Fiscal Year 2024 AmeriCorps Seniors 

Foster Grandparent and Senior 

Companion Replacement Opportunity

Frequently Asked Questions

AmeriCorps Seniors

November 15, 2023
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Table of Contents

Award Information .................................................................................................................... 1

Eligible Organizations................................................................................................................ 2

Selection Criteria and Review ................................................................................................. 2

eGrants....................................................................................................................................... 3

Budget ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Volunteers and Volunteer Stations.......................................................................................... 7

Geographic Service Area........................................................................................................ 7

Performance Measures ............................................................................................................ 7

Other ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Award Information

1.1 Is a separate application needed to apply for multiple geographic service areas? 

No. Applicants may apply to as many geographic service areas as they wish in one application, 

if they are able to demonstrate sufficient local knowledge, presence, and administrative 

capacity to successfully sponsor each area. Applicants interested in applying for opportunities in 

both programs would need to submit a separate application for each program.

1.2 How does my organization determine how much federal funding we should apply 

for?

Applicants can request as much funds needed to support a successful program. Budget cannot

exceed the cost per 1 Volunteer Service Year (VSY) of $9,000. For example, federal share request 

amount of $180,000 means there will be at least 20 VSYs budgeted and placed in outcomebased work plans. 

Example: 20 VSYs x $9,000 =$180,000 request for federal funding. 

1.3 How will my application be scored if my organization applies for three service 

opportunities and another organization apply for four service opportunities but in our 

applications, we propose to serve two of the same counties?

All applications will be scored based Section E Application Review Information in the Notice. 

The proposed service area will be considered in the overall scoring of the application. Final 

funding decision will be made based on the amount of federal funding available and the 

quality of the applications.
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Eligible Organizations

2.1 Can two or more organizations jointly apply for one grant? 

No. One organization must be identified as the sponsor organization. Other organizations can 

become volunteer stations but would not be considered the grantee. AmeriCorps Seniors does 

not allow sub-awards.

2.2. We are in the process of becoming a new non‐profit and do not yet have a Unique 

Entity Identifier (UEI), IRS non‐profit status document, or a 990. Can we still apply? 

No. The applicant organization must be an established non‐profit at the time the application is 

submitted. If the organization does not yet have a 501(c) non‐profit designation the organization 

is not eligible to apply. Written proof that an organization has a 501(c) non-profit designation by 

the Secretary of State (or similar governmental organization in your state) would be sufficient 

documentation for the documentation requirement #14 in the Grant Application Instructions.

2.2. If the geographic area I wish to serve is not listed in Appendix A, can I apply for 

that service area? 

Yes, applicants are not limited to this list of states and territories to apply for, but AmeriCorps 

Seniors is prioritizing projects that designate geographic service areas operating in these states 

and territories due to relinquishments.

2.3. Does a legal applicant need to have an address in the county? 

No. The legal applicant must have sufficient local presence to directly manage the proposed 

AmeriCorps Seniors grant. The operation of an AmeriCorps Seniors grant cannot be delegated 

to another organization, even if the other organization is an affiliate of the legal applicant. 

2.5. Are labor organizations eligible to apply? 

No.

Selection Criteria and Review

3.1. How will applications be selected for funding?

Applications will be selected for funding based on the strength of the applications responses to 

the questions outlined in the NOFO. As stated in the NOFO each application will be reviewed by 

a panel of AmeriCorps staff members. Amongst other factors, as detailed in the NOFO, the 

results of those reviews will be provided to the AmeriCorps Seniors Director to inform funding 

decisions.
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eGrants

4.1. How do I enter my Authorized Representative name in my application?

 

The Authorized Representative for your organization must login to eGrants with their own user 

account, click on the assurances and conditions, and submit the grant application. This will 

allow their name to show up as the authorized representative for the grant application. 

4.2. I cannot complete the validate function for the performance measures. When I go 

to validate, it says that you must have a performance measure for all objectives. What 

am I doing wrong? 

It is likely that you have checked an objective on the first Performance Measure screen and 

have not entered a work plan for that objective. Contact the National Service Hotline at 1-800-

942-2677 or via webform if further assistance is needed. 

4.4. We intend to hire someone new for the project director position if the grant was 

awarded. Who should we enter as the project director in eGrants if that person is not 

yet hired? 

You may enter another person who is currently at your organization, such as the person who 

would be the project director’s supervisor. The project director name can be updated later in 

eGrants if the grant is awarded. 

4.5. Our organization headquarters is located separately from where the AmeriCorps 

Seniors Foster Grandparent and/or Senior Companion Program project office would be 

located. Which address should be listed as the project location address in eGrants? 

When creating the organization, enter the organization headquarters address (see the Grant 

Application Instructions). When entering the project location (see the Grant Application 

Instructions), enter the project location address. 

4.6. Are footnotes or endnotes allowed in the application narrative? 

No. eGrants does not support the use of footnotes or endnotes. 

4.7. Is there a specific font or font size that should be used for the narrative? 

eGrants will format all font entered to a specific size. Font size cannot be altered in eGrants.

4.8. In order to estimate the length of my narratives, I am trying to set up my Microsoft 

Word document to correspond exactly with the spacing and font size that eGrants uses 

for the printable version of an application. What spacing and font does the eGrants 

system use? 
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The eGrants system uses Georgia font, 11 point. The line spacing is 1.8, multiple. The header is 

0.81” from the top, the footer is 0.24” from the bottom, the left indentation is 0.08”, and the right 

indentation is 0.12”. 

4.9. When I view the printable version of my application in eGrants, part of the service 

activity description is cut off by a page break and is not included on the following 

page. Will reviewers be able to see the full description? 

Yes. We will ensure that during the review there is a process for reviewers to view the entire 

description. 

4.10. I have been emailing my required document(s) to 

FGPSCPReplacement@cns.gov, but the documents section of my application in 

eGrants still shows ‘not sent’ next to each document. Why is this? 

You must manually update the document section of eGrants to indicate whether you have sent 

each document. It does not update automatically based on documents emailed.

4.11. When I view the pdf of my application narratives, I see upside down question 

marks instead of the apostrophes and other special characters that I entered. How can 

I fix this? 

eGrants does not support the use of special characters. There is not a solution for this issue other 

than to type your narratives without special characters. Reviewers will be aware of this issue.

4.12. Are tables allowed in the narratives section? If so, can the text within the tables 

be single‐ spaced? 

Tables are not permitted in the narrative section. eGrants only supports text.

4.13. NEW Is it required to have a full Project Director?

For new applicants yes. Section 2552.25(c) for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and 

2551.25(c) of the Code of Federal Regulations states projects should employ a full-time project 

director to accomplish project objectives and manage the functions and activities delegated to 

project staff for Foster Grandparent projects(s) within its control.

For current AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program grantees applying to permanently 

add a geographic service area, no. They don’t need to budget for a full-time director, as their 

current grant has the full-time director already.
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Budget

5.1. There are two sections to enter the Source of Matching Funds, one in Budget 

Section I and another in Budget Section II. Do I have to complete both? 

It depends on which sections contain your non‐AmeriCorps funds. If you include non‐AmeriCorps 

funds (grantee share) in the budget for both Budget Section I and Budget Section II, then you 

would complete the Source of Matching Funds in both Budget Section I and Budget Section II. If 

you only have non‐AmeriCorps funds in one of the budget sections, then you would only 

complete the Source of Matching Funds for the section where you budget your grantee share. 

5.2. In the indirect cost budget section, if we enter our indirect costs in the grantee 

share column rather than the CNCS share column, do we have to submit our indirect 

cost rate agreement? 

No. Applicants are no longer required to submit an indirect cost rate agreement to AmeriCorps. 

Instead, they enter the details of the approved agreement in eGrants, following the instructions 

in the Application Instructions.

5.3. How do I know what volunteer insurance to include in the budget? 

For information about required volunteer insurance and other reimbursable expenses for

AmeriCorps Seniors’ Senior Companion Program (SCP) grants, please review the cost 

reimbursement section of the Federal Regulations at 45 CFR §2551.46; for information about 

required volunteer insurance and other reimbursable expenses for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster 

Grandparent Program (FGP) grants, please review the cost reimbursement section of the 

Federal Regulations at 45 CFR §2552.46. A link to the Federal Regulations is found on page 4 of 

the Notice. Volunteer insurance could be obtained through an organization such as CIMA: 

https://www.cimaworld.com/nonprofits/protecting-volunteers/ or another volunteer insurance 

provider. 

5.4. Please clarify how the “Excess Amount” category is to be used in calculating the 

budget. 

The Excess column of the budget may be used to reflect the amount of non‐AmeriCorps cash 

and in‐kind contributions generated by a sponsor in excess of the required percentage. An 

applicant is not required to utilize the excess column but may do so if they choose. For instance, 

if project staff spend time on fundraising, the applicant may choose to reflect the amount of 

time spent on fundraising in the excess column as time spent on these activities cannot be paid 

for through AmeriCorps Seniors funds or through non‐AmeriCorps funds that are part of the 

required non‐AmeriCorps share. Please note that resources included in the Excess Amount are 

not considered part of the grant budget. They should not be included in the base on which you 

calculate indirect costs nor should the source of them be included in the Source of Funds 

section. 

 

5.5. We do not yet have an approved negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, but we 

hope to have one in the next few months. How should we handle this? 
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At the time the application is submitted, if an indirect cost rate agreement is not yet approved, 

the applicant may budget indirect costs using a de minimis rate or budget the costs as direct costs. If the 

application is awarded and the indirect cost rate agreement is approved, an amendment 

could be done at a later time to adjust the budget for the new indirect cost rate agreement. 

5.6. Can federal funds from other sources be used towards the non‐AmeriCorps 

match? 

Federal funds from other federal agencies, in most cases, are not allowed to be used as match 

on AmeriCorps Seniors grant awards. However, some federal agencies may specifically 

designate that their federal funding is allowed to be used as match on another federal award, 

such an AmeriCorps Seniors grant award. The applicant is responsible for determining whether a 

federal agency may allow their funding to be used as match on an AmeriCorps Seniors award.

All AmeriCorps Seniors grants must operate in accordance with the Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audits Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), 

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200?toc=1.

5.7. What is the length of time for the fiscal year for the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster 

Grandparent/Senior Companion program? 

All AmeriCorps Seniors grants have a 12-month fiscal year. 

5.8. Should the source of Excess Funds be included in the budget section titled “Source 

of Funds”? 

No. The Source of Funds section is for the grantee share or non‐AmeriCorps share of the budget.

5.9. Where can I find a definition of allowable in‐kind funding? 

As stated in the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR Part 200, third‐party in‐kind contributions means the 

value of non‐cash contributions (i.e. property or services) that – (a) benefit a federally assisted 

project or program; and (b) are contributed by non‐AmeriCorps third parties, without charge, to 

a non‐AmeriCorps entity under a federal award.

5.10. Are dues for membership in the AmeriCorps Seniors Associations and other 

professional associations allowable as a grant cost? If so, how much do these dues 

typically cost? 

Yes, under 2 CFR § 200.454, membership dues in professional associations are an allowable cost. 

AmeriCorps Seniors grantees can include membership dues for AmeriCorps Seniors and other 

professional associations in their grant budgets. They can be budgeted as AmeriCorps share and 

required grantee share, and as excess. Travel related with these associations can also be 

budgeted. 

For typical cost of these dues, contact the professional association that you intend to join.
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Volunteers and Volunteer Stations

6.1. Is more than one volunteer station required? 

There is no required number of volunteer stations. All AmeriCorps Seniors projects are required to 

have least one operating volunteer station. however, most AmeriCorps Seniors projects have 

many more than one station. 

6.2. Can a volunteer station be included in more than one work plan if there is more 

than one service activity occurring at the station? 

Yes. Each work plan is developed based on the service activities selected for an 

output/outcome pair, not based on one particular volunteer station. One volunteer station may 

have many service activities occurring there and so may appear in more than one work plan.

6.3. Where can I find a list of station types for the station roster?

If your application is selected for funding, the station roster must be submitted no later than 6 months 

from award start date. Your application should be submitted in eGrants without the station roster 

section completed. It is required that at least one active volunteer station be listed on the station roster 

for each Geographic Service Area (GSA) list on the application.

Geographic Service Area

7.1. Will an open service area be awarded to just one organization, or can it be split 

between multiple awards? 

This depends. Each application will be evaluated, and opportunities will be awarded based on 

the strength of the application and the populous of the proposed service area. Applications are 

evaluated on whole applications. There should be no duplication of service and volunteers. 

More than one AmeriCorps Seniors program can be in the same geographic service area if

there is no duplication of services. An AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP and Foster Grandparent program 

can be in the same service area if they are not both doing the same performance measures 

and using the same stations. Two AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent programs can be in 

the same geographic service area if there is no volunteer and station overlap between the 

projects. AmeriCorps Seniors will notify awarded applicants of accepted service locations at 

the conclusion of the competition.

7.2. Why don’t I see my current grant geographical service area in Appendix A? 

This year’s competition is specifically to AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and Senior 

Companion Program programming in states that have recently closed programs. To keep 

resources within the effected states, AmeriCorps Seniors is prioritizing states that have recently 

had projects relinquished.

Performance Measures
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8.1. What is a work plan? 

A work plan is a part of the grant application used to show how the sponsoring organization’s 

volunteers will serve in their communities and achieve specific results.

8.2. How frequently will I report on performance measures? How much time per month 

does it involve? 

You will be required to submit a full progress report annually on your progress toward your 

targets. Additionally, you will report on outputs semi‐annually. As stated in the Notice, recipients 

are required to provide bi‐annual progress reports and bi‐annual financial and narrative progress 

reports through eGrants. The time varies per grantee based on their internal recordkeeping. On 

average, AmeriCorps Seniors expects a burden of about 4 hours per report.

Other

9.1. Is there a contact person that I can send questions to about this competition? 

All questions for this competition must be sent to FGPSCPReplacement@cns.gov. Although there 

is not a contact person for one-on-one technical assistance, questions submitted to this inbox will 

receive responses through this FAQ document. 

9.2. If an organization submits an application for this competition, is it obligated to 

remain in the competition until its completion, or can it withdraw its application at any 

time during the competition? 

The organization can withdraw the application. If the organization does need to withdraw, 

please send an email as soon as possible to FGPSCPReplacement@cns.govmailto: at any time 

after grant application submission. 

9.3. Me gustaría solicitar información sobre la propuesta en español. (I would like to 

request information about the proposal in Spanish.)

Envíe un correo electrónico a FGPSCPReplacement@cns.gov con una solicitud de materiales 

traducidos al español.

(Please email FGPSCPReplacement@cns.gov with request for Spanish translated materials.)

9.4. Our organization is currently a grantee and are operating within a temporary 

geographic service area. Do we need to apply to this opportunity?

Yes. If your organization was granted permission by AmeriCorps to operate within a geographic 

service area that was not a part of your original project, the new geographic service area needs 

to be applied for during this opportunity. The application will only be for the new service area 

and will not have an impact on your current grant. If the application is successful, the original 

project can be amended to merge both into a single grant. 

Without a successful grant application, organizations will not be allowed to operate in temporary 

geographic service areas beyond June 2024.
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9.5. Our organization is currently a temporary sponsor of a relinquished project. Do we 

need to apply to this opportunity?

Yes. If your organization was granted permission by AmeriCorps to operate as a temporary 

sponsor for a relinquished project, in order to maintain services as an AmeriCorps grantee, the 

organization must apply for this opportunity. 

Without a successful grant application, organizations currently operating as temporary sponsors 

for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs will not be funded 

beyond June 2024.