AmeriCorps National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competition 94.026

The Corporation for National and Community Service is no longer making new awards under the AmeriCorps National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competition (CFDA 94.026), though previously funded projects continue to report expenditures. The program historically funded academic research examining national service, volunteering, and civic engagement in America, with the most recent grant award issued on July 26, 2023.

Across 58 total awards spanning 2015 through 2023, the program funded research into how civic infrastructure develops, how civic engagement changes across the lifespan, and outcomes associated with volunteering and national service. Recent awards have supported participatory research examining economic resiliency in rural communities, affordable housing and anti-displacement strategies in gentrifying neighborhoods, civic engagement among refugee and immigrant populations, opioid crisis response through community stakeholder models, educational attainment in low-social-capital communities, and volunteer management capacity in nonprofit organizations. The competition funded accredited higher education institutions conducting community-based participatory research, photovoice studies, mixed-methods evaluations, and longitudinal analyses of civic outcomes.

Funding is concentrated in the Corporation for National and Community Service Office of Grants Management, which obligated $32.6 million across 53 awards (93 percent of total federal dollars). The program's combined federal and non-federal share totaled $34.8 million. The assistance-type mix is predominantly Project Grants (93 percent) with a smaller share of Cooperative Agreements (7 percent). Award volumes have declined sharply in recent years—21 awards in 2022 and only 1 award in 2023—reflecting the program's closure to new solicitations.

Most recent awards obligated between $500 thousand and $2.9 million per project. Representative recent awards include a $2.9 million project grant for FY 2023 national service and civic engagement research (with no-cost extension through July 2027), and multiple $500 thousand to $1.9 million awards from 2022 supporting research on civic engagement, community infrastructure, and service outcomes across diverse populations.

Grant opportunities were posted on a recurring basis through at least 2018. The FY 2018 Community Conversations Research solicitation (posted March 9, 2018, due April 10, 2018) offered up to $500 thousand in total funding to higher education institutions for participatory research in three priority community types—those already collaborating on local issues, those recovering from disaster, and those in social crisis—with individual awards ranging $50 thousand to $100 thousand annually for up to two years. The 2017 National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competition (posted May 16, 2017, due July 11, 2017) offered $20 thousand to $150 thousand awards to higher education institutions in dissertation and scholar categories across three broad priority areas. No current open opportunities are present in the source.