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Planning Grants (AmeriCorps Formula Funding competition) is sponsored by Serve Connecticut (Connecticut Commission on Community Service). These planning grants provide resources to organizations that want to develop AmeriCorps programs to address community needs but need assistance with planning and preparation. Funding supports a staff person responsible for program development and other operational expenses.
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Planning Grants – Connecticut Commission on Community Service Planning Grants for 2025-2026 What is a Planning Grant? Operating a national service program requires extensive planning and preparation. Successful national service programs have overcome challenges such as managing government grants, raising matching funds, supervising national service participants, and designing programs that make the best use of members.
AmeriCorps planning grants can provide resources to organizations that face some of these challenges. Serve Connecticut provides AmeriCorps planning grants to organizations that see a community need for services and have an idea for meeting that need, but who have not fully developed a plan to provide the needed services.
The purpose of planning grants is to support the development of AmeriCorps programs that will engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based interventions to solve community problems in future years. Planning grant recipients are expected to be better prepared to compete for an AmeriCorps program grant in future grant cycles.
Planning grant recipients are not guaranteed operating grants but will have time and resources to produce very competitive operating grant proposals. Unlike AmeriCorps program grants, planning grants do not support AmeriCorps member positions.
Instead, planning grants provide funding that allows organizations to hire/designate a staff person who is responsible for working with Commission staff to develop a high-quality AmeriCorps program that is designed to meet a community need. In addition to providing funding for a staff position, planning grants may also be utilized to fund some additional operation expenses such as travel, training, and consultation fees.
Grantees are required to provide a 24% match to assist with administering the grant, which can be in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. Planning grant applications are accepted annually as part of Serve Connecticut’s AmeriCorps Formula Funding competition.
United Way of Connecticut The United Way of Connecticut will develop an AmeriCorps Connecticut program concept designed to strengthen community resiliency by connecting youth to service opportunities that support their individual development and foster a leadership pipeline and by utilizing a national service approach to increase local nonprofit organizations' capacity to better respond to the needs of their communities.
Two Coyotes Wilderness School Two Coyotes Wilderness School will develop an AmeriCorps Connecticut program concept that would leverage a national service approach to increasing accessibility to outdoor programs for youth with a wide range of social, emotional, and mental health needs and foster a career pipeline as AmeriCorps members exit service with necessary skills and unique qualifications to either step into a role in fields such as youth development, education, environmental stewardship, civic engagement, or community development.
Discover United Way of Connecticut Discover Two Coyotes Wilderness School
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Organizations that see a community need for services and have an idea for meeting that need but have not fully developed a plan to provide the needed services. Grantees are required to provide a 24% match. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
Planning Grants (AmeriCorps Formula Funding competition) is funded by Serve Connecticut (Connecticut Commission on Community Service). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
AmeriCorps Connecticut Formula Funding is a grant from Serve Connecticut (Connecticut Commission on Community Service) that supports single-state AmeriCorps programs and planning grants operating in Connecticut for the 2026–2027 program year. The funding enables organizations to recruit, place, and support AmeriCorps members who serve communities across the state in areas such as education, public health, economic opportunity, and the environment. Eligible applicants are Connecticut-based organizations meeting federal AmeriCorps program eligibility requirements. Grant amounts are not specified. There is no fixed application deadline published on the funding opportunity page.
Youth-Led Service Mini-Grant (2025-2026 cycle) is sponsored by Serve Connecticut (Connecticut Commission on Community Service). This mini-grant program supports youth-led service projects and initiatives. It prioritizes engaging youth who may be underrepresented in youth service and requires active youth engagement in the determination, design, development, and implementation of the proposed service project/initiative. Projects must include opportunities for participating youth to reflect on and demonstrate learning from their service experience and must benefit a defined community or cause that meets a documented need.