2025 California Men's Service Challenge

California Volunteers, the state office tasked with strengthening civic engagement and service, has announced the California Men’s Service Challenge to expand and improve service opportunities for young men and boys. The initiative responds to the July 30, 2025 Executive Order N-31-25, which highlights a growing crisis of connection and opportunity among men and boys and directs GO-Serve and California Volunteers to elevate their participation in service. The program leverages California Volunteers’ long track record of paid service experiences that foster professional development, leadership, and skills-building for participants, and aims to channel those benefits toward young men and boys while modeling positive pathways to adulthood. The Challenge funds two complementary goals. First, Scaling Service supports organizations that can expand existing, proven service models to engage men and boys directly as beneficiaries of member service. Under this goal, service members perform direct service aligned to the applicant’s current program design and demonstrated capacity to serve men and boys. Second, Organizational Capacity Building funds service members who will provide indirect service—helping organizations design, promote, and grow programs that create new or expanded service opportunities for young men and boys. Together, these goals are intended to increase the number of men and boys meaningfully engaged in service and to strengthen organizations’ ability to sustain that engagement. Allowable service terms under the Scaling Service goal encompass standard AmeriCorps slot types and short-term non-AmeriCorps terms. Eligible slot structures explicitly include 1A terms (1700-, 1200-, 900-, and 675-hour AmeriCorps positions) and 1B terms (300-hour AmeriCorps positions) as well as 100- and 50-hour non-AmeriCorps positions. Applicants should choose and justify term mixes that fit their program model and the outcomes sought for men and boys. While funding amounts, match, and indirect cost parameters are specified in the formal Request for Applications and companion instructions, all programs must budget and staff in alignment with the selected goal and term structures. Eligibility is open to nonprofit organizations and to state and local government agencies. Applicants must maintain active registration in the federal System for Award Management (SAM) prior to award. California Volunteers expects applicants to demonstrate organizational capacity to recruit, place, and support service members; to define clear roles and outputs for members; and to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal program rules and civil rights requirements. Because this is a California Volunteers initiative, projects are expected to operate in California communities and serve California residents. The application consists of the required components described in the Application Instructions and associated materials posted with the funding notice (including the Request for Applications, Mandatory Supplemental Guidance, Performance Measure Instructions, and named worksheets/forms such as the Budget Worksheet, performance measurement templates, and California Civil Rights Laws Certification). A Notice of Intent to Apply is encouraged, submitted through the short online survey. California Volunteers has scheduled a live Funding Opportunity Overview and Q&A session; applicants may also submit questions by email, with responses to be compiled in a Frequently Asked Questions document. All application components must be received by the stated deadline. Submission mechanics, formatting rules, document lists, and any required uploads are specified in the Application Instructions and forms linked from the opportunity page. Program staff can be reached via the published program inbox for questions. Awards, performance periods, reporting cadence, and any post-award start-up or training requirements are governed by the RFA and will be communicated in award documents following review and selection.

Align to Goal 1 (Scaling Service) or Goal 2 (Organizational Capacity Building); show proven capacity to engage men and boys; select appropriate AmeriCorps/non-AmeriCorps term types (1700/1200/900/675; 300; 100/50); maintain active SAM registration; participate in the funding overview/Q&A.