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AmeriCorps State and National

Planning Grant Progress Report Instructions

Who completes the Planning Grant Progress Report?

All National/Tribal planning grantees must complete a Grantee Progress Report (GPR) describing the 

progress made during the planning period. (State commission planning subgrantees are included in the 

regular commission End-of-Year and Final GPRs.)

What are the components of the GPR?

The GPR for planning grants consists of a set of narrative responses. No demographic or performance 

measure data is requested.

Please complete the report using eGrants (http://www.nationalservice.gov/egrants/), the Corporation’s 

integrated, secure, web-based system for grants management, and follow these instructions. 

Please note: AmeriCorps GPRs are not visible to grantees in eGrants until 2 months prior to their due 

date.

When is the Planning Grant GPR due?

The GPR is due 90 days after the grant end date.

If you cannot meet the submission deadline for the progress report, you must request an extension from 

your Portfolio Manager. Requests for extensions may be granted when:

1. The report cannot be finished in a timely manner for reasons legitimately beyond the control 

of the grantee, and

2. CNCS receives a request explaining the need for an extension before the due date of the 

report.

Selecting the Right GPR

After logging into eGrants, click the “Progress Report” link in the lower right corner of the screen.

 
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Find the grant number for your planning grant, and expand the list by clicking on the orange arrow key 

to the right of the grant number and grant name. 

Find the progress report with a due date of 90 days after your grant end date (the progress report type 

should be "Progress Report Lite Quarterly"), and click on the “edit” link. You will be taken to the main 

progress report screen. If you do not see a report that has the appropriate type and due date, please 

let your Portfolio Manager know.

Reporting Period

The reporting period is from the beginning of your planning grant through the end date of your grant. 

The reporting period listed in eGrants may be incorrect; please ignore it.
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General Information Tab 

On this tab, you will see information for the progress report you have selected. Check the Progress 

Report Type and Due Date to ensure you have selected the correct report. If you have not selected the 

correct report, click the “Cancel” button and select the correct report. If you have selected the correct 

report, click the “Begin” button to open the progress report. If you return to this tab after starting the 

report, you will see a “Continue Working” button that allows you to open the report that is in progress.

Open amendments interfere with the accuracy of the progress report. If there is an open amendment 

on your grant and you click the “Begin” button, you will see a warning message. If you receive this error 

message, you should talk with your Portfolio Manager to ensure resolution of the amendment so you 

can submit your GPR on time.
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Narratives Tab

Click on the accordion panels to enter narratives. When accordion panels are closed, green checkmarks 

indicate that text has been entered in the text box. Text must be entered in every narrative field before 

submitting the GPR. For fields that are not required, if not providing narrative, enter “NA” in the text 

box.

Provide the following narratives (please limit your remarks to 1,500 words or less):

Narrative Field 1: Primary Activities (required):

Describe the primary activities you engaged in during the planning period. (This may include activities to 

develop plans for the following aspects of an AmeriCorps program: member activities; member 

recruitment, training, and support; site management; performance measurement; oversight and 

monitoring; partnership development; sustainability; etc.)

Narrative Field 2: Accomplishments and Challenges (required):

• What were your primary accomplishments during the planning period?

• What challenges did you encounter during the planning year, and how did you address these 

challenges?

Narrative Field 3: Other Narrative (optional):

Please describe how you are better prepared to submit a high-quality application as a result of this 

planning grant. If you do not plan to submit an application for an AmeriCorps program, please explain 

why not.

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.

Summary Tab

This tab provides a summary of the data entered in previous tabs. 

From this tab, you can view or print all text and data entered into the GPR by clicking “Print Overall GPR 

Summary.” 
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To print a visual summary similar to the summary screen, click, “Print Grantee Report.

To comment on this summary, enter text in the “Overall Grantee Note” text box. (Please note: there is 

a 3,980-character limit on the Overall Grantee Note text box; any text entered above the character limit 

will not be saved.)

Submitting the GPR

When all data have been entered into the progress report, go to the Summary Tab and click the 

“Grantee – Submit to CNCS” button.

REVIEWING FEEDBACK AND RESPONDING TO CLARIFICATION ITEMS IN THE GPR

For each tab where data are entered, the CNCS Portfolio Manager reviews data and determines whether 

clarification is necessary. If clarification is required, the Portfolio Manager checks the “Clarification 

Required” box on each tab that requires clarification and returns the GPR for rework.

The following text fields for feedback and clarification appear on all tabs where data are entered:
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• Program Officer Feedback – May contain feedback from the CNCS Portfolio Manager. Grantees 

are not required to provide clarification regarding this feedback.

• Program Officer Clarification Items – Contains clarification items from the CNCS Portfolio 

Manager. Grantees are required to respond to these clarification items.

• Grantee Clarification – Grantees use this text field to enter their responses to the clarification 

items that appear in the Program Officer Clarification Items field.

After responding to all clarification items, the grantee returns the report to CNCS by clicking the 

“Grantee – Submit to CNCS” button on the summary tab.

If the progress report does not require clarification or all clarification items have been satisfactorily 

addressed, the CNCS Portfolio Manager will set the GPR status to “Reviewed.” The grantee will receive 

email notification and will be able to review all feedback provided in the progress report when the 

report is in Reviewed status.