FY 2020 Terms and Conditions

 Volunteer Generation Fund Grants 

These Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) Grant Program 

Specific Terms and Conditions and the General Terms and Conditions, are binding 

on the recipient. 

Due to COVID 19, CNCS has provided guidance that informs the applicability, 

implementation, or enforcement of the terms and conditions due to legislative changes 

and new facts that support discretionary agency action. Please refer to the COVID-19 

FAQs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I. Changes from the 2019 Terms and Conditions for Volunteer Generation Fund 

Grants 

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II. Definitions 2 

III. Budget and Programmatic Changes 2 

IV. Reporting Requirements 4

V. Award Period and Incremental Funding 5 

VI. Program Income 6

VII. National Service Criminal History Check Training 6 

 
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I. CHANGES FROM THE 2019 TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR 

VOLUNTEER GENERATION FUND GRANTS 

1. Changed Office of Grants Management to Office of Grant Administration 

(OGA) and updated Grants Officer titles to Grants Award Specialist.

2. Added references to Portfolio Managers, applicable to awards that have 

transitioned to the regions, as opposed to the Program Officer, applicable 

to awards that have not yet transitioned. 

3. Section III.A.3. – Added the section regarding adding subawards or 

contracts and making disaster related changes.

4. Section IV.A. – Updated the Due Date and Reporting Period Covered for 

Progress Reports.

5. Section VII – Updated the link for the e-Course.

 

II. DEFINITIONS 

 

A. Recipient, for the purposes of this agreement, means the direct recipient of 

this award. The recipient is legally accountable to CNCS for the use of 

award funds and is bound by the provisions of the award. The recipient is 

responsible for ensuring that subrecipients or other organizations carrying 

out activities under this award comply with all applicable Federal 

requirements, including the CNCS General Terms and Conditions, these 

specific terms and conditions, regulations applicable to the program, and 

the NCSA. 

 

B. Subrecipient refers to an organization receiving award funds from a 

recipient of CNCS funds. See 2 CFR § 200.93. 

 

C. Program refers to the activities supported under the award. 

 

D. NCSA means the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as 

amended. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 12501-12657. 

 

III. BUDGET AND PROGRAMMATIC CHANGES 

 

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

approval of the Program Officer/ Portfolio Manager before making any of 

the following changes: 

 

1. Changes in the scope, objectives or goals of the program, whether 

or not they involve budgetary changes. 
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2. Entering into subawards or contracts for activities funded by the 

award, but not identified or included in the approved application 

and/or award. 

3. Entering into additional sub awards or contracts for activities 

funded by the award, but not identified or included in the approved 

application and award budget. 

Upon notification to the CNCS Program Officer/ Portfolio 

Manager, recipients may make programmatic changes due to, or in 

response to, an officially-declared state or national disaster without 

written approval from CNCS. As soon as practicable, recipients 

making disaster-related programmatic changes must discuss the 

recordkeeping, performance measure adjustments, and other award 

requirements with the CNCS Program Officer/ Portfolio Manager. 

While written approval from CNCS is not required before making 

disaster-related programmatic changes, CNCS 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 CNCS’s Office of Grant Administration 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 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, unless specified in the 

approved application and budget. 

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

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

per cent or more of the total budget must be approved in writing in 

advance by CNCS. The total budget includes both the CNCS 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. 

 
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 C. Approvals of Programmatic and Budget Changes. CNCS’s Grant

Award Specialists are the only officials who have the authority to alter or 

change the terms and conditions or requirements of the award. Grant

Award Specialists will execute written amendments, and recipients should 

not assume approvals have been granted unless documentation from the 

Office of Grant Administration has been received. Programmatic changes 

also require final approval of CNCS’s Office of Grant Administration after 

written recommendation for approval is received from the Program 

Officer/Portfolio Manager. 

 

IV. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

 

The recipient is responsible for timely submission of periodic financial and 

progress reports during the project period and a final financial report and for 

setting submission deadlines for its respective subrecipients that ensure the timely 

submission of recipient reports. 

 

A. Progress Reports. The recipient shall complete and submit one annual 

progress report in eGrants to report on progress toward achievement of its 

approved performance targets. 

 

 Due Date Reporting Period Covered 

December 31 Start of award year through September 30 

 

B. Federal Financial Reports. The recipient shall complete and submit 

financial reports in eGrants to report the status of all funds. The recipient 

must submit timely cumulative financial reports in accordance with CNCS 

guidelines according to the following schedule: 

 

 Due Date Reporting Period Covered 

 April 30 Start of award through March 31 

 October 31 April 1 – September 30 

 

A recipient must set submission deadlines for its respective subrecipients 

that ensure the timely submission of recipient reports. 

 

The recipient must submit the Federal Financial Report (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. 

 
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C. Reporting Other Federal Funds. The recipient shall report the amount 

and sources of federal funds, other than those provided by CNCS, claimed 

as matching funds. This includes other federal funds expended by 

subrecipients and operating sites and claimed as match. This information 

shall be reported annually on the financial report due October 31st or at the 

time the final financial report is submitted if the final report is due prior to 

October 31st. 

 

D. 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 CNCS, legitimately beyond the control of the 

recipient, 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 

Grant Award Specialist/ Portfolio Manager, and extensions of deadlines 

for progress reports may only be granted by the AmeriCorps Program 

Officer/ Portfolio Manager. 

 

E. Final Financial Reports. A recipient must submit, in lieu of the last 

semi-annual financial report, a final financial report. This final report is 

due no later than 90 days after the end of the project period. 

F. Final Progress Reports. In the final grant year, a recipient must submit, a 

final progress report in lieu of an annual progress report. This final 

progress report is due no later than 90 days after the end of the project 

period. 

 

V. AWARD PERIOD AND INCREMENTAL FUNDING 

 

For the purpose of the award, the 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. 

 

Unless otherwise specified, the award covers a three-year project period. In 

approving a multi-year project period, CNCS 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. 
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CNCS 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. 

 

VI. PROGRAM INCOME 

 

A. 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-CNCS share. 

 

B. 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 Part 200 and be deducted from total claimed costs. 

Recipients that earn excess income must specify the amount of the excess 

on the financial report. 

 

C. Fees for Service. When using assistance under this award, the recipient 

may not enter into a contract for or accept fees for service when: 

 

1. The service benefits a for-profit entity, 

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

these award provisions, or 

3. The service violates the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 12637 –

Nonduplication and Nondisplacement. 

VII. NATIONAL SERVICE CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK TRAINING 

 

All recipients and subrecipients must complete CNCS’ National Service Criminal 

History Check (NSCHC) training every year. The CNCS designated e-course 

provides a thorough overview of the requirements and can be found at: 

https://cncsonlinecourses.litmos.com. Please use the link 

http://cncsonlinecourses.litmos.com/self-signup/ and code CNCS-Litmos to set up 

your Litmos account. Each grant recipient and subrecipient 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 and subrecipient must retain the certificate of completion and assign staff to 

retake the course annually prior to the expiration of the certificate. Grant recipients 

and subrecipients should save certificates of completion from each year as grant 

records.