U.S. Department of Justice – Community Oriented Policing Services Attention law enforcement agencies! The Department of Justice (DOJ) – Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office has several funding opportunities currently available and multiple programs that will open soon. COPS funds a variety of grant programs that advance community policing through hiring personnel; developing and testing policing strategies; and training community members, leaders, and law enforcement officers. Included below are brief breakdowns of the open COPS solicitations, which support officer mental health and wellness and investigating the unlawful distribution of opioids and methamphetamines. In next week’s Funding Friday blog post, we will take a closer look at some of the upcoming COPS opportunities.

As pointed out in the Value Your Volunteers blog, it is important for grant professionals to properly communicate the value of volunteers, both programmatically and monetarily. Grant professionals should also be aware of ways they personally can volunteer their time outside of where they work. In addition to volunteering for organizations like food banks, youth development centers, and animal shelters, grant professionals can give back to their profession by volunteering their time.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Attention community mental health centers! Does your organization serve individuals with serious emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI), and/or co-occurring disorder (COD) of SMI or SED and substance use disorders? And were your clients, staff, and services impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic? SAMHSA is now accepting applications for its 2021 Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) grant program. During the pandemic, the needs of many individuals with behavioral health conditions – including minority populations and economically disadvantaged communities – have not been effectively met. The CMHC program aims to support CMHC staff and other caregivers and to restore the delivery of clinical services impacted by the pandemic. Proposals for this program are due May 21, 2021, with an anticipated project start date of September 30, 2021.

In our April blog series, we are focusing on “Helping Hands.” Last week, we explained how to track volunteer time and efforts and how to include these figures in grant budgets (click to read the blog). Volunteers can add significant value to your project budgets and your agency’s bottom line, but did you know they can also leverage additional grant dollars for your organization? Let’s explore some of the strategies you can use to successfully in pursue volunteer grants.

United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development, Rural Utilities Service Does your organization provide education or health care services in rural areas? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting proposals for its 2021 Distance Learning & Telemedicine (DLT) grants program. The goal of the DLT program is to enable and improve rural access to education, training, and health care through modern telecommunications technology. This 27-year-old program has helped to establish hundreds of distance learning and telemedicine systems in rural areas throughout the United States. Proposals for this year’s solicitation are due June 4, 2021.

If your organization or program works with volunteers, you know firsthand that these individuals are often invaluable assets in delivering your mission. While volunteer management professionals know how to communicate the intrinsic value of these services to the community and the volunteers who provide them, we have to ask ourselves…. are we as grant professionals properly communicating their monetary value to current and potential grant funders? As we continue to celebrate National Volunteer Month, let’s explore ways to express the value of volunteer contributions. This will help you to present accurate and comprehensive grant budgets that fully express the extent of your organization’s in-kind commitment.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Does your government agency work with Community Health Workers (CHWs)? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now accepting applications for its 2021 program, Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CCR), which supports the goals of the CARES Act in preventing COVID-19 and protecting individuals from the public health implications of the pandemic. This program supports the training, deployment, and engagement of CHWs across the country to support COVID-19 response efforts. Applicants may propose a variety of strategies for scaling up the capacity of CHWs, with a focus on communities and populations that have been most affected by COVID-19. CCR proposals are due May 24, 2021.