Risk Management Education Partnership Program | USDA RMA MULTI RMEPP 24 NOFO0001319

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA RMA MULTI RMEPP 24 NOFO0001319

The Risk Management Education Partnership Program is a competitive federal funding opportunity run by the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) on behalf of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). The program is designed to support education and outreach efforts that help agricultural producers and other audiences better understand and use risk management tools, including those tied to federal crop insurance and related strategies. Funding is provided through cooperative agreements, which generally means recipients should expect an active partnership element with the agency (such as coordination, reporting, and alignment with federal program goals), not just a hands-off grant.

For this cycle, RMA plans to award up to $3 million total across projects. Individual awards can be as high as $500,000, and the agency expects to make about 20 awards. Projects may run for up to 18 months from the award date, giving applicants a defined window to design and deliver training, workshops, technical assistance, decision tools, and other educational activities that strengthen practical risk management skills in agriculture. The opportunity is listed as discretionary funding and is categorized under agriculture and education (CFDA/Assistance Listing 10.460).

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can realistically deliver education and outreach at scale. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled colleges and universities; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Tribal governments and other Tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not higher education institutions in those categories); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. In other words, the program is open to a wide mix of public, nonprofit, academic, Tribal, and private-sector entities, as long as the proposed work fits the program purpose and meets the notice requirements.

Applications must be submitted electronically through the Results Verification System (RVS) hosted at https://rvs.umn.edu, rather than being emailed or mailed. The deadline for submission is 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time on March 4, 2024. The notice also set a question deadline: applicants could submit questions about the funding notice until February 5, 2024, with responses planned to be posted on Grants.gov roughly two weeks before the application deadline. The agency emphasized that questions should be limited to clarifying information contained in the notice itself (for example, deadlines, references, or potential inconsistencies). Questions asking whether an applicant is eligible or whether a particular project idea is strong enough to win funding were explicitly not something the agency would answer.

To help applicants navigate the process, RMA scheduled two online trainings focused on the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NFO) and the RVS submission system: one on January 25, 2024 at 11:00 am ET and another on January 30, 2024 at 3:00 pm ET. Both sessions were to be recorded and made available for later viewing. In addition, a separate application tutorial was made available at http://rvs.umn.edu/rmaresources, which is meant to walk applicants through the mechanics of applying in RVS and meeting submission requirements.

After the application window closed, RMA indicated it anticipated making selections by April 2024 and expected to execute awards no later than September 30, 2024, noting that these timelines were estimates and could change. The official listing identifies the opportunity as USDA RMA MULTI RMEPP 24 NOFO0001319, with an original closing date of March 4, 2024, and confirms the main structural details: cooperative agreement awards, an overall funding pool up to $3 million, a $500,000 ceiling per award, and an anticipated 20 total awards.

• The Risk Management Agency in the agriculture, education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Risk Management Education Partnership Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.460.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-04. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA RMA MULTI RMEPP 24 NOFO0001319

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