Dear AmeriCorps Program Directors,

As many of you are aware, a National Service Summit will take place September 11 & 12 in New York City. The event will be hosted by TIME Magazine and ServiceNation – which is represented by Be the Change, Inc, City Year, Civic Enterprises, and Points of Light Institute. The ultimate goal of the Summit is to engage one million Americans in national service by the year 2020. More information on the ServiceNation group and the National Service Summit can be found at http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation.

On September 27th, a “Day of Action” will be held to demonstrate the impact that service has on local communities when national service volunteers, community volunteers, and all Americans mobilize and complete large scale service projects. It is my goal to involve all New York AmeriCorps programs in service projects on this day and for each AmeriCorps member to involve two additional New Yorkers in their service activity. More information on the day of Action can be found at http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/day_of_action.

The National Service Summit and Day of Action are incredibly exciting opportunities to elevate the profile of volunteerism and national service across the country – and to educate millions of Americans on the value of service to our communities. Governor Paterson has agreed to serve on the Leadership Council and support the Summit initiatives. In addition, members of the New York State Commission on National and Community Service, leaders from the public and private sector, and elected officials here in New York and across the country will participate in this event.

I encourage you to learn more about the Summit and support its mission through activities allowable by your AmeriCorps grant provisions. While State Commissions and AmeriCorps State Programs may be involved in some components of the ServiceNation campaign, there are elements to the campaign that involve legislative lobbying activity, and grantees should be mindful of the Corporation’s restrictions on legislative lobbying and partisan politics using grant funds.

Given the nature of the Summit, I wanted to pass along the following FAQ’s to ensure that all AmeriCorps programs and members in New York State who are participating in the Summit, are doing so in compliance with CNCS policies.

(1) Which ServiceNation activities are covered by the prohibition on using Corporation grant funds or grant-funded time on political activities?

ServiceNation’s website lists as one of its strategies an advocacy campaign to call upon political leaders to enact new national service legislation. Activities aimed at passage of legislation cannot be supported under a Corporation grant.

(2) What if a Day of Action event features a service project but includes an advocacy component?

As with any lobbying or political activity, you must be clear with staff and participants that while they are free to engage in such activities on their own time and on their own initiative, they may not include the activity as part of their grant-funded time. Instructions to any participants who are assigned to a service project should make clear that their assignment is exclusively to engage in service.

(3) May a Commissioner participate in the political part of ServiceNation?

As long as the activity is not supported by a Corporation grant, a Governor-appointed Commissioner would not be constrained by the Corporation from representing the State in a legislative matter.

(4) May State Commission staff participate in ServiceNation activities?

If the ServiceNation activity in question involves an attempt to influence legislation or participation in or endorsement of a political activity, such as an advocacy campaign to convince political leaders to enact new national service legislation, Corporation grant funds may not support the use of state commission staff time or other resources for such activity. If an activity is not political in nature, such as organizing a service activity on the “Day of Action,” state commission staff may use time and resources supported with grant funds if you can show that the associated costs are reasonable and necessary given your approved budget and the purpose of the Corporation grant.

(5) May AmeriCorps programs participate in ServiceNation activities?

Grantee staff and program participants may not (1) attempt to influence legislation or (2) participate in, or endorse, political events or activities, if they are doing so while charging time to a Corporation-supported program, accumulating service or training hours towards an education award, or otherwise performing activities supported by the Corporation. If an activity is political in nature, such as ServiceNation’s advocacy campaign, AmeriCorps grantee staff and participants may not participate using time or resources that are supported with AmeriCorps grant funds (including match). If an activity is not political in nature, such as participating only in a service activity on the “Day of Action,” grant-supported staff and AmeriCorps members may participate during service hours to the extent the activity falls within the program’s approved grant activities. Programs should also be sensitive to situations that may create the appearance of involvement with advocacy activities.

(6) Given these potential issues, why did the Corporation invite ServiceNation to address AmeriCorps programs at the national conference?

We support the sharing of ideas about how national service can solve our country’s challenges, and our Board of Directors passed a resolution at its May meeting specifically commending ServiceNation for convening such a dialogue. At the same time, as I indicated in my introduction to the presentation at the conference, we must be careful to avoid using any Corporation grant funds or grant-funded time to engage in political activities. It is our hope that the conversation initiated by ServiceNation will not be limited to proposed legislation but will also promote sharing of best practices, identifying opportunities to collaborate across States and programs, and otherwise making our impact greater than the sum of our parts.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your Program Administrator at the State Office of National and Community Service

Thank you in advance for your participation and support of this event, and for the outstanding service you provide to local New York communities each day.