2017 Terms and Conditions for

National Service and Civic Engagement 

Research Competition

Effective October 1, 2017

These Corporation for National & Community Services (CNCS) Grant Program Specific 

Terms and Conditions and the General Terms and Conditions are binding on the recipient

Table of Contents

I. Statutory Authority 2

II. National Service and Civic Engagement Research 

Competition Specific Terms and Conditions

A. Definitions 2

B. Roles and Responsibilities of the Recipient 3

C. Roles and Responsibilities of CNCS 4

D. Notification of Budget, Staff and Management Changes 5

E. Reporting Requirements 5

F. Cooperative Agreement Period and Incremental Funding 8

G. Breaches of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) 9
2

I. STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This award is authorized by and subject to Subtitle H – Investment for Quality and Innovation, 

Part III – National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competitions Pilot Program, 

Section 198K (Funds) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as amended by the 

Serve America Act (the “NCSA”), 42 U.S.C. §12653(d) and by the Federal Grant and 

Cooperative Agreement Act (FGCAA), 31 USC §§6301-6308. Other authorities are outlined in 

the General Terms and Conditions.

II. NATIONAL SERVICE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH 

COMPETITION SPECIFIC TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

A. DEFINITIONS- For this Cooperative Agreement the following definitions apply: 

1. Application means all information and materials (including all assurances and 

certifications, the proposed budget as approved by CNCS, or any information incorporated 

by reference) submitted by the Awardee in CNCS’s eGrants system in response to the 

Notice of Federal Funds Availability, including any amendments or modifications to the 

information and materials made in response to any CNCS request for clarification. Copies 

of the assurances and certifications agreed to in the eGrants system are included for 

reference as appendices to these Terms and Conditions.

2. Awardee means the direct recipient of this award under section 198k of the NCSA 

(42U.S.C. 12653k).

3. Civic infrastructure is defined as the “invisible structures and processes through which 

the social contract is written and rewritten in communities,” “the formal and informal 

processes and networks through which communities make decisions and solve problems”, 

or “the network that exists among local groups such as community development 

corporations (CDCs), foundations, other nonprofits, local governments, public housing 

authorities, businesses, and voluntary associations”. 

4. Civic engagement is defined as a cluster of individual efforts and activities oriented 

toward making “a difference in the civic life of ... communities and developing the 

combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means 

promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political 

processes” and through informal or formal networks. 

5. Volunteering is unpaid, noncompulsory work, specifically, time one gives without pay 

to activities performed either through organizations such as schools, nonprofits, churches, 

civic, or political organizations (e.g., formal) or directly for others outside one’s own 

household (e.g., informal).
3

6. National service is defined as a structured opportunity for individuals to serve their 

communities for an extended period of time through volunteering with or without a stipend. 

CNCS is the largest supporter of national service, though other avenues for national service 

exist and this competition is not exclusive to opportunities funded by CNCS. 

7. Social capital can be understood as the “shared norms or values that promote social 

cooperation, instantiated in actual social relationships” (Fukuyama 2002) or as the 

facilitating agent for social cohesion and civic engagement.

B. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RECIPIENT

1. General

The Awardee must perform the activities supported by this Cooperative Agreement in 

compliance with the statutes, regulations and administrative authorities cited or referred to 

in these Terms and Conditions, in conformance with its approved Application (including 

the approved budget), and consistent with any approvals or directions provided by CNCS in 

the course of carrying out the Cooperative Agreement. The Awardee is legally accountable 

to CNCS for the use of award funds and is bound by the provisions of the award. 

2. National Service Criminal History Check Requirements

CNCS has determined that the National Service Criminal History Check Requirements as 

set forth under the General Terms and Conditions, paragraph 3. E., are not applicable to this 

Research grant competition and that awardees need not fulfill that requirement to be in 

compliance with the responsibilities under this Cooperative Agreement.

3. Affiliation with CNCS and with the National Service and Civic Engagement 

Research Competition

a. Identification as a CNCS funded research project. The awardee must identify the 

research project as a CNCS-funded research project. All publications, conference 

presentations, posters, or other dissemination activities related to the project funded 

by the National Service and Civic Engagement Research Competition must 

explicitly state that the project is funded by CNCS. Please see “Section N. Award 

Products” in the 2017 General Grant And Cooperative Agreement Terms And 

Conditions that specifies how grantees should share grant products and acknowledge 

CNCS support in publications and other material.

b. To publicize the relationship between the research project and CNCS, the awardee

must acknowledge funding by CNCS and include in any product that discusses the 

study or findings: “a research project funded by the Office of Research and 
4

Evaluation at the Corporation for National and Community through the National 

Service and Civic Engagement grant competition” Also, some of the 2017 awardees 

are also receiving funding from Senior Corps and/or AmeriCorps. As an awardee 

with more than one type of a funding stream, please also acknowledge the CNCS 

program that has contributed funds.

c. The awardee may not use or display the CNCS name or logo in connection with any 

activity prohibited in these provisions, or if the activity is not funded by this grant or 

is not prohibited in these provisions, the awardee may not use or display the CNCS 

name or logo unless they have received written permission to do so from the CNCS 

Office of External Affairs.

C. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CNCS

Performance under this Cooperative Agreement is subject to the general oversight and 

monitoring of CNCS. Additional substantial involvement of CNCS will include:

a. Research Plans

Reviewing and approving the Awardee’s work plan and final research plan for carrying out 

the research project.

b. Convening of Awardees

Convening awardees to discuss projects and share feedback with one another. These 

convenings may include awardees attending and presenting at the CNCS Research Summit, 

Grantee meetings, CNCS program convenings, webinars, etc.. The convenings may also 

include CNCS staff and external experts identified by CNCS and the awardees.

c. Access to CNCS data and Program Staff

i. Facilitating access to CNCS data sources that are publicly available and 

reasonable to obtain as well as facilitating restricted use data with additional data 

sharing agreements. 

ii. Facilitating access to CNCS program staff relevant to the awardees’ research 

projects, in a manner that is reasonable and not overly-burdensome on CNCS staff.

iii. CNCS is under no obligation to provide access to data or staff if such access 

is not feasible or deemed overly costly by CNCS.

d. Dissemination of Research Project Results
5

i. CNCS may decide to disseminate the results of awardee research projects, 

either in a report produced by awardees, or material produced by CNCS based on the 

report.

ii. CNCS will provide feedback for final product.

D. NOTIFICATION OF BUDGET, STAFF AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Within 5 business days, the Awardee must notify CNCS of any change in the staffing of 

any key position included (in whole or in part) as a cost in the award budget. This 

requirement applies regardless of whether the position is included in the federal or 

matching cost portions of the budget. The Awardee must also notify CNCS of any changes 

in any positions which are not included in the approved budget, but which involve 

leadership oversight of the activity under this award. The Awardee must also notify CNCS 

of any change in the senior leadership of the Awardee.

The recipient must first obtain the prior written approval of the Program Office before 

changes in the scope, objectives or goals of the program, whether or not they involve 

budgetary changes.

The recipient must obtain the prior written approval of CNCS’s Office of Grants 

Management 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 Parts 200 and 2205. Certain cost items in 2 CFR Parts 200 and 

2205 require approval of the award agency for the cost to be incurred as allowable. 

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 CNCS award is $50,000 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 CNCS. 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.

CNCS Grants Officers are the only officials who have the authority to alter or change the 

terms and conditions of the award. Grants Officers will execute written amendments, and 

recipients should not assume approvals have been granted unless documentation from the 
6

Grants Office has been received. Programmatic changes also require final approval of 

CNCS’ Office of Grants Management after written recommendation for approval is 

received from the Program Office.

E. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

1. Recipient Reports for 2017 Awardees

a. Each awardee will deliver to the CNCS Program officer a final research workplan

for Year 1 by October 16, 2017. The workplan will set forth the process including 

activities and timeline, to be used to fulfill the grant requirements. An example 

workplan will be provided.

b. In Year 1, each awardee shall participate in phone meetings with other awardees as 

requested and with staff from the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) on a 

regular schedule to be determined to discuss the workplan, research projects, paper 

presentations, and publications.

c. In Year 1, each awardee shall work with ORE to prepare documents to be used 

publically regarding the research completed in Year 1. 

d. Each awardee shall submit a draft report (no more than 25 pages double spaced not 

including appendices) for Year 1 to the CNCS Program officer identified. This 

report shall constitute findings for Year 1 based on the research performed by that 

date. This draft report (that will be labeled as a semiannual report in eGrants) will 

be due for the period ending June 30, 2018 by July 31, 2018, and will be reviewed 

by CNCS within 45 days. The final report (that will be labeled as a second 

semiannual report in eGrants) of the initial research performed in the first year of the 

grant will be due for the period ending September 30, 2018 by October 30, 2018 and 

will address any comments offered by CNCS in the review of the draft submitted 

before July 31, 2018. 

e. If an awardee only receives Year 1 funding and chooses not to apply for 

continuation funding in Year 2, they will work with CNCS to create material such as 

a brief or other written material (e.g., article) about their study that can be shared 

publically. It may be that these awardees may complete activities (e.g., written 

material such as articles with CNCS) past the project period of September 30, 2018. 

If so, no cost extensions may be granted for Year 2. 

f. If applicable, Awardees understand and agree that in subsequent continuation years 

of the grant, there will be reporting requirements that will be similar to, but may not 

match exactly, the reporting requirements set forth in paragraphs E. Awardees 
7

receiving continuation grants in year 2 agree to comply with the current reporting 

requirements.

2. Recipient Reports for 2015 Awardees

a. Each awardee will deliver to the CNCS Program officer a final research workplan 

for Year 3 by October 16, 2017. The workplan will set forth the process including 

activities and timeline, to be used to fulfill the grant requirements. An example 

workplan will be provided.

b. In Year 3, each awardee shall participate in phone meetings with other awardees as 

requested and with staff from the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) on a 

regular schedule to be determined to discuss the workplan, research projects, paper 

presentations, and publications.

c. In Year 3, each awardee shall work with ORE to prepare documents to be used 

publically regarding the research completed during Years 1 through 3. 

d. Each awardee shall submit at least one article that is of publishable quality. A draft 

report (i.e., draft article), shall constitute findings from Year 1 to Year 3 based on 

the research performed by that date. This draft article (that will be labeled as a 

semiannual report in eGrants) will be due for the period ending June 30, 2018 by 

July 31, 2018, and will be reviewed by CNCS within 30 days. The final report (that 

will be labeled as a second semiannual report in eGrants) will be due for the period 

ending September 30, 2018 by October 30, 2018 and will address any comments 

offered by CNCS in the review of the draft submitted before July 31, 2018.

e. In addition to the article(s), it is expected that the awardee will submit material that 

could be publically shared such as relevant datasets, instruments, interview 

questions, etc. Please see “Section N. Award Products” in the 2017 General Grant 

And Cooperative Agreement Terms And Conditions that specifies how grantees 

should share grant products and acknowledge CNCS support in publications and 

other material

e. It is expected that the 2015 awardees may complete activities (e.g., written material 

such as articles with CNCS) past the project period of September 30, 2018. If so, no 

cost extensions may be granted. 

3. Financial Reports

The Awardee must submit semi-annual cumulative Federal Financial Reports (FFR), 

summarizing expenditures during the reporting period. These reports will be submitted 
8

timely through the appropriate electronic system. At the discretion of CNCS, the FFR 

deadlines are as follows:

Due Date Reporting Period Covered

Year 1 of Cooperative Agreement

April 30 Start of Award through March 31

October 31 April 1 through September 30

Years 2-3 of Cooperative Agreement

April 30 October 1 through March 31

October 31 April 1 through September 30

All Awardees must also submit an FFR - Cash Transactions Report on a quarterly basis to 

the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management System per the 

Electronic Funds Transfer Agreement.

4. Requests for Extensions

Requests for extensions of reporting deadlines will be granted when 1) the report cannot be 

furnished in a timely manner for reasons legitimately beyond the control of the Awardee; 

and 2) CNCS receives a written request explaining the need for an extension before the due 

date of the report. Extensions of deadlines for financial reports may only be granted by the 

Office of Grants Management, and extensions of deadlines for Progress Reports may only 

be granted by the Office of Research & Evaluation or another office deemed appropriate by 

CNCS.

5. Final Financial Report

An Awardee completing the final year of its Cooperative Agreement must submit, in lieu of 

the last semi-annual financial report, a final financial report, this report is due no later than 

90 days after the end of the Cooperative Agreement.

F. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PERIOD AND INCREMENTAL FUNDING

For the purpose of National Service and Civic Engagement Cooperative Agreements, a 

project period is the complete length of time an Awardee is proposed to be funded to 

complete approved activities under the agreement. 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 an Awardee's approved activities and budget.
9

Unless otherwise specified, the Awardee’s Cooperative Agreement covers a three (3) year 

project period, contingent upon the availability of funding and compliance by the awardee 

with the Cooperative Agreement. Additional funding is contingent upon satisfactory 

performance as determined by CNCS and the availability of funds. The project period and 

the budget period are noted on the Notice of Grant Award.

G. BREACHES OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII)

All recipients need to be prepared for potential breaches of Personally Identified 

Information, PII. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines PII as any 

information about an individual, including, but not limited to, education, financial 

transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and information which 

can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, social 

security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, biometric records, etc.,

including any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an individual. All 

recipients must ensure they have procedures in place to prepare for and respond to breaches 

of PII, and notify the federal awarding agency in the event of a breach.

If your CNCS grant-funded program or project creates, collects, uses, processes, stores, 

maintains, disseminates, discloses or disposes of PII within the scope of that Federal grant 

award, or uses or operates a Federal information system, you must establish procedures to 

prepare for and respond to a potential breach of PII, including notice of a breach of PII to 

CNCS. Grantees experiencing a breach should notify CNCS’ Office of Information 

Technology, your CNCS Program Officer, and CNCS’ Office of Inspector General.

.