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2021 Terms and Conditions for Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Grants

These AmeriCorps1 Grant Program- Specific Terms and Conditions as well as the 2021 AmeriCorps

General Terms and Conditions are binding on the recipient.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I. Changes from the 2020 RSVP Program Grants Terms and Conditions 1

II. Award Period and Incremental Funding 1

III. Prohibition on Use of Funds 2

IV. External Evaluation and Data Collection 4

V. Lobby Disclosure 4

VI. Reporting Requirements 5

VII. Program Income 6

VIII. Budget and Programmatic Changes 6

IX. National Service Criminal History Check Training 7

I. CHANGES FROM THE 2020 RSVP GRANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

- Replaced all references to CNCS with AmeriCorps. Removed all references to FFMC.

- Deleted the following sections: Notice of Funding Opportunity, Award Acceptance, 

Recognition of Federal Funding; Encumbrance of Award Funds, Recognition Events, 

AmeriCorps Seniors Branding, Authorities of Program Officer /Portfolio Manager/Grants 

Officer, and Audits and Attestation Requirements.

- Deleted the monitoring section as it exists in the General Terms and Conditions.

- Deleted the following sections: Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) – Jan-Jun and Jul- Dec and 

Apr-Sep and Oct- Mar; Federal Financial Reporting/Disbursements; and Annual Progress 

Report and merged all program and financial reporting information into on Section VI. 

Reporting Requirements. 

- Section VI: provided specific dates for program reporting.

- Section VI: changed the due date of the final FFR from 90 days to 120 days to align with new 

Uniform Guidance requirements.

- Section VIII: updated the Approval of Programmatic and Budget Changes section to reflect 

AmeriCorps responsibilities. 

- Section IX: updated the links for the required National Service Criminal History Check 

training.

II. AWARD PERIOD AND INCREMENTAL FUNDING

For the purpose of this award, a project period is the complete length of time the recipient is 

proposed to be funded to complete approved activities under the award. A project period 

may contain one or more budget periods. A budget period is a specific interval of time for 

which Federal funds are being provided to fund a recipient’s approved activities and budget. 

 

1 AmeriCorps is the operating name for the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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Unless otherwise specified, the award covers a three-year project period. In approving a multiyear project period, AmeriCorps generally makes an initial award for the first year of operation. 

Additional funding is contingent upon satisfactory performance, a recipient’s demonstrated 

capacity to manage an award and comply with award requirements, and the availability of 

Congressional appropriations. AmeriCorps reserves the right to adjust the amount of an 

award or elect not to continue funding for subsequent years. The project period and the 

budget period are noted on the award document. 

 

III. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS

As specified in 42 U.S.C. § 5043(c) and 45 CFR § 2553.91, while charging time to an RSVP

grant accumulating service, or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by 

the RSVP grant or AmeriCorps, staff and volunteers may not engage in the following activities:

A. Political activities.

1. No part of any award shall be used to finance, directly or indirectly, any activity to 

influence the outcome of any election to public office, or any voter registration 

activity.

No project shall be conducted in a manner involving the use of funds, the provision 

of services, or the employment or assignment of personnel in a matter supporting 

or resulting in the identification of such project with:

a. Any partisan or nonpartisan political activity associated with a candidate, or 

contending faction or group, in an election; or

b. Any activity to provide voters or prospective voters with transportation to the 

polls or similar assistance in connection with any such election; or

c. Any voter registration activity, except that voter registration applications and 

nonpartisan voter registration information may be made available to the public 

at the premises of the sponsor. But in making registration applications and 

nonpartisan voter registration information available, employees of the sponsor 

shall not express preferences or seek to influence decisions concerning any 

candidate, political party, election issue, or voting decision.

2. Notwithstanding 42 U.S.C. § 5043(c) and 45 C.F.R. § 2553.91(a)(3), in accordance 

with AmeriCorps’ current appropriations legislation all recipients are prohibited, 

without exception, from using AmeriCorps funds to pay the salary or expenses of 

any grant or contract recipient, or agent acting for such recipient, related to any 

activity designed to influence the enactment of legislation, appropriations, 

regulation, administrative action, or executive order proposed or pending before 

the Congress or any State government, State legislature or local legislature or 

legislative body, other than for normal and recognized executive-legislative 

relationships or participation by an agency or officer of a State, local or tribal 

government in policymaking and administrative processes within the executive 

branch of that government.
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B. Non-displacement of employed workers. An AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer shall not 

perform any service or duty or engage in any activity that would otherwise be performed 

by an employee of the sponsor, or that would supplant the hiring of, or result in the 

displacement of, employees, or impair existing contracts for services.

C. Compensation for service. An agency or organization to which AmeriCorps Seniors 

volunteers are assigned, or which operates or supervises any RSVP program shall not 

request or receive any compensation from AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers or from 

beneficiaries for services of AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers.

1. The regulations do not prohibit a sponsor from soliciting and accepting voluntary 

contributions from the community at large to meet its local support obligations 

under the award or from entering into agreements with parties other than 

beneficiaries to support additional volunteers beyond those supported by the 

AmeriCorps award;

2. A volunteer station may contribute to the financial support of the RSVP Program. 

However, this support shall not be a required precondition for a potential station to 

obtain RSVP Program services.

3. If a volunteer station agrees to provide funds to support additional RSVP volunteers 

or pay for other volunteer support costs, the agreement shall be stated in a written 

Memorandum of Understanding. The sponsor shall withdraw services if the 

station's inability to provide monetary or in-kind support to the project under the 

Memorandum of Understanding diminishes or jeopardizes the project's financial 

capabilities to fulfill its obligations.

4. Under no circumstances shall an RSVP volunteer receive a fee for service from 

service recipients (i.e., program beneficiaries), their legal guardians, members of 

their families, or friends.

D. Labor and anti-labor activity. The sponsor shall not use award funds directly or 

indirectly to finance labor or anti-labor organizations or related activities.

E. Fair labor standards. A sponsor that employs laborers and mechanics for construction, 

alteration, or repair of facilities shall pay wages at prevailing rates as determined by the 

Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended, 40 U.S.C. 276a.

F. Religious activities. Neither an RSVP volunteer nor a member of the project staff funded 

by AmeriCorps shall give religious instruction, conduct worship services, or engage in any 

form of proselytization as part of his or her service or duties.

1. A sponsor or volunteer station may retain its independence and may continue to 

carry out its mission, including the definition, development, practice, and 

expression of its religious beliefs, provided that it does not use AmeriCorps funds 

to support any inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, 

or proselytization, as part of the programs or services funded. If an organization 

conducts such activities, the activities must be offered separately, in time or 

location, from the programs or services funded under this part.
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G. Nepotism. Persons selected for project staff positions shall not be related by blood or 

marriage to other project staff, sponsor staff or officers, or members of the sponsor Board 

of Directors, unless there is written concurrence from the community group established 

by the sponsor under Subpart B of this part and upon prior notification and approval by 

AmeriCorps.

EXTERNAL EVALUATION AND DATA COLLECTION

The recipient must cooperate with AmeriCorps and its evaluators in all monitoring and 

evaluation efforts. As part of this effort, the recipient must collect and submit certain project 

data, as defined in the Progress Report Supplement (PRS), and must provide data as requested 

or needed to support external evaluations.

LOBBY DISCLOSURE

H. No Federal appropriated funds may be used by the recipient to pay to any person for 

influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any federal agency, a 

Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member 

of Congress in connection with the awarding of any Federal grant, the making of any 

Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative agreement, and the extension, 

continuation, renewal, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative 

agreement.

I. Any recipient who requests or receives a grant from AmeriCorps Seniors shall file with 

AmeriCorps a certification, set forth in 31 U.S.C. Section 1352 (“Limitation on use of 

appropriated funds to influence certain Federal contracting and financial transactions”), 

which generally prohibits recipients of Federal grants and cooperative agreements from 

using Federal (appropriated) funds for lobbying the Executive or Legislative branches of 

the Federal Government in connection with a specific grant or cooperative agreement. 

By signing and submitting an application, the application provides certification that the 

recipient understands and will comply with this statutory requirement and that the 

recipient has not made, and will not make, any payment prohibited under section V.A. 

above.

J. For RSVP awards exceeding $100,000, pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1352, the recipient is 

required to file with AmeriCorps a disclosure report, Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of 

Lobbying Activities, in accordance with its instructions, at the end of any quarter, when 

the recipient has paid or agreed to pay, using non-appropriated funds (including any 

profits from any covered Federal action, any lobbying entity for influencing or attempting 

to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or 

employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with a 

covered Federal action. If applicable, the report must be submitted to the grantee’s 

AmeriCorps Senior Portfolio Manager.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
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The recipient is responsible for timely submission of periodic financial and progress reports 

during the project period and a final financial report at the end of the period. 

K. Progress Reports. The recipient shall complete and submit a full progress report at the 

end of the budget period. The report is submitted through the appropriate electronic 

system no later than 30 days after the end of the budget period. 

L. Financial Reports. The recipient shall complete and submit financial reports in eGrants 

to report the status of all funds. The recipient must submit timely financial reports, 

reporting on a cumulative basis from the start of the award over the performance period 

of the award, in accordance with AmeriCorps guidelines. 

Recipients with budget periods starting in April or October submit according to the 

following schedule:

Due Date Reporting Period Covered 

April 30 October 1 - March 31 

October 30 April 1 – September 30 

Recipients with budget periods starting in January or July submit according to the 

following schedule:

Due Date Reporting Period Covered 

July 30 January 1 – June 30 

January 30 July 1 – December 31 

M. Final Financial Report. A recipient must submit, in lieu of the last semi-annual financial 

report, a final financial report. The final report is due no later than 120 days after the end 

of the project period.

N. Reporting at the Dept. of Health and Human Services/Payment Management System 

(HHS/PMS). All recipients must submit the Federal Financial Report (FFR) Cash 

Transactions Report on a quarterly basis to the HHS/PMS per the Electronic Funds 

Transfer Agreement.

O. Requests for Extensions. Each recipient must submit required reports by the given 

dates. Extensions of reporting deadlines will be granted only when: 1) the report cannot 

be furnished in a timely manner for reasons, in the determination of AmeriCorps, which 

are legitimately beyond the control of the Recipient, and 2) AmeriCorps receives a written 

request explaining the need for an extension before the due date of the report.

Extensions of deadlines for reports may only be granted by the AmeriCorps Portfolio 

Manager, as appropriate. 

PROGRAM INCOME
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P. General. Income, including fees for service earned as a direct result of the award-funded 

program activities during the award period, must be retained by the recipient and used to 

finance the award’s non-AmeriCorps share.

Q. Excess Program Income. Program income earned in excess of the amount needed to 

finance the recipient share must follow the appropriate requirements of 2 CFR Parts 200 

and 2205, in particular, 2 CFR 200.307 – Program Income and be deducted from total 

claimed costs, or with approval from AmeriCorps, through a budget amendment be used 

to enhance the program (additive process). Recipients that have unexpended program 

income must report it on-line o of the Federal Financial Report (FFR). 

R. Fees for service. When using assistance under this award, the recipient may not enter 

into a contract for or accept fees for service performed by participants when:

1. The service benefits a for-profit entity;

2. The service falls within the other prohibited activities set forth in statute, regulation, 

or these award terms and conditions.

IV. BUDGET AND PROGRAMMATIC CHANGES

A. Programmatic Changes. The recipient must first obtain the prior written approval of the 

AmeriCorps Portfolio Manager before making any of the following changes (1-3):

1. Changes in the scope, objectives or goals of the project, transfer of the project 

effort, or project timeline whether or not they involve budgetary changes;

2. Substantial changes in key personnel specified in the application;

3. The disengagement from the project for more than three months, or a 25 percent 

reduction in time devoted to the project by the approved Project Director.

Upon notification to the AmeriCorps Portfolio Manager, recipients may make 

programmatic changes due to, or in response to, an officially-declared state or 

national disaster without written approval from AmeriCorps. As soon as 

practicable, recipients making disaster-related programmatic changes must 

discuss the performance measure adjustments, and other AmeriCorps award 

requirements with the AmeriCorps Portfolio Manager. While written approval from 

AmeriCorps not required before making disaster-related programmatic changes, 

AmeriCorps reserves the right to limit or deny disaster-related programmatic 

changes, including disallowing costs associated with the disaster related activities. 

B. Budgetary Changes. The recipient must obtain the prior written approval of AmeriCorps’

Portfolio Manager before deviating from the approved budget in any of the following 

ways:

1. Specific Costs Requiring Prior Approval before Incurrence under the uniform

administrative requirement, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal 

awards at 2 CFR § 200.407. Certain cost items in 2 CFR § 200.407 require prior 
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written approval of the awarding agency for the cost to be allowable such as preaward costs. Please ensure you consult the regulations prior to incurring costs to 

ensure allowability. 

2. Purchases of Equipment over $5,000 using award funds, unless specified in the 

approved application and budget. 

3. Unless the AmeriCorps share of the award is $100,000 or less, changes to 

cumulative and/or aggregate budget line items that amount to 10 percent or more 

of the total budget must be approved in writing in advance by AmeriCorps. The 

total budget includes both the AmeriCorps and recipient shares. Recipients may 

transfer funds among approved direct cost categories when the cumulative amount 

of such transfers does not exceed 10 percent of the total budget. 

C. Approval of Programmatic and Budget Changes. AmeriCorps’ Portfolio Managers are 

the only officials who have the authority to alter or change the terms and conditions or 

requirements of the award. Portfolio Managers will execute written amendments and 

recipients should not assume approvals have been granted unless documentation from 

AmeriCorps’ Office of Grant Administration (OGA) has been received via a notice of 

grant award. Programmatic changes also require final approval of AmeriCorps’ OGA 

after written recommendation for approval is received from the Portfolio Manager.

V. NATIONAL SERVICE CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK TRAINING

All recipients must complete AmeriCorps’ National Service Criminal History Check (NSCHC) 

training every year. The AmeriCorps designated e-course provides a thorough overview of the 

requirements and can be found at: https://www.nationalservice.gov/reqCHCtraining, unless 

otherwise notified by AmeriCorps. Each grant recipient must identify at minimum one staff 

person who has some responsibility for NSCHC compliance to fulfill this requirement on behalf 

of the grant recipient or subrecipient. The grant recipient must retain the certificate of 

completion and assign staff to retake the course annually prior to the expiration of the 

certificate. Grant recipients should save certificates of completion from each year as grant 

records.