FUNDING
Social Innovation Fund's Pay for Success Grants Competition
The Social Innovation Fund is inviting Community Development Financial Institutions to apply for its 2016 Pay for Success (PFS) Competition.
This competition will provide up to $10.6 million to eligible organizations, including nonprofits and state and local governments, to support PFS transaction structuring – that is, to take PFS projects from development to implementation and from conception to fruition. Awarded grants will range from $350,000 to $1,800,000 per year for a three year period. Overall, this competition will aid in advancing the emerging models that align payment for social services with verified social outcomes. A letter of intent from interested applicants is encouraged by January 13, and applications are due by February 11, 2016. More information, including information about webinars and question and answer sessions about the Pay for Success Competition, can be found on the Social Innovation Fund's website.
NEA Art Works Creativity Connects Projects, FY2017
The Arts Endowment's support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2017. Generally, a period of performance of up to two years is allowed. The official applicant must be an arts organization. An organization may submit only one application for an Art Work: Creativity Connects grant. Grant Program Description Creativity Connects* is an initiative that will show how the arts are central to the country’s creativity ecosystem, investigate how support systems for the arts have changed, explore how the arts connect with other industries, and invest in innovative projects to spark new ideas for the arts field. A key component to the Creativity Connects initiative is a pilot grant opportunity in the Art Works category to support partnerships between arts organizations and organizations from non-arts sectors that include, but are not limited to, business, education, environment, faith, finance, food, health, law, science, and technology. Art Works: Creativity Connects grants will seek to benefit the arts and non-arts sectors by: • Demonstrating the value of working with the arts. • Supporting the infrastructure for the arts to work in new ways with new sectors. • Building bridges that create new relationships and constituencies. • Creating innovative partnership projects to advance common goals. Read more here.
This week, congressional leaders reached a deal on spending that would prevent a federal government shutdown. The omnibus appropriations bill would fund the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Program at $15 million, an increase of $5 million over the previous year. The Regional Innovation program is SSTI's highest legislative priority because of the flexible funding it provides for regional innovation activities. The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) would receive $130 million, and another $25 million would support the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The deal also would make the federal research and development tax credit permanent. Businesses with less than $50 million in gross receipts would be able to use the credit to offset the alternative minimum tax, while certain startups without an income tax liability could apply the credit against payroll taxes. Summaries of the appropriations bills are available at: http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394337
