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Commission Investment Fund 

Grantee Progress Report Instructions

How will the Corporation use the information reported? 

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

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

information provided in your GPR may be used by CNCS’s Office of Public Affairs 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, and/or opportunities 

for peer learning. 

What are the components of the GPR? 

The Commission Investment Funds Grantee Progress Report consists of three sections: Demographic 

Information, Performance Measures, and Narratives. 

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

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

When is the end-of-year GPR due? 

The GPR is due September 30, 2019. 

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

your Program Officer. Requests for extensions may be granted when: 

1. The report cannot be finished in a timely manner for reasons that are 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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You will see a list of possible progress reports for each of your existing grants. Find the grant number 

that includes the 2018 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 9/30/19 due date and click on the “edit” link. You will be taken to the 

main progress report screen. 

Reporting Period 

The reporting period is from the start of the 2018 grant year through the end of the grant year, inclusive 

of any no-cost extensions. The report is not cumulative for the entire grant period and should not 

include data already reported in previously submitted end-of-year GPRs. 

If you have demographic or performance measurement data from the previous year that was not 

included in the previous end-of-year GPR, please include these data in the “actuals” fields of the current 

GPR. Provide a note of explanation as described on pp. 4-5 in these instructions, clearly explaining 

which data correspond to which program year. 

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

accurately align with the performance measure instructions, approved program design, and grant 

application) and verifiable (i.e., the grantee must be able to demonstrate the data are accurate). Source 

documentation that supports the reported results must be maintained as grant records. 
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General Information Tab 

 

This 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 any of your grants, please work with your Program Officer or Grants Officer to get those 

amendments 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 dataentry 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. 
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Demographics Tab 

This tab contains a list of indicators of interest to CNCS. You are required to report the following: 

 Number of AmeriCorps members (any program) participating in one or more service projects 

 Number of AmeriCorps members (any program) participating in one or more professional 

development/training events 

 Number of service projects 

 Number of professional development/training events 

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 unless there is a 

numerical value, including zero, entered in every field on this tab. 

Ensure that counts are not duplicated and only represent the direct efforts of the commission (not the 

work of subgrantees). Demographic data reported should not be duplicated in any other CNCS grantee 

progress report including, but not limited to, AmeriCorps State and National, Volunteer Generation 

Fund, Commission Support Grant, VISTA or Senior Corps progress reports. 

If you have demographic data from the previous year that was not included in the previous end-of-year 

GPR, please include this data in the current GPR. Provide a note of explanation in the Grantee Note text 

box clearly explaining which data correspond to which program year. For example, if you are reporting 

“Number of AmeriCorps members (any program) participating in one or more service projects” with 

data from two program years, your explanation would read as follows: The reported value of 1,236 

AmeriCorps members includes 955 members from the current year and 281 members from the previous 

year.

Click “Next” to proceed to the next tab.
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Performance Measures Tab 

Each performance measure panel contains a chart showing each output and outcome for the 

performance measure. For each output and outcome, enter a numerical value documenting progress 

toward the target. Round any decimals to the nearest whole number.

When you have entered all data for one performance measure, check the “Done with Section” box. This 

will cause a green checkmark to appear on the accordion panel when it is collapsed, signaling that you 

are done entering data in this panel. 

Once data have been entered for each performance measure, click the “Calculate” button at the bottom 

of the page. This will enable eGrants to calculate the percent of target in the “Progress” column. 

An explanation is required for any output or outcome measure for which one or more of the following is 

true: 

 The actual is lower than the target value;* 

 The actual greatly exceeds the target value (i.e., by 400% or more);

 Data from the previous grant year that were not reported on the previous GPR have been 

included in the reported actuals. 

The content of the explanations should be as follows: 

Situation Required Explanation

Actual that is lower 

than the target value*

Reason(s) why the target was not met. If activities are still ongoing, please 

note this in the explanation.

Actual that exceeds 

the target value by 

400% or more

Reason(s) why the actual value is significantly higher than originally 

projected. It must be clear in the explanation that no data were doublecounted and that all data are directly attributable to commission activities.

Data included that was 

not reported in the 

previous grant year

Indicate what numerical portion of the actual value corresponds to the 

current grant year vs. the previous grant year. Only data that were NOT 

already reported on a previous GPR should be included here.
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*If you include performance measurement data from the previous year that were not reported in the 

prior GPR, it may appear that targets for the current year were met when they actually were not. 

Explanations should be provided for any output or outcome where the actual value for the CURRENT 

grant year is lower than the target value. 

Performance measurement data reported in this GPR should not be duplicated in any other CNCS 

grantee progress report submitted by the commission, including but not limited to, AmeriCorps State 

and National grant, Commission Support Grant, Volunteer Generation Fund, VISTA, or Senior Corps 

progress reports. 

The progress report cannot be submitted unless all required data have been entered. 

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.

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: 

Performance Management (Required): Describe how the Commission has collected data about its own 

TTA processes or outcomes to inform continuous improvement. Describe what the Commission learned 

from the data it collected. What is working well, and what changes will the Commission make to 

improve TTA processes and/or outcomes in the coming year? 

Other Narrative (Optional): Insert text in this field if the character limits are exceeded in any other part 

of the GPR. 

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.
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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.