Rural Youth Volunteers | ND NOFO 17 108

Opportunity Information: Apply for ND NOFO 17 108

The Rural Youth Volunteers grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: ND NOFO 17 108) is a U.S. Department of State, U.S. Mission to India program designed to place young American and Indian volunteers in rural Indian communities for a three-month service and learning experience focused on social and economic entrepreneurship. The overall aim is to help rural communities reduce isolation by building practical connections to resources, ideas, and networks beyond their immediate geography, while also developing a cohort of young leaders who continue working together after the placement ends.

The core program model requires paired volunteers, with each pair made up of one participant from the United States and one participant from India, with volunteers generally between the ages of 21 and 27. Over the three-month period, these pairs are expected to contribute to community-based projects in two to four different rural communities. The projects are meant to tackle real local challenges through entrepreneurship and community collaboration, with example focus areas including empowering women and girls, education and career planning, countering social discrimination, renewable energy, drug abuse prevention, trafficking in persons, and gender-based violence. A key expectation is that the projects are not simply delivered to the community, but developed and implemented, at least in the early stages, by the volunteers working alongside relevant community members and local stakeholders.

The announcement emphasizes a minimum scale for the internship placements: the applicant organization should be able to organize internships for at least eight volunteer pairs, meaning at least 16 total participants. It also sets an important requirement for the Indian members of each pair: they should come from a region of India that has no connection to the rural community where they will serve. This is intended to broaden cross-regional exposure and reduce pre-existing local ties that could shape or limit the exchange. In addition, the Indian volunteers should be fluent in Hindi and able to function as a language bridge for their American counterparts, supporting communication and day-to-day engagement in communities where Hindi is commonly used.

The structure of the experience begins with a three-day orientation in New Delhi, which serves as a common starting point for training, expectations, and preparation before volunteers enter the field. After orientation, pairs are placed with grassroots organizations operating in rural communities, where they will live with local host families. The home-stay component is an integral part of the exchange design, as it deepens cultural immersion and increases the likelihood that volunteers understand community dynamics, constraints, and priorities beyond what they could learn through project work alone.

At the end of the three-month placement, participants return to New Delhi for a final assessment and reflection period. This closing phase is not just a debrief; it is also a planning process where pairs develop joint action plans they will carry out after returning to their home communities. These follow-on plans are meant to extend the impact of what was started in the villages, for example by supporting the rural projects through fundraising, campaigning, partnerships, or advocacy. In practice, this component is designed to keep the U.S.-India volunteer relationship active, translate the rural experience into sustained civic engagement, and raise broader public awareness of issues affecting rural India.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning the funder anticipates an ongoing, hands-on partnership role during implementation rather than a fully arms-length grant. The activity category is listed as Education, reflecting the leadership development, exchange, and capacity-building nature of the program. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and U.S.-based nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions). The opportunity anticipated a single award, with an award ceiling of $168,000. The posting date was May 17, 2017, and the original application closing date was July 17, 2017.

In short, this opportunity funds an organized, cohort-based U.S.-India volunteer program that combines rural placements, grassroots organizational partnerships, host-family living, and entrepreneurship-focused community projects, followed by structured post-program action planning to keep the work going after participants return home.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to India in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Rural Youth Volunteers" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 17, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 17, 2017. (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 $168,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for ND NOFO 17 108

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