The Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service (Volunteer Iowa) released the 2027–2028 Iowa AmeriCorps State Request for Applications on September 21, 2026. This is an Iowa-administered federal pass-through opportunity for organizations proposing AmeriCorps programs that operate wholly within Iowa and address critical community needs.
Funding and Grant Types
Volunteer Iowa states that Iowa AmeriCorps State programs receive both competitive and formula funding and that recent annual formula allocations have been at least $2.3 million, subject to federal appropriations. Award size varies by project scope and grant type.
For operational grants, the current RFA sets maximum federal funding at $26,800 per Member Service Year (MSY) for competitive cost-reimbursement or full-cost fixed-amount grants and $27,000 per MSY for formula cost-reimbursement or full-cost fixed-amount grants. Education Award Program grants are limited to $800 per MSY, and Professional Corps fixed-amount grants to $1,000 per MSY. Planning grants may provide up to $75,000 for new organizations and $45,000 for existing grantees planning a new program or expansion.
Eligibility
Eligible single-state applicants include Indian Tribes, institutions of higher education, local governments including school districts, and nonprofit organizations. Applicants must propose to place AmeriCorps members in service within Iowa to meet critical Iowa needs, and must maintain an active SAM registration and valid UEI.
Operational grants generally require at least 8 MSYs. The current RFA lists a minimum of 20 volunteer slots for competitive operational applicants; that slot minimum does not apply to formula applicants. Planning grants do not include AmeriCorps member positions.
Match and Budget Requirements
For cost-reimbursement grants, the minimum grantee share is 24% of total program costs during each of the first three years, increasing gradually in later years to 30%. Match may consist of eligible non-AmeriCorps cash and/or in-kind contributions. Fixed-amount grants have no specific match percentage, but the grantee must cover program costs above the applicable federal amount.
Priority Areas
The 2027–2028 RFA gives competitive priority consideration to service in rural communities, expansion of high-quality youth mental-health and substance-use recovery services, public safety, workforce pathways, support for veterans and military families, and strengthening families. Applicants must tie proposed AmeriCorps service to measurable outputs and outcomes.
Deadlines and Submission
The current RFA establishes track-specific dates: competitive continuation and competitive new/recompete pre-applications are due October 5, 2026; competitive continuation final applications are due November 13, 2026; competitive new/recompete final applications are due December 1, 2026; formula-only pre-applications are due February 5, 2027; and formula-only final applications are due March 19, 2027. Final competitive applications use both eGrants and IowaGrants; formula-only final applications use IowaGrants. IowaGrants currently displays December 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM for opportunity 686491, but the public RFA does not state an application time zone.
Important source-control note: Volunteer Iowa’s public program page and IowaGrants summary conflict with the controlling RFA by describing October 5 as a returning-grantee pre-application deadline, February 5 as a new-applicant pre-application deadline, and March 29 as the formula-only final deadline. The RFA Table 2 states October 5 for both competitive continuation and competitive new/recompete pre-applications, February 5 for formula-only pre-applications, and March 19 for the formula-only final. Atlas therefore uses the RFA dates unless Volunteer Iowa formally amends or corrects the RFA.
Required Application Materials
The RFA identifies supporting materials including the Volunteer Iowa priorities alignment form, detailed budget instructions, cost-reimbursement and fixed-amount budget worksheets, Volunteer Iowa budget checklist, eGrants indirect-cost instructions, eGrants performance-measure instructions, the IowaGrants application narrative template, and the AmeriCorps evaluation-plan summary form.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. The opportunity is broad, statewide, and particularly relevant to rural health access, youth behavioral health, substance-use recovery, public-health workforce pathways, veterans, and community support programs. It carries substantial program-management, match, member-management, SAM/UEI, performance-measure, and federal compliance obligations.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100 direct procurement fit. This is a national-service operating and planning grant, not a healthcare-equipment procurement program. Ordinary initial outreach must not introduce N9+. Any later technology use would have to arise from an applicant-controlled, allowable program design and budget rather than a product-led proposal.
QC Healthcare Direct Vendor Fit: 0/100. No direct-vendor procurement pathway is established by this RFA.