By Suzanne Perry

President Obama has proposed increasing the budget for the Corporation for National and Community Service in fiscal year 2011, allowing the agency to continue expanding AmeriCorps and increase spending on the Social Innovation Fund, the new program to help nonprofit groups expand successful projects.

The president, who released his 2011 federal spending plan today, requested an overall budget of $1.4-billion for the corporation, which manages a range of national-service and volunteer programs—up from $1.15-billion in 2010.

The budget for the Social Innovation Fund, which is $50-million this year, would rise to $60-million in 2011.

The White House said its proposal would allow the agency to continue its effort to more than triple the number of participants in AmeriCorps, to 250,000, by 2017­—a goal set by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which was enacted last spring. The 2011 budget would pay for 20,000 new AmeriCorps participants, bringing the total to 105,000, it said.

The money for the Social Innovation Fund would help to “test promising new approaches to major challenges, leverage private and foundation capital to meet these needs, and grow evidence-based programs,” the proposal said.

The corporation is about to issue a final notice that outlines how it plans to spend the $50-million in Social Innovation Fund money this year.

The proposed spending gain comes as President Obama has suggested cutting or freezing other parts of the domestic budget in an effort to help rein in the looming federal deficit.