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Commission Investment Fund

2020 Grantee Progress Report Instructions

How will CNCS use the information reported?

The Commission Investment Fund Grantee Progress Report (GPR) provides information for CNCS staff to 

monitor commission progress and to respond to requests from Congress and other stakeholders. Some 

information provided in your GPR may be used by CNCS to promote service. Program staff will use the 

information you provide to identify trends and issues that may lead to changes in policies and 

procedures, allocation of training and technical assistance, or opportunities for peer learning. 

What are the components of the GPR?

The Commission Investment Fund Grantee Progress Report consists of two sections: Performance Data 

Elements and Narratives. 

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

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

When is the GPR due?

The GPR is due on March 31, 2021.* 

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

your Program Officer/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 commission, and

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

report.

*If 2020 was the last year of the project period, the GPR is due 90 days after the end of the project 

period, inclusive of any no-cost extensions.

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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You will see a list of possible progress reports for each of your existing grants. Find the grant number 

that includes the 2020 grant year, and expand the list by clicking on the orange arrow key to the right of 

the grant number. 

Find the progress report with the 3/31/2021 due date labeled “Progress Report Annual,” and click on 

the “edit” link. You will be taken to the main progress report screen. 
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Reporting Period

All 2020 CIF continuation awards carry the following special condition:

The reporting period for the progress report due March 31, 2021 will be the start of the 2019 

award year through December 31, 2020. The report is cumulative and should include 

accomplishments from both the 2019 and 2020 award years. 

Data submitted in the Progress Report must be valid (i.e., the data collected and reported must 

accurately align with the approved grant application) and verifiable (i.e., the commission must be able to 

demonstrate the data are accurate). Source documentation that supports the reported results must be 

maintained as grant records.

General Information Tab

The General Information tab displays information for the progress report you have selected. Check the 

reporting period start and end dates, as well as the due date, to ensure you have selected the correct 

report. If you have not selected the correct report for the reporting period and due date, 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 may interfere with data entry in the GPR. If you have amendments currently in 

process on your grant, please work with your Program Officer/Portfolio Manager to get the amendment 

awarded or withdrawn before you start entering data into the GPR. Also, it is best to avoid initiating any 

new amendments while you are entering data into the GPR (i.e., after you open the GPR for the first 

time, but prior to submitting the GPR to CNCS); amendments awarded during the GPR data-entry 

process may result in the need to re-enter all of the data from scratch.

A summary table at the bottom of this tab allows you to see all past reports associated with your grant 

and to view or print a PDF version of these reports.

Performance Data Elements Tab

The Performance Data Elements tab contains a list of data elements of interest to CNCS. The definition 

of each Performance Data Element can be found in the 2020 Commission Investment Fund GPR 

Supplemental Guidance. Your responses on this tab should include all data collected for these 

elements during the reporting period, regardless of the grant year(s) to which the data are connected.

You are required to report on the following:

• Number of CIF-supported professional development/training events or service projects

• Number of organizations participating in CIF-supported training or technical assistance activities

• Number of commission staff members receiving CIF-supported training or technical assistance

Enter a numerical value in each field; do not enter decimals or punctuation. If you do not collect data on 

an indicator, enter a zero (0) in that field. The progress report cannot be submitted until there is a 

numerical value, including zero, entered in every field on this tab. 
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Ensure that counts are not duplicated and only represent the direct efforts of the commission (not the 

work of subgrantees). Data reported should not be duplicated in any other CNCS grantee progress 

reports including, but not limited to, AmeriCorps State and National, Volunteer Generation Fund, 

Commission Investment Fund, VISTA, or Senior Corps progress reports.

Click “Next” to proceed to the next tab.

Narratives Tab

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

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 “N/A” in the text 

box.

Provide the following narratives:

Performance Management (Required): Describe how you have used, or plan to use, data you collected 

about Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) processes or outcomes during the reporting period to 

improve CIF-supported activities. Based on the data you collected, what has worked well during the 

reporting period, and what changes will you make in the coming year to improve the TTA provided by 

the commission?

Outcomes (Required): Describe how the activities supported by your CIF grant have resulted in 

significant and demonstrable improvements in one or more of the CIF Priority Performance Areas 

included in your application.

Other Narratives (Optional): If required narrative explanations in other sections of the GPR exceeded 

character limits, provide overflow explanations here.

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 PPR

Summary.” To print all notes entered in the GPR, click “Print Complete Note History.”

To comment on this summary, enter text in the “Overall Grantee Note” text box.

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.