Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Grant Competition 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Updated June 17, 2015

1. The Funding Opportunity Title is 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 

Grants, but 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Day has already occurred. Are funds 

awarded through this grant competition for the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day 

of Service? 

Yes. 

2. Where can I find information about the results of previous Martin Luther King Jr. 

Day of Service Grant competitions? 

Results can be found at: http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/open-governmentinitiative/transparency/results-grants-competition

3. Are State Service Commissions eligible to apply to this competition? 

Yes. 

4. My organization is not interested in applying for the minimum funding amount of 

$50,000. Are there any options for my organization to receive funding through 

this competition? 

To receive funding directly from CNCS, you must apply for at least $50,000. 

Your organization may become engaged as a partner organization with an 

applicant organization and receive support from the partner organization if the 

partner organization is selected for funding. See page 4 of the NOFA for more 

information. 

5. Can you please clarify the eligibility requirement described on page 3 of the 

NOFA: 

Eligible applicants are capable of carrying out multi-state, nationally focused (10 

or more states), or comprehensive regional initiatives involving at least ten (10) 

projects in a region. Successful applicants must have submitted an application that 

meets one of the two criteria set forth in the preceding sentence. Regional 

initiatives are multiple states in a region. 

Applications awarded must have either: 





Multi-state, nationally focused: projects in 10 or more states 

Comprehensive regional: projects in 10 or more locations involving 

multiple (more than 1) states 

6. How exactly do I apply for this competition in eGrants? 
Once you have set up your eGrants account, select the NOFA name, ‘FY 2015 Martin 

Luther King Jr Day of Service Grants.’ For additional eGrants technical assistance, 

please contact the National Service Hotline at (800) 942-2677. 

Added May 12, 2015 

7. What amount should we put in as our award request in our budget? 

The budget amount should reflect the funds necessary to meet the program objectives 

for a one year budget period. 

 

8. Would travel expenses for youth participants be considered allowable? 

It depends on the specific details of the Federal award and project. Any cost must be 

necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable 

under 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E. To determine if a cost meets these criteria, you 

should consider 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E for more details. See especially 2 

C.F.R. §§ 200.403, 200.404, 200.405. 

9. Where can I learn what budget items are allowable and unallowable? 

Pleases review the NOFA carefully and consider if the cost is reasonable, necessary, 

allocable and allowable per 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E. In considering these items 

see especially 2 C.F.R. §§ 200.403, 200.404, 200.405. 

10. If our organization only holds one project within our city limits, but holds at least 

nine other projects outside of the city, does this meet the eligibility requirements 

described in the NOFA to have at least ten projects? 

Yes. 

11. Does an application first have to be submitted to a state service commission for 

review? 

No. Applications should be submitted directly to CNCS through eGrants. 

12. How do I know if my proposed project is a good proposal for this competition? 

Individual feedback on proposals is not provided in an open competition. To help 

you assess whether your proposal is viable for this competition, review your idea 

against the funding priorities section of the NOFA on page 2, the performance 

measures on page 2 of the NOFA, and the selection criteria in the NOFA. 

Added May 15, 2015 
13. Other than the three Capacity Building performance measures listed in the NOFA, 

what performance measures will applicants see in the performance measures module 

in eGrants? 

Healthy Futures: 

H2: Number of clients to whom information on health insurance, health care access 

and health benefits programs is delivered. 

H4: Number of clients participating in health education programs. 

H10: Number of individuals receiving emergency food from food banks, food 

pantries, or other nonprofit organizations. 

Environmental Stewardship: 

EN2: Number of AmeriCorps members trained and/or certified for green jobs 

including the conducting of energy audits. 

EN4: Number of acres of national parks, state parks, city parks, county parks, or other 

public and tribal lands that are treated. 

EN5: Number of miles of trails or waterways (owned/maintained by national, state, 

county, city or tribal governments; nonprofits when for public use or the public good; 

and public easements) that are treated and/or constructed. 

Disaster Services: 

D1: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster 

preparedness. 

D4: Number of individuals that received CNCS-supported services in disaster 

mitigation. 

Economic Opportunity: 

O1 Number of economically disadvantaged individuals receiving financial literacy 

services. 

O2: Number of economically disadvantaged individuals receiving job training and 

other skill development services. 

O3: Number of economically disadvantaged individuals receiving job placement 

services. 

O4: Number of housing units developed, repaired, or otherwise made available for 

low income individuals, families or people with disabilities. 

O5 Number of economically disadvantaged individuals, including homeless 

individuals, receiving housing services. 

Education: 

ED29: Number of children served in child safety, welfare, and health programs. 

Veterans and Military Families: 

V1: Number of veterans that received CNCS-supported assistance. 

V8: Number of veterans’ family members that received CNCS-supported assistance. 

V9: Number of military service members that received CNCS-supported assistance. 
If the applicants’ activities do not fit within these measures, they may develop their 

own performance measure based upon an applicant defined output within any of the 

six focus areas to describe their activities. 

Added May 26, 2015

14. The grant award covers a two year project period. Should my application describe 

my activities for both year one and year two or just for the first year? 

The application should primarily describe activities for the first year. However, please 

share the overall plans for the second year of the project including how you see 

growing the project in year two. 

15. Can all of the matching funds be in-kind? 

Yes. 

16. Can staff time be counted as in-kind towards the match? 

Yes. 

17. Can our local sites provide part of the match in-kind? 

Yes, local sites can be a source of in-kind match. For specific treatment of costs, 

please refer to 2 C.F.R. Part 200, Subpart E for more details. 

18. According to the NOFA, it states annual grants of $50,000-$300,000 will be 

awarded with the minimum request being $50,000. 

Then it goes on to state this is a two-year grant period. 

Is the minimum $50,000 to cover the two year period ($25,000 each year) or is the 

minimum request really $100,000 ($50,000 each year)? 

The minimum is $50,000 per year. In the second year, an application could be 

submitted for continuation funding. 

19. We have a negotiated Indirect Cost Rate agreement. Can we use it as match on 

this grant? 

Yes. Indirect Cost Rates are an allowable source of match but should not be the only 

source. 

 

20. When should activities occur? 

 
Service activities should occur primarily around the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday or 

no more than one to two weeks before or after the holiday. 

21. Can staff time be an allowable expense in the budget? 

 

Yes. 

22. What should be selected for Project Initiative in eGrants? 

 

This field should be left blank, or 'none' should be selected. 

 

23. Can you share the names of other organizations applying in my area? 

 

No. This information is not public at this time. 

 

24. After we submit our notice of intent to apply, do we need to wait until it is 

reviewed and accepted by CNCS before we submit our application as the next step? 

 

No. You should submit your application in eGrants. You do not need to await further 

instruction from CNCS after submitting your notice of intent. 

25. What is a disability inclusion plan? 

 

A disability inclusion plan shows that the applicant has a plan of action on reaching 

out to the disability community and ensuring that there will be volunteers with 

disabilities participating in the day of service event. The plan should describe which 

organizations or recruitment sources they have relationships with or could have 

relationships with. 

 

26. Do national service criminal history checks need to be completed on staff 

members who are only providing their time as part of the required match for Martin 

Luther King Day of Service grants? 

 

Yes, they do. Anyone receiving a salary or stipend on a MLK grant, whether from 

Federal or Grantee/Match share, is a covered position and thus subject to National 

Service Criminal History Checks. For more information, please visit the Criminal 

History Check section of the CNCS website: 

http://www.nationalservice.gov/resources/criminal-history-check 

Updated June 5, 2015: 

27. Is a competitive sub granting process allowed for this year’s competition?

Yes. You may also engage partner organizations. 

28. What should a partnership engagement plan detail?
The plan should identify the partners, how you plan to structure the partnership, and 

the planned funding arrangement.

Added May 28, 2015 

29. Can partner organizations provide part of the match for the grant? 

Yes and all match must be documented the same as required for the federal share. 

30. Is there a maximum percentage for salary coverage for this grant? 

No. But keep in mind that funds provided should be used primarily for events held in 

January and not for year round programming. Additionally salaries must be documented 

per 2 C.F.R. Part 200.

31. Please provide an example of what it means to match 70% of the total project budget? 

An applicant must provide at least 70% of the total project budget. If $80,000 in CNCS 

funding were requested from CNCS, $187,241 in non federal funding would need to be 

provided by the applicant as match. This brings the total project budget to $267,241. The 

applicant share of $187,241 is 70% of the total project budget, meeting the required 70% 

non federal share. 

Added May 29, 2015 

32. Does this competition require applicants to partner with organizations that are 

currently funded by CNCS? 

No. 

33. The Capacity Building Performance Measures G3-3.1 and G3-3.2 appear to indicate a 

preference for partnering with existing CNCS funded organizations. Is that a correct 

interpretation? 

No. If your organization were funded through this competition, then your organization is 

the CNCS funded organization. An additional partnership is not required for the purpose 

of completing the performance measure. Your organization is the entity required with 

completing the performance measure and meeting the target set in the measure. 

34. Is there a preference in application scoring if participation increases not only in the 

community, but in current CNCS funded organizations? 

Additional information about scoring is not provided in an open competition. 

Added June 5, 2015 
35. Are applicants required to either subgrant or partner with organizations in order to 

apply to this competition?

No.

Added June 12, 2015 

36. Is a grant application preferred that proposes competitive subawards over engaging 

partners? For example, if I have already submitted my application with one plan, should 

I request it to be returned to me so I can revise it with a different proposal?

Not necessarily. One plan is not preferred over the other. 

37. How do we determine whether the organizations we intend to provide funding to 

through a pass-through process need to go through a competitive process or whether they 

can instead be provided funding as partner organizations? 

If your organization is able to identify and name partner organizations in advance of the 

application submission deadline, they should be identified upfront and a subsequent 

competitive process is not required. If the organization selection process will happen 

after CNCS selects your organization for funding, the subawards need to happen on a 

competitive basis as outlined on pages 3-5 of the NOFA. 

Added June 17, 2015 

38. Should the subgrantees or partner organizations be the entities submitting the 

application in eGrants? 

No. The legal applicant submitting the application in eGrants should be the primary 

organization that would be passing the funds on to the subgrantees or partner 

organizations. There is no need for the partners or subgrantees to have applications in 

eGrants as in other CNCS grant applications. 

39. How do we go about applying as a subgrantee? 

To apply as a subgrantee, you would need to wait until all MLK awards are made by 

CNCS and look for competitive subgranting announcements to be made in your area by 

the MLK grantees. This would not occur until after all MLK awards are made and is the 

responsibility of the MLK grantees rather than CNCS. 

40. Can a neighborhood be considered one project location? 

Yes. 
41. Can the same project be proposed to be held in 10 or more states or do we need to 

plan to have a different project in each state? 

The same project can be held in each state. 

42. In the NOFA under Other Submission Requirements it says “Copy and paste the 

document (application) into the appropriate eGrants field no later than 10 days before the 

deadline”. The deadline is June 25th so does this mean that we are unable to apply since 

we did not enter anything into eGrants 10 days before the deadline? If so, is there any 

way we can extend that date so we could still get our application in? 

This is a suggestion to help ensure you do not miss the application deadline. It is not a 

requirement. You can still submit an application as long as you meet the June 25th 

deadline. 

43. If an AmeriCorps VISTA Leader plans our MLK Day of Service project, can the time 

they spend on the project count as part of the required 70% match for the Martin Luther 

King Day of Service grant? 

No. The uniform administrative requirements for Federal awards provide that cost 

sharing or matching funds on an award such as the MLK Day of Service grants cannot be 

paid by the Federal government under some other award, unless there is some specific 

statutory authority to do so. There is no authority under either the National and 

Community Service Act (which governs MLK Day grants) or the Domestic Volunteer 

Service Act (which governs VISTA) which would allow this. Using the cost of a 

VISTA’s time as part of an MLK Day of Service grant matching requirement would 

violate the restriction in 2 CFR sec. 300.306. 

Added June 24, 2015 

44. There is more than one person at our organization with an eGrants account. Does it 

matter who submits the application? We are a large organization and are trying to 

determine which department should submit the application. 

The person that submits the application should be the person at your organization that is 

designated as an authorized representative and has the authority to enter into legal 

agreements on behalf of your agency. As long as an authorized representative submits 

the application, please also include a project director that we can contact to answer 

questions about the application and that will engage in appropriate management and 

oversight of the project if it were awarded. 

45. In the budget section under supplies what is the definition of consumable supplies? 

Do construction materials fit? 

Consumable supplies are those that are used frequently (e.g. office supplies like pens, 

folders, post-it notes), and their very essence tends to be consumed in the usage. 

Construction materials are not consumable supplies. However, the supplies may be 
allowable under the grant as Section E (supplies) or Section I (Other) depending upon the 

context of the application. In the past, if the purpose of the application is solely to build 

homes or buildings, we have not funded the application because our grants are nonconstruction grants. However, in the past we have allowed as a proper cost materials to 

build ramps or trails.