21inc director Tim Coates is urging the New Brunswick government to look to innovative solutions to social problems, saying:

"Given the convergence of challenges facing New Brunswick — from poverty and illiteracy to demographic shifts and limited economic opportunities — whoever forms our next government should make the province fertile ground for social innovation. Moreover, with the era of constrained public spending upon us, social innovation can increase our impact against these challenges eve with limited resources."

The article appeared on the cbcnews.ca website.

CNCS CEO Patrick Corvington will announce the 2010 Social Innovation Fund grantees on Thursday July 22nd at 10:30 AM ET at the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The event will also be accessible via a live webcast; watch it here.

In the meantime, check out our recent post summarizing various bloggers' assessments of the strengths and challenges of the final SIF.

Here's the text of the press release, also available here:

One year ago, President Obama officially announced the upcoming launch of a Social Innovation Fund (SIF) that would call on “foundations, philanthropists, and others in the private sector to partner with the government to find and invest in innovative, high-impact solutions.” He went on, “Now more than ever, we need to build cross-sector partnerships to transform our schools, improve the health of Americans, and employ more people in clean energy and other emerging industries. These community solutions will help build the new foundation for the economy and the nation.” For more in depth information about this White House announcement read our blog post.

A coalition organized by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations has emerged as a key player in leveraging the Social Innovation Fund experience. Twenty-one grantmakers will come together to form Scaling What Works, a $4 million initiative that will support collaborative learning among the intermediaries selected by the SIF.

The coalition goals are to not only support collaborative learning, but also to transfer lessons learned from the SIF experience to a much larger audience, enabling community solutions to scale more quickly.

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.