2020 - 2021 South Carolina Volunteer Generation Fund Partner Application
Applications accepted until Friday, July 31st 2020
The United Way Association of South Carolina (UWASC), with funds made available by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), is proud to announce the South Carolina Volunteer Generation grant competition. CNCS is a federal agency whose mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. Through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, CNCS has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.
This South Carolina Volunteer Generation Fund (SC-VGF) grant opportunity aims to provide partner agencies with the necessary financial resources needed to implement evidence-based strategies that will increase their ability to engage and retain volunteers. UWASC will provide training and technical assistance as well as make available grants of up to $25,000 to an estimated 10 eligible entities. It is expected that the average grant award will be in the $15,000 range. The use of funding will be limited to expenses that are based on evidence-informed practices that have been found to correlate to strong volunteer engagement and retention.
Focus Area(s) that will be considered for funding include:
1) Disaster Services, 2) Economic Opportunity, 3) Education, 4) Environmental Stewardship, 5) Healthy Futures, and 6) Veterans and Military Families
Special consideration will be granted for applicants who propose to use SC-VGF funding to support the following activities:
- Skills-Based Volunteering (highly encouraged)
- Disaster preparation, response and recovery training for volunteers
- Spontaneous Volunteer Coordination and Reception Centers
- Opioid crisis epidemic initiatives
Health, behavioral health, and emergency management organizations are encouraged to apply for disaster preparation, response and recovery training. Priority consideration will be given to volunteer connector organizations that have the willingness and capacity to train other organizations within their respective communities on volunteer management related trainings.
UWASC intends to fund project proposals from any South Carolina community, however special consideration will be granted for rural communities and those projects intended to manage volunteers that serve the following target counties:
- Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale
- Bamberg, Barnwell
- Cherokee, Chester, Chesterfield, Colleton
- Darlington, Dillon
- Edgefield
- Florence
- Hampton
- Jasper
- Marion, Marlboro
- Williamsburg
Eligibility
This opportunity is open to public or private nonprofit organizations, including faith-based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within state territories (e.g. cities, counties), labor organizations; partnerships and consortia; or Tribal organizations.
Technical Assistance Webinars
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
1:00PM
Download 2020-2021 Volunteer Generation Fund Notice of Funding Opportunity
2020 Community Resiliency Fund
Applications accepted until Wednesday, July 29th 2020
The South Carolina Service Commission (SCSC) is the state’s lead agency on volunteerism and service. Through AmeriCorps programming and Volunteer Generation Fund resources, SCSC aims to leverage our community’s greatest assets – its citizens –to bring about real change. Administratively located within the United Way Association of South Carolina, SCSC receives support from the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency.
To increase the capacity for organizations to engage volunteers to respond and/or prepare for emergency events, SCSC has made available the Community Resiliency Fund. Through this fund, SCSC will provide financial support in the form of fixed-price contracts to service providers who will engage volunteers:
- to respond to needs that have arisen as a result of the spread of COVID-19
- in disaster or emergency response, training, planning, or preparedness activities.
Fixed-amount contracts will be awarded in the amount of up to $10,000 each, and activities/deliverables must be completed prior to September 30th, 2020.
Who is eligible to apply?
This opportunity is open to public or private nonprofit organizations, including faith-based and other community organizations; institutions of higher education; government entities within state territories (e.g. cities, counties), labor organizations; partnerships and consortia; or Tribal organizations, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADS), and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT).
What are examples of volunteer-driven activities that may be funded?
- Training or certification courses meant to prepare volunteers
- Developing alternative service pathways for tradition in-person volunteerism
- Food, prescription, or supply delivery services
- Tutoring or mentoring services
- Pro Bono medical, legal, financial, or jobs training services related to the spread of COVID-19 (including telehealth, mental health, resume-building, financial planning/stability services, etc.)
- Support for nonprofit hospitals
- Community outreach (including companion services for the elderly, conducting needs assessments, etc.)
- Disaster/emergency preparedness, response and recovery kits and supplies
- Natural disaster or emergency event recovery efforts
Note: There is no requirement for volunteers to physically come together (social distancing is encouraged) and virtual volunteer opportunities be implemented when at all possible.
To learn more and apply online, you are encouraged to access 'Download Complete Notice' and 'Apply Now' links below.