After extensive public commentary, a new NOFA was released with two significant changes from the draft:

First, the minimum award requirement was lowered to $1 million from $5 million. As there is a 1-1 matching requirement for subgrantees, this new minimum should enable a larger pool of intermediaries to apply and may help states with less philanthropic resources take advantage of the fund. 

Second, the explicit preference for intermediaries that have already selected their subgrantees at the time of application has been eliminated. This change will ensure that a broader pool of effective nonprofit community organizations have a chance to access SIF funding and work in partnership with SIF intermediaries. It may also increase the quality of the subgrantees selected, as intermediaries will not rush to complete their processes by the application deadline.

You can download the full NOFA and see a list of frequently asked questions at nationalservice.gov. Also, listen to a conference call announcing the launch.

Don't forget to let the Corporation for National and Community Service hear your voice!  The NOFA (Notice of Funds Available) is available here, with more general information here. Send your comments to SIFinput@cns.gov.

We've put together a summary of what's included in the NOFA.  Download it here.  And check out Root Cause CEO Andrew Wolk's post about the SIF on his blog.

A joint committee yesterday agreed to fully appropriate the Social Innovation Fund to match the $50 million authorization level and President Obama's budget request. The full funding bill will now go to both the House and Senate for final approval. The text of the Omnibus bill under the section funding the Corporation for National and Community Service reads:

Within the total provided for Innovation, Assistance, and Other Activities, the conference agreement includes $50,000,000 for the Social Innovation Fund as proposed by the Senate instead of $35,000,000 as proposed by the House. Within the total provided for Innovation, Assistance, and Other Activities, the conference agreement includes $1,000,000 for the nonprofit capacity,building program instead of $2,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The House did not propose funding for this program.

Read more here.

The Corporation for National and Community Service recently hosted a conference call to solicit public input on the Social Innovation Fund authorized by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

In case you missed the call, you can listen to a recording here (and look for the link at the very top of the page).

You'll also find an information page addressing frequently asked questions.  Among them:

How do I apply for funds?

It is anticipated that a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the SIF will be posted in late 2009. The due date for applications will be early 2010, and funding will be awarded in late spring or summer of 2010.

Funding is contingent upon congressional approval of the FY 2010 budget. FY 2010 begins on October 1, 2009. In the event of a continuing resolution for the 2010 budget, CNCS will still hold a competition in Winter 2009/2010 but will not award funds until Congress passes a budget that indicates funding for the SIF.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal featured a special section on philanthropy with a series of great articles that highlight trends in the field and suggest changes to ensure that philanthropic giving grows ever more effective.

One article, "Is It Public, or Is It Private?" discusses the growing trend toward public-private partnerships between private philanthropists and government. The reason? "Both sides stand to gain: Donors leverage their dollars, and the government gets additional capital, plus the expertise and credibility that high-profile philanthropists often bestow on the causes they support."

Root Cause CEO Andrew Wolk is quoted discussing the enormity of government dollars, "Government resources dwarf the funds spent by the nation's largest foundations and individual donors, who contribute $16.5 billion and $163.5 billion peryear, respectively. The federal government alone spends more than $1 trillion per year on social services."

The Corporation for National and Community Service is fielding lots of questions about the newly authorized, but not yet appropriated, Social Innovation Fund (also called the Community Solutions Grant Fund). To ease some of the confusion, they've posted a 1-page FAQ that lays out the basics - including how it works, what it funds, and a tentative timeline.

Read it here.

Over on his Tactical Philanthropy blog, Sean Stannard-Stockton has offered some excellent thoughts on "Why the Social Innovation Fund Matters" and also adddressed some of the risks and criticisms. On his own blog, Andrew Wolk adds three additional points, emphasizing that:

1. We have to be careful not to get too caught up in the dollars – because in reality, $50 million (or even $150 million after the 2-1 match) is not much. Rather, the money should be seen as a way to influence the actions of all sectors and thus achieve greater systemic change.

2. The Social Innovation Fund should be looking for organizations with proven models who are actively engaging with government in an attempt to incorporate the best parts of their model into the broader system where change can really be widespread.

As the buzz continues around federal-level efforts to advance social innovation (via the White House Office of Social Innovation and the Social Innovation Fund currently being developed by the Corporation for National and Community Service), the concept is also gaining traction in several states.

We are excited to report that Susannah Washburn, Senior Advisor at the Corporation for National and Community Service, will be joining our discussion at next week's Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship conference in Washington, D.C.! This is sure to be an exciting opportunity to engage directly with the Corporation as they determine how exactly these funds will work. 

In our "Advancing Social Entrepreneurship" report with the Aspen Institute, we recommended a template for how a social innovation fund could work.  In this session, we will be exploring these same questions, but now with the knowledge that there is real potential in making this happen.  If you have any thoughts on how this might work, we hope you will attend the session and share them.  Or, if you can't make it in person, share your ideas here and we will represent them to the group.

Registration closes tonight for attending the conference in person, but you can still sign up through May 4th for the webcast AND archived video.  We hope to hear your voice represented!

Barack Obama was elected the United States' 44th president last night after the longest - and perhaps most exciting - campaign in American history. The task of tackling the many challenges facing the country and the world now begins - and all signs indicate that greater support for social innovation and entrepreneurship will be part of the strategy. In his campaign platform, Obama had called for the development of both a Social Investment Fund Network and a Social Entrepreneurship Agency for Nonprofits. He also co-sponsored, along with Senator McCain, the recently introduced Serve America Act, which includes several components supportive of social entrepreneurship.