Mississippi Notice of Funding Opportunity for Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 | USDA NRCS MS MULTI 21 NOFO0001088

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS MS MULTI 21 NOFO0001088

The Mississippi Notice of Funding Opportunity for Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 is a competitive grant announcement from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) focused on strengthening conservation delivery across the State of Mississippi through formal partnerships. The program is built around the idea that NRCS can achieve more on-the-ground conservation outcomes by teaming up with state and local governments, tribes, nonprofits, and higher education institutions that already work with landowners, producers, and communities on natural resource issues. In practice, the funding is meant to help partners expand capacity, coordinate efforts, and improve implementation of NRCS conservation objectives and priorities in Mississippi.

This opportunity is offered as a discretionary funding program using cooperative agreements, which typically means recipients should expect a more collaborative relationship with NRCS than a standard grant, including coordination during project delivery and reporting. Projects can be proposed for terms ranging from one to five years, and NRCS indicates it will consider both single-year and multi-year applications. Importantly, applicants may also use this notice to request additional funding for existing partnership agreements in Mississippi, not only for brand-new projects, as long as the request fits within the scope and priorities outlined in the notice.

NRCS anticipated approximately $5,000,000 total funding available under this announcement, with awards going to multiple recipients rather than a single statewide project. The listing projects an estimated 20 awards, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000 per award. While the notice does not provide a single required project model in the excerpt provided, it clearly emphasizes proposals that enhance conservation program delivery and advance NRCS priorities within Mississippi, meaning applicants should be prepared to show how their partnership will lead to measurable improvements in conservation implementation, outreach, technical assistance, coordination, or similar delivery-focused outcomes.

Eligibility is broad but specific to certain entity types that can operate in Mississippi. Eligible applicants include state governments; county governments; city or township governments; special district governments; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in that nonprofit category); public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; and private institutions of higher education. A practical requirement is that applicants must be capable of providing support in Mississippi, so proposals should clearly demonstrate in-state service capacity, partnerships, or an operational footprint that supports implementation within the state.

The application process is handled through Grants.gov, and applicants are expected to follow the notice instructions closely because NRCS will screen proposals for completeness and compliance before they are even evaluated competitively. Proposals that are incomplete or do not meet the notice requirements may be removed from consideration, and applicants will be notified if their submission is eliminated at that stage. The notice also makes clear that the Mississippi State Conservationist retains the discretion not to fund any or all applications, even if submissions are otherwise eligible, reinforcing the importance of aligning strongly with NRCS priorities and submitting a fully compliant package.

Key dates drive the timeline. Applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 18, 2021. Questions about the funding opportunity itself could be submitted up to May 18, 2021, with NRCS planning to post responses on Grants.gov roughly two weeks before the application deadline so that all applicants could benefit from the same clarifications. NRCS anticipated making selections by June 30, 2021, and expected to execute awards by September 15, 2021. For Grants.gov technical issues, applicants were directed to Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov), and the notice explicitly notes that awarding agency staff cannot help troubleshoot Grants.gov account or system problems, so applicants needed to plan ahead to avoid last-minute submission issues.

In short, this FY 2021 Mississippi NRCS cooperative agreement opportunity was designed to fund a portfolio of partner-led conservation delivery projects across the state, over one to five years, with roughly $5 million total available, individual awards up to $1 million, and eligibility spanning governmental entities, tribes, qualifying nonprofits, and higher education institutions that can deliver results in Mississippi.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mississippi Notice of Funding Opportunity for Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 19, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 18, 2021 Applications must be received by 1159 pm Eastern Time.. (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 $1,000,000.00 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, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS MS MULTI 21 NOFO0001088

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