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Volunteer Generation Fund

2022-2023 Final Progress Report Instructions

Who completes a final Project Progress Report?

All Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) grantees who are concluding the final year of their grant 

period must complete a final Project Progress Report (PPR) in lieu of an end-of-year PPR. VGF 

grantees who are not in the final year of their grant period will complete an end-of-year PPR.

How will AmeriCorps use the information reported? 

The VGF final Project Progress Report provides information for AmeriCorps staff to monitor 

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

information provided in your PPR may be used by AmeriCorps 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 PPR?

The VGF final PPR, just like the end-of-year PPR, consists of three sections: Performance Data 

Elements, Performance Measures, and Narratives.

Please complete the report using eGrants, AmeriCorps’ integrated, secure, web-based 

system for grants management, and follow the instructions below.

When is the final PPR due? 

The final PPR is due 60 days after the grant end date, which for most grantees is 

11/30/2023. If you cannot meet the submission deadline, 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. AmeriCorps receives a request explaining the need for an extension before the due 

date of the report. 

Selecting the Right PPR

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

screen, as pictured below:
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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 your final program year and expand the list by clicking on the orange 

arrow key to the right of the grant number.

Find the progress report with a due date 60 days after your grant end date (the progress 

report type should be “Progress Report Annual”) 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 for the final PPR is from the beginning of your current grant cycle 

through the end date of your grant, inclusive of any no-cost extensions received. The 

reporting period listed in eGrants may be incorrect; please ignore it.

General Information Tab

This tab displays 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 “Cancel” and select the correct report. If you have selected 

the correct report, click “Begin” 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.
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Open amendments on the same grant year as the PPR may interfere with data entry in the 

PPR. If you have amendment(s) currently in process that fit this description, please work with 

your Portfolio Manager to get the amendment(s) awarded or withdrawn before you start 

entering data into the PPR. Please note that it is best to avoid initiating amendments on the 

same grant year while you are entering data into the PPR (i.e., after you open the PPR for the 

first time, but prior to submitting the PPR to AmeriCorps). Same-year amendments awarded 

during the PPR data-entry process may result in the need to re-enter all data.

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 PDF versions of these reports.

Performance Data Elements Tab

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

AmeriCorps. A definition for each Performance Data Element is given below. Your 

responses on this tab should include all data collected for these elements during the 

2022-2023 grant year, regardless of the program year to which the data are connected.

For the majority of grantees, the 2022-2023 grant year is the time period from 10/1/2022 to 

9/30/2023. If your project period start and end dates differ, please include data collected 

for these elements during your grant’s particular project period.

The following elements are required for all grantees:

• Number of volunteers recruited or managed: Number of volunteers recruited, 

trained, managed, or coordinated by your VGF program during the 2022-2023 grant 

year. Each individual volunteer should be counted only once, even if they participated 

in more than one volunteer opportunity.

• Number of hours served by recruited or managed volunteers: Total number of 

hours served by volunteers that were recruited, trained, managed, or coordinated by 

your VGF program during the 2022-2023 grant year.

Enter a numerical value in each field. If you did 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 

entered in every field on this tab.

Data reported in the VGF PPR should not be duplicated in any other AmeriCorps PPR, 

including, but not limited to, AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Seniors, VISTA, 

Commission Support Grant, or Commission Investment Fund 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 the PPR may be submitted. For fields that are not required, if not 

providing narrative, enter “N/A” in the text box.
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Please limit your remarks in each section to 1,500 words or fewer; narratives exceeding this 

length will be cut short when the PPR is viewed in PDF form by AmeriCorps staff. Provide the 

following narratives:

• Data Quality (required): Describe the specific steps you took to verify data from sites 

reported in this PPR.

• Performance Management (required): Described how you have used, or plan to use, 

the data you collected about your VGF processes or outcomes (including 

performance measurement data) during the reporting period to improve your 

program. Based on the data you collected, what worked well in your program during 

this reporting period, and what changes will you make in the coming year to improve 

processes and/or outcomes to better address the objectives of your VGF grant?

• Other Narratives (optional): If required narrative explanations in other sections of the 

PPR exceeded the word limit, provide overflow explanations here. You may also 

provide reflections or stories from your project in this section if desired. These 

reflections may encompass the full length of your grant and are not limited to 

the 2022-2023 program year.

Click “Next” to proceed to the next tab.

Performance Measures Tab

The Performance Measures tab requires you to enter performance measure data for the 

2022-2023 program year and to compare achieved (actual) values to the targets set in your

grant application. Your responses on this tab should include all data pertaining to your 

2022-2023 program year (i.e., the outputs and outcomes accomplished by your 2022-2023 

grant year activities), plus any previously unreported data from the previous (2021-2022) 

program year.

Click on a performance measure to show a panel with each output and outcome associated 

with the performance measure. Enter the actual value for each output and outcome. Enter a 

zero (0) in each remaining field (# of Vols, Project Hours, MSYs, and Amount). If you do not 

enter zeroes as required, the PPR will be returned to you for revision.

When you have entered all data for one performance measure, check the “Done with 

Section” box. A green checkmark will appear on the accordion panel when it is collapsed, 

signaling that you are done entering data in this performance measure panel. Please note 

that if you leave any fields blank or include any characters other than numbers (e.g., commas, 

decimals, the percent symbol), these fields will default to values of zero when you move to 

the next tab or save the report.
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Once data have been entered for each performance measure, click the “Calculate Progress” 

button at the bottom of the page. This will enable eGrants to calculate the percent of target

met for each output and outcome.

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

following is true:

• the actual value is lower than the target value;

• the actual value greatly exceeds the target value (i.e., by 400% or more); and/or

• data from the previous grant year that were not reported on the previous PPR have 

been included in the reported actual.

The content of the explanations should be as follows:

Situation Required Explanation

Actual value is lower 

than target value

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

ongoing, please see below for the required explanation 

content.)

Please note that if you include performance measurement data 

from the previous year that were not reported in the prior PPR

(i.e., noted as “ongoing” in the prior report due to continuing 

program activities and/or data collection), it may appear that 

targets for the current year were met when they were not. Be 

sure to provide an explanation for any output or outcome where 

the actual value for the current grant year is lower than the 

target value.

Actual value exceeds 

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 double-counted and that all data are directly 

attributable to program activities.

Data are included that 

were not reported in the 

previous PPR

Indicate what numerical portion of the actual value corresponds 

to the current grant year versus the previous grant year. Only 

data that were not reported in the previous year’s PPR should 

be included here.

Provide these explanations in the “Grantee Note” field. If you need additional space, utilize 

the “Other Narratives” field on the Narratives tab.

Performance measurement data reported in the VGF PPR should not be duplicated in any 

other AmeriCorps PPR, including, but not limited to, AmeriCorps State and National, 

AmeriCorps Seniors, VISTA, Commission Support Grant, or Commission Investment Fund 

progress reports.

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.
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Summary Tab

From this tab, you can view or print a summary of data entered in the PPR by clicking “Print 

PPR Summary.” To print a summary of any notes entered in the application, click “Print 

Complete Note History.”

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

Submitting the PPR

When all data have been entered into the progress report and double-checked for accuracy, 

navigate to the Summary tab and click “Grantee – Submit to AmeriCorps.”