Welcome to the Key AmeriCorps Grant Terminology and Concepts presentation.  This is the

second in a series of presentations for potential grant applicants. It will provide an

overview of key terminology and concepts.

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AmeriCorps State and National is a network of local, state, and national service programs

that connects thousands of Americans each year in intensive service to meet our

country’s critical needs in education, health, the environment, economic opportunity,

veterans, disaster services, as well as other unmet needs.

AmeriCorps Grants provide funding to high‐quality programs that are developed by an

applicant who designs a set of activities that demonstrate an evidence‐based or evidence‐

informed approach to strengthening communities and solving community problems by

engaging individuals in service as AmeriCorps members.  

These programs provide Americans, young and old, with opportunities to serve as

AmeriCorps members in communities across the country.  

Since 1994, more than 1 million men and women have provided service as AmeriCorps

members.

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Now we are going to review some basic terms and concepts that are important for you to

know as you think about how your organization might use AmeriCorps to address

problems in your community.

We described AmeriCorps Grants as providing funding to high‐quality programs that are

developed by an applicant who designs a set of activities that demonstrate an evidence‐

based or evidence‐informed approach to strengthening communities and solving

community problems.

When we say evidence‐based approach or evidence basis, this refers to a program’s

demonstration of why it is proposing a particular intervention to address the identified

community problem. Evidence for the intervention, or member service activities, could be

supported by one or more of the following: impact evaluations of the program or of

similar programs; research studies supporting the chosen intervention; or past

performance measurement outcome data from the program.

The evidence basis is how you demonstrate that the member activity you have chosen is

likely to address the identified problem.  You should not simply say that the intervention is

likely to be successful, you should demonstrate why you think this is the case.

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Now we will explain additional terms that you will hear or see as you learn more about

AmeriCorps.

• An AmeriCorps Program is an organization that has received an AmeriCorps grant and

operates a service program.

• The Grantee is the direct recipient of the grant funds.

• Single‐State refers to an AmeriCorps Program operating solely within one state. This

program receives an AmeriCorps grant from a State Service Commission.

• Multi‐State refers to an AmeriCorps Program operating in two or more states. This

program receives an AmeriCorps grant directly from CNCS.

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Subgrantees are the local organizations which implement the grant activities on the local

level. May also be called operating sites depending on the structure of an AmeriCorps

program.

Operating site means the organization that manages the AmeriCorps program and places

members into service locations.

State subgrantees (programs) are operating sites. Multi‐state grantees must identify at least

one operating site to which they can assign service locations in the state where they are

placing members.

Service Location means the organization where a member actually provides his or her

service in the community. Typical service locations are schools, food banks, health clinics,

community parks, etc. The service location may be the same as the operating site, but only

if the member actually serves at the operating site organization. A member may serve at

multiple service locations although the program must select only one for the member’s

primary assignment.

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State Service Commissions are an important part of the State and National family.  

State Service Commissions provide CNCS funding to single‐state AmeriCorps programs

operating within their states. Commissions make AmeriCorps awards through a

competitive process at the national level or through a state‐based formula grant

competition.

During the grant application review process, State Service Commissions provide feedback

to CNCS on the single‐state AND the multi‐state programs operating or proposing to

operate in their state.  AmeriCorps programs proposing to serve in multiple states must

consult with the commissions in every state where they intend to place AmeriCorps

members.

The link on this slide provides you with the contact information for each state service

commission.

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AmeriCorps programs are required to create performance measures to be tracked and

reported on a bi‐annual basis in the Grantee Progress Report. Measures should focus on

tracking the primary service activity of the AmeriCorps program, allowing the program to

describe its impact on the beneficiaries of the service.

AmeriCorps performance measures consist of outputs (amount of service beneficiaries

reached, projects completed or services delivered by a program) and outcomes (changes

or benefits experienced by service beneficiaries, including changes in knowledge,

attitude, behavior, or condition).

Applicants must select from CNCS created National Performance Measures if their

program design aligns with the outcomes; alternatively, they may create their own

performances measures.

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As you think about how your organization might use AmeriCorps members, it is important

to know what members cannot do. What they cannot do is engage in prohibited activities

or recruit others to do so. The prohibited activities fall into broad categories that include:

Political activity

Advocacy

Religious activity

Benefiting for‐profit entities

Voter registration and abortion services

AC Members cannot participate in these activities directly nor can they recruit community

volunteers to do these activities.

Please review the Introduction to AmeriCorps Members presentation as it provides much

more information about the prohibited activities.

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An AmeriCorps Member is an individual enrolled for a specific term of service with

an approved AmeriCorps program. There is a specific presentation that provides

much more detail about AmeriCorps members.

One Member Service Year (MSY) is equivalent to one full‐time AmeriCorps member.  

AmeriCorps funds are contingent on the number of MSYs requested by the program.

There are five types of AmeriCorps member terms or slots:  full time, half time,

reduced half time, quarter time, and minimum time.  The total MSYs a program

requests depends on the number and type of slots/AmeriCorps member positions

included in a particular program design.

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The final key concept that AmeriCorps grant applicants must understand is Cost per MSY.

The cost per MSY is a calculation that CNCS uses to determine the overall cost of

your program.

The funding amount of an AmeriCorps grant is directly related to the number of Member

Service Years (MSY) an applicant requests.

Cost/MSY is calculated by dividing the total funds being requested from AmeriCorps by

the total MSY requested by the program.

The maximum cost per MSY varies depending on the specific type of AmeriCorps grant for

which an organization applies.

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To illustrate how to calculate Cost/MSY let’s talk through an example. If the NOFO states

that the maximum cost per MSY is $10,000, this slide demonstrates how two programs can

be at the maximum cost per MSY but have a different number of members serving a

community.

If you intend to request $200,000 and 20 full‐time (FT) AmeriCorps members for your

AmeriCorps program, then the cost per MSY = $10,000. This is because 20 FT members = 20 MSY.

If you use 40 half‐time (HT) members and request $200,000 for the program, your cost per

MSY would also = $10,000. This is because 40 HT = 20 MSY.  

Some people initially confuse cost per MSY with member living allowance. They are not the

same. The member living allowance is an individual program budget expense. Cost per MSY

is an overall program price calculation. You can learn more about the member living

allowance in the AmeriCorps Members presentation.

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This concludes the Key AmeriCorps Grant Terminology and Concepts presentation, the

second in a series of technical assistance presentations available to help familiarize you

with AmeriCorps State & National funding. In addition, please review the Notice of

Funding Opportunity and other materials posted on our website.

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If you have any questions, please contact CNCS at AmeriCorpsGrants@cns.gov.

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