.

Let’s Read. Let’s Move.: Led by CNCS in collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama, this initiative encourages America’s youth to remain active to battle childhood obesity and reduce summer reading skill losses by encouraging summer reading and physical activity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service: Each year, CNCS honors Dr. King's legacy by asking Americans to make the King holiday a national day of service. This initiative encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to them and serves their community.

National Mentoring Month: This annual campaign draws attention to the need for more volunteer mentors to help America’s young people achieve their full potential.

September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance: Since 2001, 9/11 victims’ families and survivors have encouraged Americans to consider performing acts of charitable service to honor the memories of their loved ones and pay tribute to those who continue to defend our nation.

United We Serve: This nationwide service initiative that helps meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn and aims to both expand the impact of existing organizations by engaging new volunteers in their work and encourage volunteers to develop their own "do-it-yourself" projects.

Veterans and Military Families: As part of our strategic initiative, CNCS is working through our programs to engage in service that benefits military families and the veteran community.

White House Council for Community Solutions: The council provides advice to the president on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses and government to work more effectively together to solve specific community needs.

Awards

President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll: This award honors colleges and universities for the commitment of their students, faculty, and staff to community service.

President’s Volunteer Service Award: CNCS works with elementary and secondary schools across the nation to help them recognize students who have displayed a commitment to volunteering and community service.

Service Impact Awards: These challenge awards pay tribute to CNCS grantees, strategic partners and service participants whose programs exemplify the best in national and community service in key issue areas including disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and serving veterans and military families.

Grants

Challenge Grants: Challenge grants encourage private fundraising by providing $1 in CNCS funding for every $2 of private funding an organization raises. These matching grants help link nonprofit organizations with previously untapped sources of private funds to build sustainable service and volunteer programs. Learn more in the Notices of Funds Availability section.

Next Generation Grants: These grants foster the expansion of national service by providing seed money to help organizations plan and implement new service programs. Learn more in the Notices of Funds Availability section.

Social Innovation Fund: This fund promotes public and private investments in effective nonprofit organizations to help them replicate and expand to serve more low-income communities.

Volunteer Generation Fund: The fund is focused on increasing the number of volunteers by supporting existing volunteer programs and creating new local volunteer-generating organizations.