Annual Financial Report 

Fiscal Year 2010
Purpose of this Report

In lieu of a Performance and Accountability Report, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will produce three alternative reports 

that provide financial management and program performance information. Each completed report will be available on the CNCS website at www.

nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance.asp.

• This report, the Annual Financial Report (AFR), focuses on CNCS’ financial management and the results of the agency’s annual financial audit. It 

includes management’s assurance statement, CNCS’ improper payments report, as well as a response from management. 

• The Annual Performance Report (APR) provides an overall assessment of agency performance. The APR will be included in CNCS’ FY 2012 

Congressional Budget Justification, which will be transmitted to Congress on February 7, 2011. 

• CNCS’ Performance Highlights report summarizes key information from the AFR and APR. It will be available in February 2011. 

This document meets all requirements under the Government Performance and Results Act, the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, 

the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act, the Government Corporation Control Act, the Improper Payments Information Act, and the Federal 

Information Security Management Act, among others. This document also follows applicable guidance from the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), as well as the recommendations of the Association of Government Accountants’ Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting program.

How to Serve

If you are interested in joining or learning more about Corporation programs, go to nationalservice.gov. Under the “For Individuals” menu, click on 

“Join Now” to discover which opportunity is right for you.

An electronic copy of this report is available on the web at: www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance.asp

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. The citation should be:

Corporation for National and Community Service FY 2010 Annual Financial Report, Washington, DC, 20525.

To request a printed copy of this report, obtain this report in a format that is accessible to individuals with disabilities or provide any feedback regarding 

this report, please contact the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at 202-606-5000 or at the address noted above.

1201 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20525

202-606-5000 • TTY 202-606-3472 

NationalService.gov info@cns.gov
Table of Contents

I. Management’s Discussion and Analysis

Message from the Chief Exectutive Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Agency Mission & Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mission Performance & Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Management Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Internal Controls, Audit Results, and Management Assurances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Financial Management Metrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Analysis of Appropriations and Financial Condition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

II. Financial Statements

Message from the Chief Financial Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Consolidated Financial Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

III. Independent Auditor’s Report

Office of Inspector General (OIG) Transmittal Letter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Independent Auditor’s Report on Financial Statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Independent Auditor’s Report on Compliance and other Matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Management Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 

IV. Other Accompanying Information

Donations & Contributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

National Service Trust Fund Status Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Improper Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 1

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Management’s Discussion & Analysis
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 2

The Corporation for National and Community Service

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

The Corporation for National and Community Service is pleased to present our Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 

Annual Financial Report, a summary of our performance and financial condition in relation to our 

mission and goals. This report serves as a final accounting of how well we have done in meeting 

the goals of our previous five-year strategic plan, which was focused primarily on growing the 

Corporation in terms of both volunteers and projects. The accomplishments and work outlined in 

these pages provide a strong platform for even greater effectiveness as the Corporation moves 

forward under new leadership.

From FY 2006-2010, we increased the number of Corporation-sponsored volunteers by 50 percent, 

from 3.7 million to 5.6 million. A majority of these volunteers were engaged in meeting our strategic 

goals of meeting critical needs in communities, strengthening the capacity of our grantees, and 

engaging disadvantaged and older Americans as both volunteers and beneficiaries of service. We 

generated a 400 percent increase in the number of college students serving their communities. And 

during this period, our programs mentored more than 110,000 children and youth of incarcerated 

parents, an increase of more than 300 percent.

During the past fiscal year, implementation of the Serve America Act has been our major priority. 

We have made outstanding progress instituting changes to existing programs and standing up 

new programs for social innovation, volunteer generation, and nonprofit capacity 

building. The Corporation has also been on the frontlines of the nation’s economic 

recovery. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 provided $200 

million in funding for an expansion of AmeriCorps State and National and 

AmeriCorps Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) programs. The funding 

supports more than 15,000 AmeriCorps members engaged in service directly 

related to improving the social and economic conditions worsened by the 

recession.

As we move forward, our next five-year strategic plan will place more emphasis 

on targeting resources to meet critical national challenges, achieving results 

and demonstrating impact. To that end, in FY 2010, we instituted a national 

performance measures pilot to gather initial data and feedback from AmeriCorps 

grantees. This information will inform our efforts to establish performance 

measures for grantees and program sponsors in all Corporation programs.

Undergirding our increased focus on achieving and measuring results are four major goals: First, to fulfill the promise to make service a solution 

for big national challenges like the drop-out crisis and the economic recovery; second, to expand opportunities for more Americans of all ages and 

backgrounds to serve; third, to build the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities by giving them the tools they need to succeed; and

finally, to embrace innovation by expanding what works and seeding innovative ideas.

Corporation Performance

In a year of transition, the Corporation mobilized its staff, grantees and stakeholders to meet or exceed the majority of performance targets. While we

have been effective in transforming communities, one of the things I am most proud of is our success in transforming lives. Many of the people who 

From FY 2006-2010...

our programs mentored more 

than 110,000 children and 

youth of incarcerated parents, 

an increase of more than 

300 percent. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 3

The Corporation for National and Community Service

have been served through our programs have been inspired to become volunteer service providers themselves. And in these austere times, programs 

like AmeriCorps are giving young people the opportunity to find their passion and their calling through national service.

Last fiscal year, through our three signature programs—AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America—the Corporation awarded and 

oversaw more than $780 million in grants to states, tribes, local communities, and nonprofit grantees and engaged more than five million Americans 

in service. This included nearly 400,000 Baby Boomer volunteers, an increase of five percent from the prior year. These members and volunteers 

helped improve the lives of millions of people in need across this country, whether serving as tutors and mentors for the young, giving comfort and 

help to the elderly, or working shoulder to shoulder with people in communities rebuilding after a major disaster.

Corporation Management

Management reform remains one of our major priorities, and during the transition to new leadership, we have focused a good deal of attention 

on putting the right people and processes in place to ensure our future success. One of the first things I did as CEO was to scour the country to 

identify and attract a senior team that has both the vision and experience to lead the agency into a new era of results-oriented performance and 

accountability. We have filled numerous long-vacant positions and created several new ones, and I am confident we now have the right team in 

place to lead us forward. We have also nominated a new slate of board members who represent some of the nation’s foremost leaders in nonprofit 

leadership and community service.

In response to the Serve America Act, our Office of Information Technology spent FY 

2010 implementing major systems enhancements, modifications and fixes to improve 

customer service and to keep pace with changing business needs. This included the 

on-time and on-budget centralization and outsourcing of our data center.

I am also happy to report that for the 11th consecutive year, we have received a 

clean, unqualified opinion on our consolidated financial statements and no material 

weaknesses. Our year-end budget close-out went as scheduled and all accounts came 

in on budget.

Our previous authorizing statute at times forced us into “silos” and inefficient ways 

of doing business, but reforms in the Serve America Act are enabling us to make 

our structure more efficient. Among these reforms are consolidated application 

and reporting procedures for our grantees, a streamlined grantmaking process, and the flexibility to provide comprehensive training and technical 

assistance across all agency programs.

These statutory reforms, coupled with the strength of our new leadership team, a highly focused board of directors, and a hardworking and dedicated 

staff, will help the Corporation achieve even higher levels of efficiency, cost effectiveness, and management excellence as we fulfill the promise to 

make service a solution for America’s toughest challenges.

All my best,

Patrick A. Corvington

Chief Executive Officer

...through our three signature 

programs...the Corporation 

engaged more than five 

million Americans in service...
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 4

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Agency Mission & Overview

The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service 

(CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic 

participation through service and volunteering. For more than 15 years, 

CNCS has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community 

and national challenges through service and volunteer action through its 

Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs.

CNCS plays a vital role in supporting the American culture of citizenship, 

service, and responsibility. As the nation’s largest grant maker in the 

area of service, CNCS promotes volunteering and civic engagement 

around the country and helps organizations build their capacity to 

engage volunteers effectively. Members and volunteers who serve in 

Corporation programs provide vital assistance to their communities 

through local institutions. These institutions include: nonprofits, 

K-12 schools, institutions of higher learning, faith-based and other 

community organizations, as well as local and state governments.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 5

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 1. Funding History (dollars in thousands)

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 Recovery FY10 FY11 President’s

Account Enacted Enacted Enacted Enacted Act Enacted Budget

Operating Expenses $ 837,936 $ 805,760 $ 782,744 $ 811,639 $ 194,000 $ 1,054,021 $ 1,297,586

Learn & Serve America 37,125 37,125 37,459 37,459 39,500 40,198

AmeriCorps NCCCi 36,730 26,789 23,782 27,500 29,000 34,593

AmeriCorps State 264,825 264,825 256,805 271,196 89,000 372,547 488,033

& National

AmeriCorps VISTA 95,464 95,468 93,800 96,050 65,000 99,074 98,000

VISTA Advance Payment 3,500

Revolving Fund

National Service Trust 138,600 117,720 122,539 131,075 40,000 197,000 293,662

State Commission Admin 12,516 12,516 11,790 11,790 17,000 18,000

Grants

Partnership Grants 14,850 NA NA NA NA NA NA

Senior Corps 217,586 217,586 213,785 213,785 220,900 221,100

 RSVP 59,685 59,685 58,642 58,642 63,000 63,000

 Foster Grandparents 110,937 110,937 108,999 108,999 110,996

111,100

Program 

 Senior Companion 46,964 46,964 46,144 46,144 46,904 47,000

Program 

Innovation, Demonstration, 16,280 29,771 13,980 14,753 5,500 6,000

& Assistanceii

Evaluation 3,960 3,960 3,891 3,891 6,000 8,000

Training / Technical NA NA NA NA NA 7,500 13,000

Assistanceiii

Disability Grantsii NA NA 4,913 4,140 5,000 6,000

Operating Expenses $ 837,936 $ 805,760 $ 782,744 $ 811,639 $ 194,000 $ 1,054,021 $ 1,297,586

Salaries and Expensesiv $ 66,083 $ 70,324 $ 67,759 $ 71,715 $ 6,000 $ 88,000 $ 109,000

Office of the Inspector $ 5,940 $ 4,693 $ 5,828 $ 6,512 $ 1,000 $ 7,700 $ 9,000

General

Total $ 909,959 $ 881,047 $ 856,331 $ 889,866 $ 201,000 $ 1,149,721 $ 1,415,586

i Includes $10 million in FY 2006 from P.L. 109-234 for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. 

ii Reflects a separate allocation of funding for Disability Grants as provided by the Serve America Act. Total funding for Innovation, Demonstration, and Assistance and 

Disability Grants in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 is equal to $18,893, which was the amount allocated to Innovation, Demonstration, and Assistance activities within the 

enacted appropriation in those years. 

iii Reflects a separate allocation of funding for Training & Technical Assistance (Subtitle J) as provided by the Serve America Act. Training and technical assistance activities 

were previously funded by an allocation from each of the agency’s programs. The estimated budget for FY 2008 and FY 2009 is $7.1 million for each year. 

iv Pursuant to P.L. 110-28, $1.36 million was transferred from Innovation, Demonstration, and Assistance to the Salaries and Expenses account in FY 2007. 

Detailed information on CNCS’ budget is available at http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/budget/index.asp.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 6

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Legislation

Congress created CNCS in 1993, merging the work and staff of two 

separate agencies that provided opportunities for Americans of all ages 

and backgrounds to serve their communities.

At its inception, CNCS was directed to manage three main programs:

• Senior Corps, which incorporated the Foster Grandparents, RSVP, and 

Senior Companion Programs; 

• The newly created AmeriCorps, which incorporated the VISTA, State 

and National, and the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); and 

• Learn and Serve America. 

Enacted on April 21, 2009, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act 

reauthorized and expanded the mission and operation of CNCS. It also 

took important steps to strengthen the management capacity of CNCS to 

ensure that it can support an expansion while maintaining excellence in 

service.

The Serve America Act authorized a number of programs under the 

new Innovative and Community-Based Service-Learning Programs 

and Research category for Learn and Serve America. These new 

authorized options include Summer of Service, Semester of Service, 

Youth Engagement Zones, and Research. It also requires a 10-year 

longitudinal study on the impact of the service-learning activities 

carried out under the Act. A summary of its provisions follow.

Increasing Opportunities for Individuals of All Ages to Serve

Puts young people onto a path of lifelong volunteering through servicelearning and strengthens overall focus on disadvantaged youth. 

Dramatically increases intensive service opportunities in the AmeriCorps 

program by setting it on a path of expansion from 75,000 positions 

annually to 250,000 by 2017, with a focus on education, health, clean 

energy, veterans, economic opportunity, and other national priorities.

Ties the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to the maximum Pell Grant 

level (increased in FY 2010 to $5,350 and set to increase over time). 

Improves service options for older Americans by expanding age 

and income eligibility for volunteers in the Foster Grandparent and 

Senior Companion programs, and authorizes other programs for older 

Americans. Also permits individuals age 55 and older serving in most 

AmeriCorps positions to transfer their education award to a child or 

grandchild. 

Encourages millions of working individuals to serve by establishing 

a nationwide Call to Service Campaign and a September 11 National 

Day of Service and Remembrance, and invests in the nonprofit sector’s 

capacity to recruit and manage volunteers through a new Volunteer 

Generation Fund. 

Supporting Innovation and Strengthening the Nonprofit 

Sector

Authorizes Social Innovation Fund grants to expand proven initiatives 

and provide seed funding to programs and nonprofits that have 

demonstrated results and the ability to grow. 

Establishes Volunteer Generation Fund grants to award grants to 

states and nonprofits to recruit, manage, and support volunteers and 

strengthen the nation’s volunteer infrastructure. 

Establishes Nonprofit Capacity Building Program grants aimed at 

increasing the capacity of a small number of intermediary grantees 

to work with small and midsize nonprofits in communities facing 

resource hardship challenges to develop and implement performance 

management systems. 

Strengthening Management, Cost-Effectiveness, and 

Accountability

Merges funding streams, expands the use of simplified, fixed amount 

grants, and gives CNCS flexibility to consolidate application and 

reporting requirements. Increases support for State Commissions on 

national and community service. Bolsters the capacity and duties of 

CNCS’ Board of Directors. 

Ensures that programs receiving assistance under national service laws 

are continuously evaluated for effectiveness in achieving performance 

and cost goals. 

Authorizes a Civic Health Assessment comprising indicators relating to 

volunteering, voting, charitable giving, and interest in public service in 

order to evaluate and compare the civic health of communities. 

Additional information on the Serve America Act can be found at

http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/serveamerica/index.asp.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 7

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Organizational Structure

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CNCS is an independent federal 

agency with a Board of Directors, Chief Executive Offcer (CEO), and 

Inspector General (IG)—all of whom are appointed by the President and 

confirmed by the Senate. Under CNCS’ recent reauthorization, the Chief 

Financial Offcer (CFO) is to be appointed by the CEO. In addition, a Chief 

Operating Officer (COO) and Chief of Program Operations (CPO) also are 

appointed by the CEO.

The CEO provides overall management of the agency’s programs and 

operations, including more than 500 employees who work throughout 

the United States and its territories. The Board of Directors work closely 

with the CEO to set policies and direction for CNCS; advise the President 

and the Congress concerning developments in national and community 

service that merit the attention of the President and the Congress; and 

conduct an annual evaluation of the CEO.

Field offices in nearly every state conduct public outreach and program 

support and are directly responsible for developing grants and projects 

and for overseeing all Senior Corps and VISTA projects in their states. 

CNCS’ structure also includes five regional AmeriCorps NCCC campuses 

and one Field Financial Management Center in Philadelphia, Pa. 

The agency also works directly with state-sponsored organizations.

• State Service Commissions receive Corporation funding to support 

AmeriCorps programs through annual grant competitions and formula 

allotments and manage, monitor, and evaluate these programs. 

The Commissions also encourage volunteering in their states and 

often administer special volunteer initiatives and community-based, 

service-learning programs. 

• State Education Agencies (SEAs) receive formula-based funds from 

Learn and Serve America. Most of these funds are distributed by 

sub-grants to schools and school districts that work with one or more 

community partner organizations to create service-learning projects 

that meet community needs and support the development of students’ 

academic, civic, and social skills.

Board of Directors*

General Counsel

W. Minor (Acting)

Chief Operating Officer

R. Velasco

Chief of Program Operations

K. McSwain

AmeriCorps State & Nat’l

J. Gomperts

AmeriCorps NCCC

M. Herrington

AmeriCorps Vista

P. Davis (Acting)

Learn & Serve

N. Gallant

Senior Corps

E. Tan

Field Liasion

M. Berning

Grants Policy & Operations

V. Garibaldi

Grants Oversight & Operations

A. Robinson

47 Field Offices

(serving all U.S. States & territories

Social Innovation Fund

P. Carttar

Civil Rights & Inclusiveness

L. Honnoll

Public Affairs

R. Schmelzer

Chief Financial Officer

W. Anderson

Chief Executive Officer*

P. Corvington

Strategy & Special Initiatives

H. Peeler

Human Capital

R. Limon

Government Relations

R. Glickman

Information Technology

T. Hanley (Acting)

Corporate Relations

R. Taylor (Acting)

Grants & Field Financial Mgmt

R. Gaudio

Inspector General*

K. Bach (Acting)

Figure 1. Corporation Organization Chart
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 8

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation Programs and Iniviatives

CNCS operates three major sets of programs—Senior Corps, 

AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America—and a number of smaller 

programs and initiatives. These programs provide a range of service 

opportunities and are united in a common purpose: engaging individuals 

in volunteering to improve their communities.

Senior Corps

Senior Corps is a network of about 1,300 organizations sponsoring 

projects that tap the experience, skills, and talents of Americans age 

55 and over to meet a wide range of community needs. In FY 2010, 

an estimated 458,000 volunteers served through Senior Corps’ three 

programs:

• RSVP—Volunteers age 55 and older choose how, where, and how often 

they want to serve, with commitments ranging from a few hours to 

40 hours per week. Volunteers are eligible to receive reimbursement 

for mileage and insurance coverage while on assignment and are 

provided the most flexibility in choosing service opportunities. 

• Foster Grandparent Program (FGP)—Volunteers provide support 

and service to children and youth with special or exceptional needs 

in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, drug treatment 

centers, and child care centers. Volunteers age 60 and over provide 

direct services, 15 to 40 hours per week. Volunteers must meet income 

eligibility requirements to receive a monetary stipend of $2.65 per hour. 

• Senior Companion Program (SCP)—Volunteers age 60 and older to 

assist homebound seniors and other adults with daily living tasks, 

which enable them to remain living independently in their own homes. 

Senior Companions serve 15 to 40 hours per week and receive training 

and assistance to improve their service. Those who meet income 

requirements receive a monetary stipend of $2.65 per hour. 

Figure 2. Corporation Field Offices

CNCS Offices

 FFMC

 NCCC Campus

 State Office
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 9

The Corporation for National and Community Service

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that meet 

critical needs in areas such as education, public safety, health, and 

the environment through partnerships with nonprofit organizations 

such as faith-based and community-based organizations, colleges 

and universities, as well as state and local governments. Since 1994, 

more than 574,000 Americans have served 718 million hours through 

AmeriCorps. In FY 2010, roughly 81,100 AmeriCorps members served in 

communities across the nation and mobilized an estimated 2.8 million 

additional volunteers. Upon completion of their service term, AmeriCorps 

members are eligible to earn an education award to help finance 

their education or repay qualified student loans and eligible interest 

expenses.

AmeriCorps includes three programs:

• State and National provides grants to nonprofit, public, and other 

organizations to engage Americans of all backgrounds in service to 

address community needs. 

• Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) provides full-time 

volunteers to community organizations to help create and expand antipoverty programs. 

• National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a residential, teambased program that provides leadership and service opportunities 

for young Americans between the ages of 18 and 24, to address 

pressing national and community needs in all 50 states. The program 

provides rigorous training that prepares its members to serve as first 

responders and as force multipliers who can effectively coordinate and 

manage episodic volunteers. 

Learn and Serve America

Learn and Serve America (LSA) awards grants to state education 

agencies, schools, nonprofit groups, and institutions of higher education 

to engage students in service-learning activities that link academic 

achievement and community service. As part of its goal of making 

student service and service-learning a common practice, LSA provides 

resources to teachers, faculty members, schools, and community groups 

across the country. Additionally, LSA supports these service-learning 

activities in Tribal Nations and U.S. Territories. In FY 2010, an estimated 

1.6 million students and volunteers were engaged in service-learning 

through the program.

Other Corporation Programs and Initiatives

CNCS supports and encourages new forms of service and civic participation 

through funding provided for innovation and demonstration activities 

(Subtitle H). The activities in Subtitle H fund new streams of service, 

volunteer partnerships and networks; identify and incubate innovative 

program models and approaches; and disseminate effective practices 

found to improve the reach and effectiveness of programs and projects. The 

Serve America Act significantly expanded the Subtitle H authority—both 

in its funding and programming—to encompass new activities including 

the Social Innovation Fund, the Volunteer Generation Fund, the 9/11 Day of 

Service and Remembrance, and the Serve America Fellowship.

A number of smaller grant programs also achieve agency goals. Grants 

made in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. support community organizations 

in their efforts to engage local volunteers in specific short-term 

community projects throughout the year and on the MLK Jr. Day of 

Service. CNCS also:

• Provides grants aimed at engaging individuals with disabilities in 

service and extensive training and technical assistance to nonprofits 

and other organizations; 

• Operates a Resource Center aimed at expanding the volunteer capacity 

of nonprofits; 

• Convenes a national conference on volunteering and service; and 

• Honors colleges and universities through the President’s Higher 

Education Community Service Honor Roll for the commitment of their 

students, faculty, and staff to community service. 

Corporation Strategy

In February 2006, CNCS adopted a Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2006 

through 2010. Incorporating input from hundreds of stakeholders and 

organizations in the nonprofit volunteer sector, the plan embraced a 

set of ambitious goals based on the data available at the time. The 

plan also was centered on a national vision that a better future for all 

Americans includes a widespread culture of service. Additionally, the 

goal of this effort was to grow the national service movement by greatly 

increasing the number of volunteers serving their communities.

Additional information on the FY 2006—2010 Strategic Plan is available 

at: http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/focus_areas/index.asp

Strategic Initiatives

The plan identifies five key strategic initiatives that reflect emerging 

demographic, social, and economic trends — trends that pose both 

challenges and opportunities for the nation:

• Mobilize More Volunteers—Increase the overall number of volunteers 

and the intensity of volunteering; 

• Ensure a Brighter Future for All of America’s Youth—Provide mentors 

to disadvantaged youth and engage such youth in service; 

• Engage Students in Communities—Increase volunteering among all 

students from kindergarten through college and expand the use of 

service-learning in schools; 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 10

The Corporation for National and Community Service

• Harness Baby Boomers’ Experience—Expand volunteering among 

Baby Boomers and provide frail elderly people with help to remain 

living independently; and 

• Support Disaster Preparedness and Response—Build national, state, 

and local disaster response capacity by using volunteers. 

Strategic Goals

To achieve its mission, CNCS works through its Senior Corps, 

AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, as well as a 

number of smaller grant programs and special initiatives to achieve the 

following strategic goals:

• Meet Critical Needs in Local Communities Through Service—

Services provided by participants in Corporation programs help meet 

a broad range of the nation’s educational, environmental, and other 

human needs; 

• Strengthen the Capacity of Communities to Engage Citizens—

All Corporation programs help nonprofit organizations, public 

agencies, educational institutions, and volunteer connector 

organizations to build their capacity to engage citizens in service and 

strengthen the community’s ability to meet local needs; and 

• Engage Americans in a Lifetime of Volunteering and Service—

CNCS helps to create an ethic of responsibility and citizenship by 

providing meaningful service opportunities for individuals of all ages 

and backgrounds. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 11

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 2. Contributions of Each Strategic Initiative to the Strategic Goals

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Ensure a Brighter Support Disaster

STRATEGIC Mobilize More Future for All of Engage Students in Harness Baby Preparedness and

GOALS Volunteers America’s Youth Communities Boomers’ Experience Response

Meet Critical Empower local Improve the Turn students into a Utilize the large Mobilize national

Needs in Local citizens to meet circumstance and key resource to Boomer population service participants

Communities their own prospects for meet the most as a major asset in and volunteers to

Through Service communities’ most disadvantaged pressing needs of responding to help communities

pressing needs youth through the communities in communities’ most prepare for disasters

through effective mentoring an which they live pressing needs, and to recruit,

volunteer engaging particularly needs manage, and

engagement and disadvantaged exacerbated by the coordinate

management youth in service aging of the otherwise

 population 

 unaffiliated

volunteers in

immediate relief

efforts and longterm community

 recovery

Strengthen the Provide volunteer Build the capacity Strengthen the Expand nonprofit Build the capacity

Capacity of management of communities connection and capacity to engage, of communities to

Communities to support, best across America to natural alliance manage, and retrain respond to disasters

Engage Citizens practices, and recruit, train, match between key Baby Boomer rapidly and

partnerships to and support community volunteers effectively by

dramatically millions of mentors organization and strengthening

expand community and to engage and institution, and the partnerships among

capacity to recruit, support millions of local school and state, local, and

manage, and retain disadvantaged students, and focus national

volunteers. youth in service on a school goal of governments,

creating more nonprofits, and

connected, engaged profit-making

citizens organizations

 

Engage Promote service as Make mentoring the Maximize the Attract Boomers to Develop disaster

Americans in a a regular part of all epitome of ongoing, opportunities for service now so that preparedness and

Lifetime of Americans’ lives engaged service, student service and they will stay response resources

Volunteering and support the service-learning to engaged as they and inventories to

and Service transition from become the “on- pass the traditional enable immediate

episodic ramp” to a lifetime age of retirement disaster response

volunteering to of civic engagement and reaffirm the recovery

and long-term for young importance of civic

committed Americans engagement to

mentoring subsequent

 generations

 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 12

The Corporation for National and Community Service

The FY 2006—2010 Strategic Plan also identifies “Sustain Management 

Excellence” as one of CNCS’ key goals and puts forth a number of 

operational goals and strategies for improving virtually all areas 

of internal management and customer service for the agency’s 

stakeholders.

CNCS’ Board of Directors approves the agency’s strategic plan, 

performance measures, and corresponding targets. The Board 

periodically reviews the agency’s performance against the targets and 

determines actions necessary to improve agency outcomes.

Performance Management

CNCS works to “operationalize” its Strategic Plan at all levels of the 

organization. The illustration below shows how CNCS plans, measures, 

manages, and reports on its performance.

Figure 3. Performance planning,

measurement, and reporting

CNCS sets a strategic initiative national target (National Measures). 

Achieving this national target requires a combination of CNCS’ actions 

and the efforts by CNCS’ grantees, external stakeholders, and volunteers 

across the country. CNCS’ contribution to the national target is reflected 

in CNCS’ targets (Corporation Measures).

In turn, each program develops one or more measures (Program 

Measures) to identify and manage its contribution to the overall 

Corporation impact. To successfully meet the established program 

measures, each program develops an operating plan (Operating Plans) 

that includes strategies to achieve the program measure targets. These 

operational requirements are included in each manager’s and staff’s 

performance plan (Individual Performance Plans). The result of this 

planning and measurement process is a focused effort by CNCS to meet 

its established goals.

FY 2011—FY 2015 Strategic Plan

With the start of Fiscal Year 2011 and guided by a presidential 

administration focused on citizen service as a strategy to meet national 

challenges, CNCS is now moving aggressively to build on the success 

of the strategic framework outlined earlier by implementing a new 

and improved plan for FYs 2011–2015. Combined with bipartisan 

Congressional support and strong interagency partnerships, CNCS 

will create more opportunities for Americans to tackle pressing 

social problems, encourage innovation, and focus on measuring the 

performance and impact of agency grantmaking. This work will be 

informed by these four themes:

• Service as a solution—Targeting resources to tackle national 

priorities from increasing high school graduation rates to fostering 

economic opportunity, CNCS will identify where service has an 

important role to play and target resources to tackle those issues. 

• Expanding opportunities to serve—Connecting with citizens from 

diverse communities, backgrounds, and perspectives, providing easily 

accessible service opportunities to fit their needs, and engaging them 

in a lifetime of service. 

• Building enduring capacity— Enabling individuals, organizations 

and communities to become more effective at addressing pressing 

challenges and better able to use service as a lasting solution. 

• Embracing innovation—Investing in models that work, finding new 

ways of doing business, and serving as a source of ideas for local 

communities. All across America, groups are finding solutions to local 

problems, and CNCS’ challenge is to scale these opportunities to 

achieve our national priorities. 

In accordance with guidance set forth in the Serve America Act, CNCS 

will continue to focus our programs and activities in the following areas: 

Education, Economic Opportunity, Veterans (and Military Families), 

Healthy Futures, Disaster Services, and Environmental Stewardship.

Goals

Strategic 

Initiatives

National Measures

Corporation Measures

Program Measures

Operating Plans

Individual Performance Plans
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 13

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Mission Performance & Analysis

CNCS aims to demonstrate the impact of its investments in communities 

and organizations with clear and quantifiable results. Measuring this 

impact has presented challenges in the past, due in part to the broad 

nature of the agency’s programs in terms of geographic dispersion, 

range of needs addressed, the number and type of organizations 

supported, and the varying role of the volunteer. Looking ahead to the 

FY 2011-2016 Strategic Plan, the agency will retool the framework and 

systems used to gather the information necessary to assess the impact 

of agency programming. This new approach will necessarily include new 

and revised strategic goals and initiatives, performance measures, and 

targets for all programs. For example, the agency will no longer collect 

and report distinct national measures given the outcomes of several 

of the prior national measures were not primarily the result of agency 

performance but were instead affected by factors primarily external to 

agency programming

In FY 2010, CNCS received a total appropriation of about $1.15 billion, 

an increase of $260 million or 29 percent above the FY 2009 enacted 

level. Roughly $786 million or 68 percent of appropriated funding was 

distributed to states, tribes, local communities, and nonprofit grantees, 

either using a statutory formula or through a competitive process 

aimed at identifying promising and successful initiatives; $197 million 

or 17 percent was directed to the National Service Trust, which funds 

Segal Education Awards for eligible national service participants; and 

$29 million or 2.5 percent supported the AmeriCorps National Civilian 

Community Corps program, which is wholly managed by CNCS. The 

remaining funding supports agency and program administration—

including salaries and IT costs—in addition to research and evaluation 

activities.

FY 2010 data for CNCS’ national goals will be unavailable until later in 

FY 2011 and most program performance data will be available by the 

end of calendar year 2010. Therefore, the agency will provide a more 

full performance report as part of the FY 2012 Congressional Budget 

Justification/FY 2010 Annual Performance Report.

The most current available data shows that 63.4 million Americans 

volunteered through organizations between September 2008 and 

September 2009, including three million college students and 22.8 

million Baby Boomers. Of particular note, volunteering among older 

Americans (age 65 and older) is on the rise, having increased about 

seven percentage points between 1989 and 2008, according to figures 

from the Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.

Increased the number of volunteers by more than 50%.

Measure description

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Total number of volunteers supported by Corporation-sponsored programs 

(including Corporation program members, participants, volunteers, and

leveraged community volunteers)

 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

FY06 Actual 3.7

Millions

FY10 Actual 5.6

In fulfilling its mission and strategic 

plan in FY 2010, the Corporation...

enabled 697,000 children 

and youth from disadvantaged 

circumstances to serve their 

communities through Corporationsponsored programs.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 14

The Corporation for National and Community Service

One of the focuses of the agency’s FY’s 2006—2010 Strategic Plan was 

to position CNCS as a catalyst of growth for the voluntary sector. To show 

accomplishment toward this goal, presented below are the agency’s 

critical strategic successes.

In fulfilling its mission and strategic plan in FY 2010, CNCS continued 

to act as a catalyst by providing targeted, critical support through its 

volunteers and grantees that, in turn, delivered much-needed services to 

communities throughout the country. The agency:

• Enabled 697,000 children and youth from disadvantaged 

circumstances to serve their communities through Corporationsponsored programs;

• Provided mentoring and other support services to more than 110,000 

children of prisoners; 

• Delivered independent living services—including direct support and 

respite for informal caregivers—to nearly 805,000 clients; and 

• Engaged over 541,000 college students in service. 

Increased the number of children and youth of incarcerated parents mentored through 

Corporation programs by over 300%.

Measure description

==

Number of children and youth of incarcerated parents 

mentored through Corportation programs (whole number)

 

Increased the number of clients who received independent living services by 95%.

Measure description

Number of clients who receive independent living services, 

including direct support and/or respite for their informal

caregivers, through Corportation-sponsored programs

(whole number)

0 50 100

0 200 400 600 800 1000

FY06 Actual 26.000

FY06 Actual 413,000

Thousands

Thousands

FY10 Actual 110,300

FY10 Actual 804,900

Increased the number of college students serving their communities by 400%.

Measure description

Number of college students serving through Corporationsponsored program (whole numbers)

0 200 400 600

FY06 Actual 108,000

Thousands

FY10 Actual 541,700
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 15

The Corporation for National and Community Service

As indicated in the chart above, CNCS did not meet its target for the 

number of clients who receive independent living services. The total 

deviation from the goal was less than 10 percent, and performance 

in this measure is trending up between FY09 and FY10, but CNCS will 

continue to analyze underlying factors and use all findings to inform 

related programming in CNCS’ new FY 2011– 2015 Strategic Plan.

CNCS maintained strong results in its effort to achieve ambitious goals 

it set forth for FY 2010. The agency met or exceeded its targets on eight 

of nine performance measures for which data was collected. (Note: Data 

for all measures is not available or collected annually.) A fuller analysis 

of CNCS’ performance on its national and agency goals in FY 2010 will 

be included in the FY 2010 Annual Performance Report, which will be 

released in February 2011. Tables 3 and 4 reflect the performance at the 

national and agency levels.

At that time, data for Corporation performance measures will be final, 

and several national performance measures and additional management 

measures will be available. Since 2008, CNCS has improved its data 

collection processes and began requiring grantees themselves to report 

performance information related to strategic initiatives at the end of 

the calendar year. Prior to this, only program-specific performance data 

was fully collected for the three Senior Corps programs, AmeriCorps 

VISTA, and AmeriCorps State and National. The only exception to this 

was the performance measure on the number of volunteers supported by 

Corporation programs.

Met or Did Not Year-over-Year

Exceeded Meet Trend (FY09 to

FY 2010 Corporation Performance (estimated) Goal Goal FY10)

Total number of volunteers supported by Corporation-sponsored

programs (including Corporation program members, participants, 

volunteers, and leveraged community volunteers)

Number of children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances 

mentored through Corporation programs 

Number of children and youth of incarcerated parents mentored 

through Corporation programs 

Number of children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances 

serving their communities through Corporation-sponsored programs 

Number of college students serving through Corporation-sponsored 

programs 

Number of higher education institutions matching the AmeriCorps 

Education Award 

Percent of organizations funded through Learn and Serve America that

have adopted at least six of the nine institutional supports that lead to 

sustainability for service-learning

Number of Baby Boomer volunteers generated through Corporationsponsored programs 

Number of clients who receive independent living services, including

direct support and/or respite for their informal caregivers, through 

Corporation-sponsored programs
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 16

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 3. Performance Trends for National Goals

Strategic Initiative & Performance FY06 FY07 FY08 FY08 FY09 FY09 FY10 FY10

Measure Actual Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual

Mobilize Volunteers 

Number of Americans volunteering 61.2 60.8 71.3 61.8 73.5 63.4 75 Avail 2/11

annually through an organization 

(in millions)II 

Number of Americans regularly 30.9 32.1 39.2 32.3 41.0 32.6 43 Avail 2/11

volunteering (in millions)III

Ensure a Bright Future for All of America’s Youth 

Number of Americans who mentor each 2.0 2.2 NA 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 Avail 2/11

year (in millions)IV 

Number of children and youth of 30,200 93,400 40,000 NA 96,400 NA 97,300 NA

incarcerated parents who are mentored

through federal programs (in thousands)V 

Number of teens from disadvantaged 2.6 NA 2.8 NA NA NA 3.0 NA

circumstances engaged in service in their 

communities (in millions)VI 

Engage Students in Communities 

Number of college students who 2.8 2.7 4.3 3.0 4.7 3.2 5.0 Avail 2/11

volunteer (in millions) 

Percentage of Federal Work Study funds 15% 15% 18% 16% 19% 19% 20% Avail 5/11

devoted to college students engaged in 

serviceVII

Percentage of K-12 schools that incorporate NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

service-learning into their curriculaVIII 

Harness Baby Boomers’ Experience

Number of Baby Boomers volunteering 23.6 23.1 27.1 22.6 27.8 22.8 28.7 Avail 2/11 

(in millions) 

Support Disaster Preparedness and ResponseIX NA

Table 3 Notes:

i. NA = Data not available. Following a careful review of the data, some adjustments have been made to several measures to more accurately reflect the anticipated targets and 

outcomes. As a result, the figures shown in this document will differ from those previously reported. For more information on any of CNCS’ measures, please contact the Office 

of the Chief Financial Officer at 202-606-5000. 

ii. Data for this measure is available through the “Current Population Survey: Supplement on Volunteering” available at www.bls.gov/new.release/volun.toc.htm. 

iii. Defined as those volunteering at any level of intensity (e.g. more than 1 hour per week) for 12 or more weeks during the year. 

iv. In prior years, CNCS planned to measure the “Number of Americans who mentor each year (in millions).” Data is not available for this measure as currently written; 

therefore, the wording of the measure has been modified in the following way to reflect the “Number of mentors serving a minimum of 36 hours each year (about one hour 

per school week).” 

v. Data provided by CNCS and other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Justice. 

vi. The description of this measure has been modified to more closely reflect the data collected through the 2005 Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, conducted by 

CNCS, in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector. This data represents the responses of youth aged 12-18 who met the family income 2005 federal poverty guidelines, as set by the Department of Health and Human Services (see: www.aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty/shtml). The prior description read: “Number of 

children and youth...” This data is available every two years. 

vii. Historical data revised by the Department of Education. 

viii. This measurement has only been produced twice in the last ten years and is not an annual or biannual indicator. There are currently no plans to continue it. 

ix. No adequate national measure has been identified and therefore developed for this initiative. This initiative and possible measures are being reexamined as part of the 

development of CNCS’ next strategic plan.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 17

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 4. Performance Trends for Corporation Goals 

Strategic Initiative and Performance FY06 FY07 FY08 FY08 FY09 FY09 FY10 FY10

Measure Actual Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual

Mobilize More Volunteers

Total number of volunteers supported by Corporation-sponsored programs (including 3.7 3.9 3.6 4.0 4.4 5.5 5.5 5.6

Corporation program members, participants, volunteers and leveraged community

volunteers) (whole number—millions)II 

Percent of former AmeriCorps members who continue to volunteer in their NA 64 NA NA NA NA NA NA

communities after their term of service

Ensure a Brighter Future for All of America’s Youth

Number of children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances mentored through NA 0.6 0.3 1.3 0.9 1.2 1.1 1.1

Corporation programs (whole number—millions)III

Number of children and youth of Corporation programs (whole number) 26,000 47,000 46,700 9,094 89,800 102,617 92,460 110,300

Number of children and youth from disadvantaged circumstances serving their 465,000 663,000 556,000 614,604 570,300 602,178 687,400 697,036

communities through Corporation-sponsored programs (whole number)IV

Engage Students in Communities

Number of college students serving through Corporation-sponsored programs (thousands) 108,000 199,000 187,000 561,152 529,000 533,942 539,000 541,700

Number of higher education institutions matching the AmeriCorps Education Award 57 76 67 77 74 87 88 88

(whole number) 

Percent of organizations funded through Learn and Serve America that have adopted 23 22 28 23 29 19 30 30

at least six of the nine institutional supports that lead to sustainability for service-learning

Harness Baby Boomers’ Experience

Number of Baby Boomer volunteers generated through Corporation-sponsored NA 230,000 333,540 333,606 356,590 376,828 390,790 395,090

programs (whole number)V 

Number of clients who receive independent living services, including direct support 413,000 470,000 675,100 813,202 811,500 740,718 879,500 804,900

and/or respite for their informal caregivers, through Corporation-sponsored programs

(whole number) 

Support Disaster Preparedness and ResponseVI 

Number of Corporation program participants who have been certified in NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

disaster-related training (thousands)

Number of Corporation program participants who are available for deployment in support NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

of local, state, or other disaster responses

Number of community members who receive disaster preparedness information or 

training through Corporation sponsored programs NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Table 4 Notes:

i. NA = Data not available. Following a careful review of the data, some adjustments have been made to several measures to more accurately reflect the anticipated targets and outcomes. As a result, the figures shown in this document will differ from those previously reported. For more information on any of CNCS’ measures, please contact the 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer at 202-606-5000. 

ii. The data source for this measure was changed to the AmeriCorps Longitudinal survey in order to provide consistently comparable data from year-to-year, thus resulting in data not being available for a number of prior years and changes to the out year targets. Currently, there are no plans to continue the survey. 

iii. CNCS did not collect this data prior to FY 2007. 

iv. The definition of disadvantaged children and youth receiving Corporation mentoring services or participating in Corporation-sponsored programs is based on program statutes and regulations. This group includes those up to age 25 with exceptional and special needs (as defined in the DVSA regulations, 45 CFR 2552.81) or who are 

economically disadvantaged and for whom one or more of the following apply: 1) out-of-school, including out-of-school youth who are unemployed; 2) in or aging out of foster care; 3) limited English proficiency; 4) homeless or have run away from home; 5) at-risk to leave school without a diploma; and/or 6) former juvenile offenders or 

youths at risk of delinquency. The referenced DVSA regulation includes “children with exceptional needs” who are defined as developmentally disabled, such as those who are autistic, have cerebral palsy or epilepsy, are visually impaired, are emotionally disturbed or have a language disorder, have a specific learning disability, have multiple 

disabilities, other significant health impairment, or have literacy needs. Under this DVSA regulation, existence of a child’s exceptional need is verified by an appropriate professional, such as a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, registered nurse or licensed practical nurse, speech therapist, or educator. “Children with special needs” is defined as 

those who are abused or neglected, in need of foster care, adjudicated youth, homeless youths, teen-age parents and children in need of protective intervention in their homes. 

v. Prior to FY 2008, AmeriCorps grantees were not required to collect and report this data. All Corporation programs now collect and report this data, resulting in the significant increase between FY 2007 and FY 2008. 

vi. No adequate national measure has been identified and therefore developed for this initiative. This initiative and possible measures are being reexamined as part of the development of CNCS’ next strategic plan. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 18

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Program Performance

Senior Corps

In FY 2010, an estimated 458,100 volunteers age 55 and over served in 

the three Senior Corps programs through a network of 1,300 grantees.

RSVP. In FY 2010, RSVP volunteers delivered an estimated 62 

million hours of service in their communities. Across the network of 

approximately 759 grantees, an estimated 426,500 RSVP volunteers 

served in more than 65,000 community organizations nationwide to 

deliver essential services. Working through such infrastructure networks 

as Area Agencies on Aging, Volunteer Centers, United Ways, social 

services agencies, and many others, RSVP volunteers provide critical 

services across the country. This includes tutoring and mentoring 

children, providing independent living services to seniors, assisting 

victims of natural disasters, improving the environment, conducting 

safety patrols, and mobilizing other volunteers.

CNCS awarded $2.7 million to support a total of 8,275 new RSVP 

volunteers to serve in a series of new and existing projects. Specifically, 

there were 18 new RSVP projects with approximately 4,275 volunteers 

and 48 grant augmentations to existing projects, adding approximately 

4,000 new RSVP volunteers to those programs. CNCS also required that 

20 percent of all new volunteers be placed in assignments to recruit 

and coordinate community volunteers, thus expanding the capacity 

of local nonprofits to greater meet their missions. In total, RSVP 

volunteers leveraged an estimated 61,000 additional volunteers from the 

communities in which they worked and helped local nonprofits deliver 

key social services to communities in need.

Foster Grandparent Program (FGP). In FY 2010, 28,400 FGP volunteers 

delivered an estimated 24 million hours of service in their communities. 

In total, the program served an estimated 247,080 children and 

youth—149,000 of which were mentored by FGP volunteers. In the 

coming year, CNCS anticipates providing more aggressive outreach to 

younger Baby Boomers. 

In FY 2010, CNCS implemented changes required by the Serve America 

Act, including changes to the age and income requirements. CNCS 

will continue to track the extent to which this change attracts new 

volunteers to enter the program. CNCS’ state and local partners are vital 

to sustaining local FGP projects. In FY 2009—the most recent available 

data—local communities contributed $37.8 million in non - federal 

funds to support Foster Grandparent projects, which is well above the 

required 10 percent non-federal share.

Senior Companion Program (SCP). In FY 2010, an estimated 14,800 

SCP volunteers delivered an estimated 12.2 million hours of service in 

their communities, taking care of the in-home needs of approximately 

66,304 frail, older adults and others with physical or other limitations. 

These volunteers transport clients to medical appointments, help 

shop for food and basic necessities, provide companionship to offset 

isolation, and offer respite to nearly 9,300 family members and informal 

caregivers. In the coming year, CNCS anticipates providing more 

aggressive outreach to younger Baby Boomers.

In FY 2010, CNCS implemented changes required by the Serve America 

Act, including changes to the age and income requirements. CNCS will 

continue to track the extent to which this change attracts new volunteers 

to enter the program.

The value of the Senior Companion Program is apparent in numerous 

tangible ways, quantifiable and non-quantifiable. Research conducted 

by the program in 2004–2005 showed Senior Companion clients had 

significant, long-term mental health benefits from their services, 

including reduced rates of depression.

SCP grantees also work with states to expand services through Medicaid 

Home and Community-based Waivers. In 2009, 12 states elected 

to incorporate SCP services into their Medicaid-funded home and 

community-based services, providing nearly $1.3 million to support 624 

Senior Companions who in turn provided in-home support to more than 

1,230 clients. State and local policy makers and program administrators 

recognize that independent living is more cost- effective than housing 

seniors in skilled nursing facilities and see the Senior Companion 

Program as a critical partner in finding creative solutions to keep 

communities healthy and independent.

CNCS’ state and local partners are vital to sustaining local SCP projects. 

Finally, in 2009 local communities contributed $25.7 million in nonfederal funds to support Senior Companions, which is well above the 

required 10 percent non-federal share. The additional funds, including 

$6.4 million in state appropriated dollars, demonstrate the value of 

essential services that Senior Companions provide in their communities.

RSVP volunteers delivered an 

estimated 62 million hours of 

service in their communities. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 19

The Corporation for National and Community Service

AmeriCorps State and National

In FY 2010, CNCS supported an estimated 72,500 AmeriCorps State 

and National members serving in programs across the nation. These 

members recruited 1.5 million additional volunteers to serve in 

communities and provide much needed human capital to nonprofits 

across the nation. Final performance data will be available in FY 2011.

Roughly 337 organizations from across the country received a total of $233 

million in competitive grants (across funding streams) to support more 

than 57,000 new AmeriCorps members who will serve in FY 2010/2011 

through national and local nonprofit organizations, community and faithbased groups, educational institutions, and Indian Tribes.

Nationwide, applications for AmeriCorps funding increased significantly 

in FY 2010, which dramatically increased the competition for funding. 

Approximately 60 percent more grant funding was requested in 2010 than in 

2009 and organizations requested about twice the number of grant dollars 

and AmeriCorps positions than could be funded. In addition to the competitive 

AmeriCorps funding, CNCS also awarded $126 million in formula funding 

to State Service Commissions and territories—a 49 percent increase over 

FY 2009. Also in FY 2010, CNCS piloted a series of uniform, outcome-based 

performance measures, which 74 percent of all grantees adopted as part 

of the FY 2010 grant competition. The adoption of standardized measures 

allowed CNCS to focus funding on evidence-based solutions to community 

problems through the AmeriCorps portfolio and eventually will improve agency 

efforts to demonstrate the aggregate impact that AmeriCorps members 

have when focused on key national and community challenges. Similar to 

the information provided below on the ARRA reporting, in November, CNCS 

will be able to report—in the aggregate—on the targets set by grantees for 

each performance measure. CNCS will be able to report on actual program 

performance following the end of the grant year, in FY 2011.

Though CNCS receives few applications from rural areas (just 42 selfidentified as having a rural programming in the FY 2010 competition), 

these applicants tend to be successful in securing Corporation 

funding. Of the pool of eligible rural applicants, 84 percent—28 of 

33 applicants—received funding in FY 2010. To further expand the 

presence of AmeriCorps in rural America, CNCS plans to work closely 

with State Commissions in FY 2011 to increase their ability to conduct 

outreach to potential applicants in rural areas.

AmeriCorps VISTA

In FY 2010, VISTA enrolled 8,075 new members, exceeding its initial 

projections by 410 members. This includes 6,696 full time VISTAs and 1,379 

Summer Associates. The number of new members was higher than projected 

due to a higher than usual onboard strength rolling over from FY 2009.

However, AmeriCorps VISTA met its target of 5,385 member service years 

ensuring that there was no over spending of the budget. AmeriCorps 

VISTA also met its target of 17 percent of member service years 

supported through cost share agreements.

In FY 2010, CNCS received the final report of the AmeriCorps VISTA 

Sustainability Assessment. Conducted by Westat Inc., the study was designed 

to assess how well AmeriCorps VISTA was achieving its mission of building 

sustainable anti-poverty programs. Focusing on projects that had been closed 

for two to five years, the findings indicated that 84 percent of projects that 

have been closed for two years or longer remain sustainable. The study also 

reaffirmed AmeriCorps VISTA’s core principle of the importance of community 

involvement in planning, development, and execution of project programming, 

as well as in ensuring a well qualified cadre of members.

During FY 2010, AmeriCorps VISTA senior leadership convened a number 

of internal workgroups consisting of staff from the Office of Field Liaison 

and the Federal Financial Management Center (FFMC) to revise policies 

where necessary and undertake systems enhancements that would 

improve program operations and better position the program for future 

growth. This exercise targeted budget line items with high variable 

costs (travel, training, and grants), where efficiencies would result in a 

considerable return on investment.

Travel

An examination of travel and relocation expenses resulted in several 

important policy changes including:

• Increasing the emphasis on using ground transportation for member 

travel; 

• Switching to mileage reimbursements equivalent to the GSA levels for 

federal employees; and 

• Disallowing payments for certain types of travel prior to pre-service 

orientation. These measures are estimated to reduce relocation costs 

...an estimated 72,500 

AmeriCorps State and National 

members...recruited 1.5 million 

additional volunteers to serve in 

communities and provide much 

needed human capital to nonprofits 

across the nation.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 20

The Corporation for National and Community Service

by five percent or approximately $283,000 from projected spending in 

FY 2011. 

IT Enhancements

Automation improvements in FY 2010 include implementation of 

electronic Memoranda of Agreement (eMAs), implementation of an 

interface between the MyAmeriCorps Portal and Momentum accounting 

system, and the deployment of a web-based system for planning and 

tracking member service years. Using eMAs will eliminate the need to 

mail hardcopies of MAs from state offices to headquarters for signature 

and final approval, which will decrease costs, time, and supplies. The 

Portal/Momentum interface will permit reimbursement of travel for VISTA 

Members and Supervisors through Electronic Funds Transfer, resulting in 

a reduction response time, cost (postage and supplies), and workload for 

the staff at the FFMC and VISTA Member Support Unit (VMSU).

The tracking and forecasting of member service years is critical to 

execution of the program within budget. To date, the tracking process 

has been conducted through the manual entry of data and the 

reconciliation of a complex set of spreadsheets by staff in all 50 state 

offices and in headquarters. The integrated, web-based system will 

use real-time data from the MyAmeriCorps Portal, improve program 

coordination, and reduce the likelihood of errors.

Training

Training remains a critical component of member development and 

success; it also represents the program’s highest variable costs. A 

comprehensive review of training has been underway and two significant 

steps were undertaken in FY 2010:

• Development of a robust blended curriculum (computer-based, 

webinar, and face-to-face training), including: 

> In-Service Training (IST) that provides members with unlimited 

access to high-quality training materials to further their skill 

development during their service term; 

> Orientation for supervisors that provides sponsors and 

supervisors with materials to coach and develop the VISTA 

members assigned to their organizations; and 

> VISTA Leaders Training that includes field work. 

• Migration of certain components of the Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) 

and Supervisors Orientation (SO) curriculums to the online VISTA 

Campus, which will allow more time at the in-person PSO for sessions 

focused hard skill development, such as resource mobilization and 

volunteer generation. 

Additional work will be undertaken in FY 2011 as part of this ongoing 

review of the training model, including an independent assessment 

of member training. This assessment will review the skills and 

competencies that members need in preparation for their service and 

the extent to which the current model succeeds in addressing these 

needs. AmeriCorps VISTA also plans to conduct a pilot training program 

in two or three small states, whereby the in-person PSO model will be 

replaced by a distance learning model that leverages video-conferencing 

technology. The pilot will assess the cost implications and efficacy of the 

pilot model in preparing AmeriCorps VISTA members for service.

AmeriCorps NCCC

In FY 2010, AmeriCorps NCCC teams completed 564 projects and over 

1.2 million hours of service through partnerships with federal and 

state agencies and community-based organizations. CNCS devoted 

42 percent of AmeriCorps NCCC’s total program resources to disaster 

relief and recovery efforts nationwide, supporting displaced and needy 

individuals, families, and communities. An average of 964 AmeriCorps 

NCCC members served each month and an estimated 50,000 additional 

community volunteers were leveraged.

CNCS is committed to managing the AmeriCorps NCCC program in a 

cost-effective manner through sound financial planning and strategic 

operations. Over the past several years, a number of measures aimed at 

improving efficiency have been implemented across the campuses, e.g. 

increasing the member to full-time staff ratio, having members prepare 

their own meals, and reducing training costs by employing existing 

staff as trainers and soliciting pro bono services. In May 2010, CNCS 

consolidated its Office of Emergency Management into AmeriCorps NCCC 

to provide greater coordination of agency-wide disaster preparation, 

mitigation and response, and recovery activities.

In FY 2010, 50 percent of AmeriCorps NCCC resources were devoted to 

disaster services nationwide, providing support to displaced and needy 

individuals, families, and communities. The average AmeriCorps NCCC 

member completed 1,868 hours of service (including training) during 

their 10-month service term in FY 2010.

AmeriCorps NCCC members built 

334 new homes, completed 4,500 

tax returns for low income families, 

and supported 11,000 children in 

out of school programming. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 21

The Corporation for National and Community Service

AmeriCorps NCCC members built 334 new homes, completed 4,500 

tax returns for low income families and supported 11,000 children 

in out-of-school programming. Members also conducted prescribed 

burns and fire mitigation on over 9,800 acres of land, supported over 

130 community gardens, and recruited or managed more than 50,000 

community volunteers. In addition to disaster relief, members completed 

282 additional projects in the areas of education, the environment, and 

human services, for a total over 1.2 million hours of service.

Some of the program’s major deployments in FY 2010 include Kentucky, 

Tennessee, and Georgia (floods), Mississippi (tornadoes), American 

Samoa (tsunami), and the Gulf Coast following the Deepwater Horizon 

oil spill. The program supported disaster response efforts in partnership 

with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American Red 

Cross, State Commissions and local municipalities throughout the U.S. 

and its territories.

AmeriCorps NCCC members assisted more than 158,000 people affected 

by disasters.

Additionally, since 2005, members from all campuses have served over 

3 million hours in the Gulf Coast region on over 1,100 relief and recovery 

projects. Corporation management is exploring additional opportunities 

for employing AmeriCorps NCCC resources in support of agencywide disaster planning. For example, under the agency’s Continuity 

of Operations Plan (COOP), CNCS is considering NCCC campuses as 

potential work sites for critical staff following a catastrophic event 

affecting its Washington, DC headquarters. AmeriCorps NCCC campuses 

also can be used to train and house other Corporation national service 

members and volunteers during times of disaster.

Learn and Serve America

Since CNCS’ first service-learning grants were awarded in 1993, the field 

has developed a body of curricula, evaluations, and other materials in the 

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. Over the years, LSA has served 

as a catalyst to seed, expand, and replicate service-learning programs. 

At this time in the field’s development, LSA needs to shift its focus to 

innovative practices that demonstrate research-based impact. CNCS 

funded 141 grantees through LSA in 2010 that directly implemented 

programs and provided sub-grants to approximately 1,400 local operating 

sites. As a result, 1.5 million participants engaged in service-learning 

activities for nearly 15 million hours through LSA grant-making.

• As guided by legislation, LSA administered a cohort of Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) grants across the portfolio 

of $5.7 million in school-based and $3.9 million in higher education 

grants. These grants supported the integration of service-learning into 

middle school STEM curricula to enhance academic engagement while 

fostering civic responsibility. Additionally, these grants supported 

faculty development, student participation, and institutional 

involvement in community projects through the STEM disciplines.

• LSA invested $2.8 million to support teacher training. These grants 

enlighten new and existing teachers with innovative strategies to 

connect service-learning to their curriculum. This pipeline of teachers 

trained in service-learning implements proven, educational strategies 

that improve classroom performance. Teacher training is an important 

new area in which LSA hopes to grow its work in future years. 

• LSA School-Based Tribal grants continued federal partnership with the 

Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to 

combat methamphetamine abuse in Indian Country. In FY 2010, LSA 

also awarded five new grants totaling $650,070 to tribal communities 

for service-learning activities dedicated to the environment; retention 

of tribal history, language, and culture; and community economic 

development. 

• LSA administered the 4th annual President’s Community Service Honor 

Roll, funded through Subtitle H. This Presidential Award recognizes 

institutions of higher education for exemplary, innovative, and 

effective program achievements in community service and servicelearning. The Honor Roll also increases the public’s awareness of 

the contributions that colleges and their students make to local 

communities and the nation as a whole. 

While LSA has enjoyed success as a federal program since its inception 

in 1993, an extensive program review conducted in 2010 revealed 

several opportunities to refocus and refine the program’s contribution 

to the Administration’s education agenda. In particular, CNCS sees 

1.5 million participants engaged 

in service-learning activities for 

nearly 15 million hours through LSA 

grantmaking. In a pilot program this 

year, 2 million in grants were awarded 

to engage at-risk youth in grades 

6 through 9 in innovative service 

projects that address environmental 

and disaster preparedness issues 

through a Summer of Service.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 22

The Corporation for National and Community Service

an opportunity to build upon past successes through innovations in 

academic achievement and service-learning.

Innovation and Demonstration

CNCS’ investment in quality and innovation activities in FY 2010 

resulted in the following important accomplishments.

Social Innovation Fund. During FY 2010, the Social Innovation Fund 

(SIF) completed its inaugural grant competition, awarding $49.3 million 

to 11 intermediaries drawn from different parts of the U.S. These 

awardees represent organizations that have unparalleled expertise 

and track records of success in using evidence-based research to 

grow successful nonprofits working in communities. Their proposals 

embody multi-year plans targeted toward three of CNCS’ priority areas– 

Economic Opportunity, Healthy Futures and Youth Development/School 

Support—and are expected to have the following impact through their 

2010/2011 grant cycle:

• More than 23,000 low income individuals in the South and Southwest 

will receive job training and education leading to jobs with more than 

1,000 employers. 

• A successful anti-poverty program started in New York City will be 

replicated in eight new urban areas: Kansas City, Memphis, Newark, 

San Antonio, Cleveland, Youngstown, Akron, and Tulsa. 

• Projects in Kentucky and Missouri will expand access to needed health 

services, support improvements in nutrition and physical activity, and 

work to reduce rates of smoking, obesity, and preventable disease in 

targeted communities. 

• Projects in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and North and South Carolina 

serving at least 3,500 low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS 

will support innovative strategies that increase access to care, reduce 

barriers to care, improve health outcomes, and include rigorous 

evaluation that will improve future service delivery.

• An estimated 20,000 low-income and vulnerable young people in 

Washington, DC will benefit from a new collaboration with as many 

as eight nonprofit organizations working together to improve their 

educational and employment outcomes. 

Volunteer Generation Fund. The purpose of the Volunteer Generation 

Fund is to strengthen our volunteer infrastructure to best utilize the 

large influx of volunteers that are seeking service opportunities. In 

recent years, the number of people volunteering their time has increased 

significantly. However, to be effective in leveraging large numbers 

of people, many nonprofit organizations need assistance in training, 

managing, and supporting volunteers. Such support has proven 

highly effective in making best use of the time and skills of people 

who volunteer, providing them with useful and satisfying volunteer 

experiences, while directing and focusing their work.

Investment for Quality and Innovation. In FY 2010, CNCS expanded the 

President’s Call to Service through Let’s Read, Let’s Move, an intensive 

United We Serve summer outreach program. The Corporate Pro Bono 

Campaign topped $500 million in commitments with $110 million 

in new commitments this year. National Mentoring Month and the 

Higher Education Honor Roll continued to highlight important service 

in the education sector. CNCS expanded opportunities to serve through 

outreach to urban American Indian communities, outreach to diverse 

faith and neighborhood initiatives to encourage interfaith collaboration 

and service to address needs identified in CNCS’ new strategic plan. 

Finally, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation had its 

inaugural activities and adopted a set of activities for the future.

In FY 2010, CNCS organized and coordinated activities for the United We 

Serve initiative and the national days of service. United We Serve is a 

nationwide “call to service” effort to encourage all Americans to engage 

in service and volunteering. Increasing the number of people engaging 

in service– expanding opportunities to serve—will yield greater capacity 

to solve social problems in communities. CNCS awarded six continuation 

grants in honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to support 

community efforts to address pressing issues by engaging local volunteers, 

with a focus on activities held on the MLK Day of Service. In FY 2010, the 

MLK Day of Service included over 10,000 projects in all 50 states, and 

included participation by elected officials, colleges and universities, and 

corporate partners. On the first September 11 National Day of Service and 

Remembrance, communities organized service projects in all 50 states, and 

Americans of all backgrounds rekindled the remarkable spirit of unity and 

compassion that arose following the attacks.

The 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service was coconvened by Points of Light Institute and CNCS and attended by over 

6,000 stakeholders, including hundreds of grantees, and nonprofit, 

The 2010 MLK Day of Service 

included over 10,000 projects 

in all 50 states, and included 

participation by elected officials, 

colleges and universities, and 

corporate partners.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 23

The Corporation for National and Community Service

corporate, philanthropy, and other leaders. Participants received critical 

training and shared knowledge and best practices—both within and 

across sectors—for engaging citizens in solving community problems. 

The conference emphasizes a focus on finding solutions, highlights 

and promotes innovation, and builds enduring capacity in the sector to 

improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement.

In FY 2010, CNCS initiated an ambitious effort to position the agency 

as the thought leader in quality and innovation in service as a solution. 

Several case studies highlighting innovative practices in the field were 

initiated and will be published in FY 2011. CNCS also convened thought 

leaders to discuss the Serve America Act focus areas and to provide 

depth and input for CNCS’ future activities. For example, the Education 

Convening brought together 70 nonprofits, SEA, and faith-based leaders 

to discuss partnerships between schools and community organizations 

that improve student success. Results from that meeting will inform 

CNCS’ pilot partnership with the U.S. Department of Education related to 

low performing schools.

Training and Technical Assistance

Supporting and helping to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit 

sector to manage national service programs toward successful 

outcomes is fundamental to CNCS’ mission. As such, CNCS’ training 

and technical assistance activities (TTA) are being redesigned to 

reinforce and incentivize a focus on performance and results across 

grantees. In FY 2010, CNCS realigned its Office Leadership Development 

and Training into the Office of Strategy in order to provide a more 

coordinated and targeted approach to training and technical assistance 

across Corporation programs. New training and technical assistance 

approaches will be employed to ensure a pipeline of applicants that 

have the technical skills to measure and report results that align with 

CNCS’ new strategic focus areas and that can effectively use service to 

achieve lasting outcomes.

CNCS provides its field with technical skills to convene service impacts 

around evidence-based solutions. Tools, training, and information 

flow through robust web platforms to seed innovation and solidify 

capacity. For instance, the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse 

stores primary source documents, curriculum, research, and material 

resources. These materials include:

• Toolkits for K-12 teachers and higher education faculty on planning 

high-quality service-learning courses; 

• Resources to support K-12, higher education, community-based 

organizations (CBO), and tribal service-learning educators with the 

Service-Learning Ideas and Curricular Examples database; and 

• Over 500 service-learning lesson plans, syllabi, and project ideas. 

The Service-Learning Clearinghouse received a rating of 83 out of 100, 

and the Resource Center site a rating of 76 out of 100 in relevance of 

topics and usefulness of information in a 2009 ACSI study of training 

and technical assistance performance. The topics that received the 

highest rating in terms of importance included disability inclusion, 

financial and grants management, faith-based and community 

initiatives, performance measurement, volunteer management and 

recruitment, and community engagement and strengthening.

Decisions about training and technical assistance investments have 

evolved from multiple sources of input including constituent needs, grants 

monitoring data, and Corporation strategic initiatives. CNCS provides 

online and phone assistance related to performance measurement basics, 

data collection, and reporting tools. In follow-up surveys, 92 percent of 

respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the assistance they received 

resulted in the development of a performance measurement plan for their 

program. Furthermore, another 95 percent agreed or strongly agreed that 

technical assistance enabled them to report performance impact.

In the first two quarters of FY 2010, over 1.1 million unique visitors 

accessed CNCS’ online Resource Center. This site includes:

• An effective practices database of over 800 vetted practices; 

• Twenty-six online affinity groups; 

• An online learning center with 38 courses enrolling 12,775 individuals; 

and 

• Collaborative webinars reaching 2,258 individuals. 

In the first two quarters of FY 2010, CNCS also: 

• Supported 31 training events attended by 2,570 learners, and 52 sessions 

at training events sponsored by organizations that reached 2,641 

additional participants. This includes a Financial and Grants Management 

Institute, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve grantee meetings. 

• Supported technical assistance (TA) with 55 onsite visits reaching 

1,267 individuals, 75 sponsored webinars reaching 2,258 participants, 

and 23,046 people coached on the phone or by e-mail. 

• Standardized surveys administered across all events with 91 percent 

of participants reporting that they gained new knowledge they would 

apply in their work. 

Disability Inclusion Grants

CNCS engages Americans with disabilities in service through grants to State 

Service Commissions and National Disability Organizational Partners. State 

commissions use inclusion funding to conduct outreach and recruitment, 

provide reasonable accommodations, develop local partnerships, and build 

the capacity of sub-grantees for disability inclusion.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 24

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Disability organizations use disability grant funds to facilitate 

partnerships between local, state, and national disability organizations, 

promote service and volunteering among their peers, and enhance 

appreciation of the value of a service experience. They build individual, 

organizational, and community capacity for inclusion through training 

and technical assistance and serve as a critical resource on service and 

inclusion. The strategic alignment between State Service Commissions 

and disability agencies mitigates real and perceived barriers and 

expands national service opportunities toward full inclusion. CNCS 

provides Disability Inclusion Grants to impact:

• Outreach activities that provide Americans with disabilities access to 

information about national service programs; 

• Community development through social networking media formatted 

for Americans with disabilities; 

• Accessibility at training venues, the National Conference on 

Volunteering and Service, and at service sites; 

• Capacity for inclusion through training and technical assistance; and 

• Economic opportunities for individuals with disabilities including 

veterans with disabilities. 

As of the second quarter of FY 2010, Corporation disability grants funded:

• One thousand four hundred national service participants attended 49 

face-to-face training in 11 states. Ninety-four percent of the trainees 

reported gaining knowledge that they would apply to their work. 

• Six thousand seven hundred individuals participated in web-based 

training events and teleconferences, received remote technical 

assistance, or accessed technical assistance through fully accessible 

websites. 

• Thirty-six new partnerships between University Centers on Disability 

and State Service Commissions or Corporation State Offices. 

• The National Service Toward Employment Project (NextSTEP) will 

identify innovative practices and programs in the service, employment, 

and nonprofit fields that effectively transition Americans with 

disabilities from service to post-secondary education and employment. 

Research and Evaluation

In FY 2010, CNCS realigned its evaluation and research functions 

into the new Office of Strategy. Through this new structure, CNCS’ 

research and evaluation function will more clearly align with training 

and technical assistance activities. We will build the capacity of our 

grantees to better track and measure their own performance and make 

sense of the data they are collecting.

CNCS’ research provides the agency and our national and community 

service programs with information to improve performance and more 

effectively engage Americans in a lifetime of volunteering and civic 

engagement. CNCS has instituted an external review process for 

its major research studies. In cooperation with academics at major 

universities and independent organizations, we will conduct objective 

reviews of agency reports and findings.

In 2008, CNCS conducted a rigorous evaluation of the impact of 

service on AmeriCorps members. Results of this evaluation show that 

participation in AmeriCorps programs result in increased interest in 

public service, particularly among minorities. Furthermore, participation 

in AmeriCorps programs increases the likelihood that individuals from 

disadvantaged backgrounds will seek careers in the public service. This 

type of random assignment impact evaluation has set the stage for 

CNCS to develop and implement other rigorous studies to demonstrate 

how service has an impact on service participants and communities. 

These future studies will also provide opportunities to demonstrate how 

particular program models support the agency’s strategic goals and 

align with our focus areas. Thus, in FY 2010, in addition to continuing 

to track the cohort of members who participated in the AmeriCorps 

Longitudinal Study, CNCS conducted the following:

• Initial phases of the fixed-amount grants pilot and national 

performance measure pilot in AmeriCorps State and National—For 

this project, CNCS is gathering perspectives from grantees that chose 

to opt-in or opt-out of one or both of the pilots. Evaluation of the 

pilot measures will continue through 2012 and inform our efforts to 

establish performance measures for grantees and program sponsors 

in all Corporation programs. 

• Random assignment of Youth Corps evaluation—Research continued 

for a random-assignment evaluation of Youth Corps programs (which 

engage disadvantaged youth in service) across the country to assess 

their impact on future employment, education, life skills, and civic 

engagement. This is the first rigorous assessment of Youth Corps in 

more than a decade. 

• Service-learning evaluation—In addition, CNCS launched a randomassignment study of service-learning in schools to assess the impact 

of service on academic achievement and school engagement as 

required in the Serve America Act and continued to partner with the 

U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect 

annual data on volunteering and civic health in the United States 

through the current population survey. 

CNCS also continued its work to expand opportunities to serve through 

research of trends in our Volunteering in America Study. In 2010, the 

annual survey tracked national demographic trends in volunteering 

as well as place-based, demographic trends from 200 communities 

across the country—thus providing an opportunity to demonstrate the 

geographic impact of CNCS’ programs. Research shows that in 2009 the 

country had the largest increase in volunteer rates since 2003.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 25

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Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 26

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Management Performance

FY 2010 data for the majority of the agency management performance 

measures is not currently available. Data for the measures related to the 

American Customer Satisfaction Index will not be available until March 

2011. Data for the grantees’ performance against their own program/

project metrics also will not be available until later in FY 2011. Data 

for these measures is expected to demonstrate sustained increases in 

employee satisfaction resulting from CNCS’ ongoing efforts to improve 

its operations.

Data for the FY 2010 Federal Employment Viewpoint Survey (formerly 

known as the Human Capital Survey), sponsored by Office of Personnel 

Management, show a significant increase in Corporation employees’ job 

satisfaction. Since FY 2009, the rate of satisfied employees jumped by 5 

percentage points, from 68 percent to 73 percent.

CNCS has taken a number of important steps to prepare for the growth 

authorized under the Serve America Act. Within the last year, CNCS 

completed the following management initiatives.

Information Technology

Stabilized CNCS’ IT infrastructure by:

• Centralizing and outsourcing our data center providing:

> First time HQ and field locations have redundant paths to CNCS 

network and systems;

> Power back-up, automatic West Coast fail-over and constant 

up-time for the general public, and CNCS members, grantees, 

and employees;

> High marks from Federal Information Security Management Act 

(FISMA) auditors for strong 2009 FISMA compliance in a small 

agency; and

> New Oracle development team brought on board to implement 

changes to payroll to provide high quality processing. Also 

providing support for enhancements to the Trust and assist 

with Serve America Act implementation. 

Allowed for a more agile IT response to CNCS’ changing needs:

• In response to the newly passed Serve America Act, the Office of 

Information Technology (OIT) spent 2010 implementing over 350 

systems enhancements, modifications, and fixes to meet the Serve 

America Act requirements and business needs; 

• First Phase Data Warehouse was rolled out, subsequent phases are in 

design and development; and

• Redesigned and re-implemented the internal website of CNCS and 

re-envisioned the new CNCS web presence. 

Improved productivity and service across CNCS using technology:

• First re-think of all help desk services to grantees, the public, and 

members, designed to:

> Save costs;

> Provide better customer service; 

> Provide a single point for all support;

> Improve reporting, monitoring, and responsiveness.

• Dramatic improvements in field technology support:

> First high-speed Internet access for 35 of the 52 field office.

> VOIP phone installations in seven field offices. 

• Increase capacity and improvements in usability of remote access 

solutions 

Following IT best practices CNCS is striving for continuous improvement:

• First PII inventory completed, including detailed training for field offices:

> First secure e-mail transmission, provides email review and 

secure retrieval of messages that contain PII data. 

> Systems Risk Management monitoring (Xacta) has been 

installed and training for CNCS is underway. 

In late FY 2010, CNCS was notified of access vulnerabilities in the 

MyAmeriCorps portal website that may have created the potential 

for others to view personal information of program applicants and 

participants. The vulnerabilities, which were immediately fixed, date 

back to the creation of the system in 2006. Though the vulnerabilities 

would not have caused personal information to be exposed in the normal 

operation of the portal, Corporation staff worked diligently to strengthen 

and ensure the security of the agency’s computer systems. Furthermore, 

an independent computer security specialist was hired to conduct a 

comprehensive review of the system, including vulnerability scanning 

and penetration testing, and a senior systems security engineer was 

retained to oversee ongoing monitoring and updating of our IT systems.

By year’s end, CNCS:

• Identified and corrected the vulnerabilities; 

• Found no evidence that any data was misused; 

• Notified and offered credit monitoring services (daily alerts, fraud 

recovery, and insurance) to 509,000 users of the portal; 

• Established a call center through Experian. To date, over 2,000 calls 

have been received (less than one percent of the notified population) 

and over 9,000 redemptions of credit monitoring services (roughly two 

percent of the notified population); 

• Awarded a contract for an independent contractor who began on 

penetration testing and code review; 

• Expects analysis and recommendations for the independent contractor 

to be completed in February 2011; 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 27

The Corporation for National and Community Service

• Hired a systems security engineer; and 

• Plans to engage the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to perform 

further system reviews in second half of FY 2011. 

Grant Operations

CNCS engaged a contractor to evaluate the way it conducts business, 

identifies efficiencies, and implementsnew methods for evaluating and 

awarding grants, as well as provides training, conducts oversight and 

monitoring, recruits program members and participants, and provides 

the technology necessary for each of these activities. Based in part on 

the contractor’s evaluation, CNCS is developing a plan to consolidate 

and realign grants management and other programmatic functions to 

become a more efficient and effective organization. CNCS plans to begin 

this re-alignment in the second quarter of FY 2011 and complete this 

work in late FY 2012.

Table 5. Performance Trends for Management Goalsi

Performance Objective and Measure FY06 FY07 FY08 FY08 FY09 FY09 FY10 FY10

Actual Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual

Improve Program and Project Quality 

Percent of Corporation-funded grantees NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

meeting or on track to meet program project

performance goalsii 

Cultivate a Culture of Performance and Accountability 

Number of material weaknesses (MW), 0MW 0MW 0MW 0MW 0MW 0MW 0MW 0MW

significant deficiencies (SD), or reportable 1 RC 0 SD 0 SD 1 SD 0 SD 0 SD 0 SD 2SD

conditions (RC) identified in the annual 

financial statement auditiii 

Percent of government-wide financial 48% 62% 100% 63% 100% 69% 100% 97%

management metrics where CNCS is rated 

“green”iv 

Deliver Exemplary Customer Service 

Overall Corporation score on the American 71 73 74 74 77 74 80 Avail

Customer Satisfaction Index (100 point scale) 03/11

Overall score for satisfaction with the overall 62 70 70 67 75 74 80 Avail

usability and effectiveness of the agency’s 06/11

major technology stems (100 point scale)

Build a Diverse, Energized, and High-Performing Workforce 

Percent of employees who report overall 72% 77% 76% 68% 72% 68% 75% 73%

satisfaction with their jobs 

Table 5 Notes: 

i. NA = Data not available. 

ii. This initiative is being reexamined as part of the development of CNCS’ next strategic plan. 

iii. In FY 2007, the reissuance of “Government Auditing Standards” by the Government Accountability Office revised the definitions of material weakness, eliminated the reportable 

conditions category and introduced a new category, “significant deficiency.” For more information on this change, see OMB Circular A-123 at: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circular/index.html. 

iv. Prior to May 2007, all agencies calculated their own results for these metrics using standardized methods on a monthly or quarterly basis, as specified by the CFO Council. In 

May 2007, the General Services Administration (GSA) began calculating the values for the three metrics related to credit card delinquencies. CNCS has continued to calculate its 

metric scores monthly using the same calculations specified by the Council for all non-credit card delinquency metrics. Prior to 2007, values shown represent the value for the last 

month of the fiscal year. For FY 2007 and beyond, the value represents an average over the 12 months of the fiscal year. Also see “Accompanying Information: Government-wide 

Financial Management Metrics” available at www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance.asp. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 28

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Workforce Development and Employee Engagement

In FY 2010, CNCS dedicated significant resources to meeting mandated 

training (e.g., No Fear Act, Contracting Officer’s Representative, Benefits 

Officer, and New Supervisor) and mission-critical developmental needs 

(e.g., Project Management and Information Technology Acquisition). 

CNCS also deployed a web-based learning management system (LMS) 

that includes over 400 online training courses and presentations 

available to all CNCS employees.

While CNCS currently provides strong health and wellness support 

to employees, the Office of Human Capital continues to investigate 

programs designed to improve the health and wellness of agency 

employees. For the past five years, CNCS has monitored the results of the 

Federal Human Capital Survey (now the EVS) and the Annual Employee 

Survey. While CNCS’ senior leadership and human capital programs have 

been successful in building and maintaining strong job satisfaction 

and satisfaction with the organization, we do note two potential threats 

to our ability to foster an environment in which our employees continue 

to invest the same level of their talents, energy, knowledge, and 

enthusiasm in their work.

Specifically, while employees consistently report strong identification 

with the mission, they also report decreasing affirmation that their 

workload is reasonable (EVS item #10). From 2006 to 2010 the 

percentage of favorable responses in this area fell from 57 percent to 

49 percent. In 2010, the gap between the percentage of Corporation 

employee positive responses on workload reasonableness and the 

government-wide average reached 10 percent.

CNCS also noted that fewer and fewer employees reported that pay 

raises depended on how well employees performed their jobs. From 2006 

to 2010 the percentages of favorable responses to this item (EVS #33) 

fell from 47.1 percent to 37 percent. While still considerably higher than 

the government-wide average, it should be noted that CNCS’ alternative 

personnel system is intended to reflect pay-for-performance principles. 

Salary increases are not tenure-based as they are in the General 

Schedule.

CNCS successfully oversaw two critical initiatives in FY 2010—the 

continued implementation of the Serve America Act and the American 

Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

Implementation of the Serve America Act

In order to implement the various components of the Serve America Act, 

CNCS assembled a team of more than 80 staff from across the agency. 

Led by an executive steering committee consisting of senior managers, 

15 working groups were formed, focused on specific program areas 

and crosscutting topics such as technology, training, and performance 

measures.

This team again made significant progress in their work in FY 2010 and 

met all benchmarks for initial implementation of the Serve America Act. 

Some highlights include:

National Service Trust

The National Service Trust Working Group analyzed the provisions 

of the Serve America Act and discussed how these provisions would 

affect Corporation existing policies. Based upon these discussions, 

the Working Group established and justified business rules necessary 

for the implementation of Serve America Act provisions. Several of the 

provisions required the Working Group to draft new forms and update 

others. Technical requirements were established along with formal 

change requests for Corporation systems to ensure system functionality. 

The Working Group updated documents and used flowcharts to help 

address questions received through listening sessions, serve.gov, and 

other venues.

Senior Corps

Changes in age eligibility (from 60 years to 55 years) and income (from 

125 percent of poverty to 200 percent of poverty) for Foster Grandparent 

and Senior Companions took effect October 2009.

The required online training and technical assistance guide for 

the RSVP Re-Competition was published by the deadline at http://

nationalserviceresources.org/rsvp-online-resource-guide

The pre-competition evaluation has been designed and implementation 

is underway, including the steps necessary for OMB clearance of the 

survey of local steering committees. New regulations are currently going 

through internal clearance prior to publication of the proposed rule.

Senior Corps staff re-designed the FY 2010 RSVP competition to 

comply with Serve America Act language regarding Programs of 

National Significance, directing 25 percent of the Programs of National 

Significance (PNS) set-aside to be awarded to new organizations that 

are not current grantees of CNCS.

New Competitions

Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant Competition

The Nonprofit Capacity Building Working Group collected input from a 

wide range of stakeholders and interested parties and used that input 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 29

The Corporation for National and Community Service

to create a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) which was posted in 

March 2010. One hundred and seventy-two proposals were submitted for 

the $1 million in available funding.

Cross-program Working Groups

Branding and Product Lines

The Serve America Act Product Lines/Branding Working Group’s 

accomplishments have occurred in four main areas: Transparency 

and Public Input, Communicating Program Changes, Call to Service 

Campaign, and the September 11 National Day of Service and 

Remembrance.

Transparency and Public Input: A key goal of Serve America Act 

implementation has been public participation. After passage, agency 

leaders went on a lengthy “listening tour” and received thousands 

of comments through conference calls, emails, web postings, and 

grantee meetings. We have put major policies up for public comment, 

including rulemaking and competitions, and created working groups 

with stakeholders. The extensive public input has greatly enhanced 

implementation.

Communicating Program Changes: The Serve America Act launched 

several brand new initiatives including the Social Innovation Fund, 

Volunteer Generation Fund, and Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, 

and made significant changes to existing Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, 

and Learn and Serve America programs. CNCS has communicated these 

changes to stakeholders and the public through multiple channels 

including monthly Serve America Act update emails; a dedicated Serve 

America Act landing page on our website; updated content in program 

brochures, fact sheets, and web pages; and CEO speeches, messages, 

conference calls, press releases, and other vehicles. CNCS is reflecting 

the new vision of Serve America Act in new websites to be launched in 

the winter of 2010.

Fixed Amount Grants

The Serve America Act allows CNCS the opportunity to pilot a new grant 

making technique called a fixed amount grant. Essentially, this strategy 

reduces administrative burden on grantees and focuses their efforts on 

achieving high level programmatic outcomes.

This year, CNCS prepared technical assistance materials and guidance 

for implementation of this concept in the AmeriCorps full-time program. 

In FY 2010, CNCS funded 54 grants using the fixed amount grant 

technique in three categories. CNCS funded 20 fixed amount grants 

at $13,000 per Member Service Year (MSY) for full-time programs (10 

national direct and 10 state), three fixed amount grants at $2,000 

per MSY for Professional Corps programs (two national direct and one 

state) and 31 fixed amount grants at $800 per MSY for Education Award 

programs (16 national direct and 15 state). In addition, we expect to 

support 21 fixed amount grants under 13 state commission formula 

grants.

An independent evaluation is underway to review our implementation 

strategy and create learning opportunities for implementation in FY 

2011. CNCS expects to expand this concept to Senior Corps (Foster 

Grandparents and Senior Companion programs) and AmeriCorps parttime programs in the future.

Grant Application Review Process (GARP) - Peer Reviewer 

Recruitment

In order to ensure an adequate number of reviewers with expertise in the 

five priority areas identified in the Serve America Act (Education, Healthy 

Futures, Environment, Opportunity, and Veterans) the Office of Grants 

Policy Oversight:

• Refined peer reviewer’s data to gain an accurate view of the reviewer 

pool on hand; and 

• Modified the peer reviewer application to ensure recruitment of 

adequate numbers of peer reviewers with the expertise needed to 

address the priority areas. 

The Office of Grants Policy and Operations (OGPO) conducted intensive 

outreach using various strategies including targeted mailings to 

organizations that work in the priority areas, posting on the CNCS 

website and electronic mailing lists, attending four grantee conferences, 

sending out press releases, publishing announcements in professional 

journals, distributing a recruitment flier to foundations and other federal 

agencies, and sending a “Save the Date” message to active reviewers.

Grantee Training

The Grantee Training Group developed and managed meetings of 

AmeriCorps grantees to collect input about performance measures for 

priority focus areas and the development of a combined competition. 

They also developed new online materials to support the AmeriCorps 

performance measures national pilot and are designing the 

annual AmeriCorps Grantee Meeting around key Serve America Act 

implementation tasks for grantees.

Performance Measures

The AmeriCorps State and National Working Group piloted national 

performance measures in the 2010 competition. Outputs were created 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 30

The Corporation for National and Community Service

for each of the five priority areas identified in the Serve America Act, 

and intermediate outcomes were also created for Education, Healthy 

Futures, and Environment/Clean Energy. In addition to developing the 

measures, this effort involved soliciting input from the field and outside 

experts, modifying e-Grants, and developing trainings and materials 

for applicants and grantees. Currently the Performance Measures 

Working Group is focusing on developing intermediate outcomes for 

the remaining priority areas, and expanding the pilot to all Corporation 

programs.

Risk Assessment and Internal Controls

The Risk Assessment Working Group reviewed the Serve America Act 

to confirm coverage by working groups. This group also compiled a 

comprehensive list of reports required by the Act and a checklist for staff 

planning new grant competitions.

Rulemaking

The Rulemaking Working Group has issued one interim final rule, one 

proposed rule for the Trust, and is preparing a proposed rule for Senior 

Corps and a Final Rule for the Trust.

Technology

The Technology Working Group and the Office of Information Technology 

elicited business requirements and designed and deployed 16 system 

change order requests as of June 1, 2010, based on provisions in the 

Serve America Act. This Working Group anticipates completing another 

15 changes by the end of December, and additional changes early in 

2011. These systems modifications included changes in e-Grants to 

allow applicants to select Serve America Act characteristics, priorities, 

and national performance measures. Modifications to the My AmeriCorps 

Portal included changes to allow for education award transfer, number 

of terms of service, and provisions related to veterans.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) 

provided $200 million1 in funding to CNCS. CNCS acted swiftly to get 

funding into communities and boots on the ground, enrolling over 

15,000 AmeriCorps members. Additional information is available at 

http://recovery.nationalservice.gov/index.asp.

1. CNCS’ Office of Inspector General received $1 million in Recovery Act funding to carry out its oversight activities related to CNCS’ implementation of the Act that is not 

included in this report.

Comparison of Planned Recovery Act Positions to Actual Activity (as of June 30, 2010)

17,000

16,000

15,000

14,000

13,000

12,000

11,000

10,000

9,000

8,000

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

AmeriCorps State & National AmeriCorpsVISTA Total Positions

Number of Positions

Originally Planned

Number of Positions

Currently Planned

Number of Positions

Awarded to Date

Number of Positions

Filled to Date
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 31

The Corporation for National and Community Service

These AmeriCorps members are providing vital services to people facing 

unemployment, poverty, and other challenges by offering job counseling 

and placement services, providing foreclosure prevention and financial 

counseling, weatherizing homes, strengthening food banks, supporting 

health care and independent living services, and more. In addition to 

providing these vital services to the public, AmeriCorps members learn 

new skills, acquire qualities of leadership, and gain a sense of satisfaction 

from taking on responsibilities that directly affect peoples’ lives.

The following table provides CNCS’ key milestones in implementing and 

carrying out Recovery Act funded programming:

Planned Actual

Task Completion Completion

AmeriCorps State and National

Planning completed 3/9/2009 3/9/2009

Disseminate grant application guide 3/9/2009 3/13/2009

Applications due 4/3/2009 4/3/2009

Formula grants awarded 4/17/2009 5/21/2009

Competitive grants awarded 5/8/2009 7/7/2009

Planning for supplemental awards 5/14/2010 6/30/2010

Secondary grants awarded 7/30/2010 7/30/2010

Monitoring grant programs and reporting 6/30/2011 *

All Recovery Act grant performance periods completed 5/31/2011 *

Progress reporting Quarterly Quarterly

AmeriCorps VISTA

Planning Completed 3/9/2009 3/9/2009

Identify and develop projects 6/30/2009 6/30/2009

Recruit, select, and approve members 10/31/2009 7/30/2009

Train and place all full-time Recovery Act VISTAs 12/31/2009 9/30/2009

Planning for Summer Associate program 4/30/2010 4/30/2010

Place all Recovery Act Summer Associates 6/30/2010 6/30/2010

Monitoring program activities and reporting 12/31/2010 *

All Recovery Act AmeriCorps VISTA member terms completed 9/30/2010 9/30/2010

Progress reporting Quarterly Quarterly

National Service Trust Fund

Obligate funds as positions are awarded 7/30/2010 9/30/2010

Obligate funds to bring Education Awards to net present value 4/30/2021 *

Outlay funds as awards are utilized 5/31/2021 *

Salaries and Expenses

Competitively procure information technology contracts 9/30/2009 12/30/2009

Hire temporary administrative staff 9/30/2009 6/21/2009

Reallocate administrative funds balance to information technology 6/30/2010 6/30/2010

* This is an ongoing activity or the completion date is in the future. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 32

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Internal Controls, Audit

Results, and Management

Assurances

CNCS is subject to the reporting requirements of the Government Corporation 

Control Act (31 U.S.C. 9101 et. seq.). Under these requirements, CNCS 

provides a statement on its internal accounting and administrative controls 

consistent with the requirements of the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity 

Act of 1982 (FMFIA), as amended (31 USC 3512, et seq.), and implemented 

by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-123, Management’s 

Responsibility for Internal Control. The statement reflects CNCS’ assessment 

of whether there is reasonable assurance that internal controls are achieving 

the intended results, reports any material weaknesses in internal controls 

present within the agency, and describes management’s current plans to 

address and correct any deficiencies.

Internal Control Program

During FY 2010, CNCS continued to refine its internal control assessment, 

testing, and assurance program, which is modeled on OMB Circular 

A-123. These efforts included further development of the internal 

control organizational structure and monitoring of internal controls 

initiated during previous fiscal years. CNCS’ internal control program is 

led by a Senior Assessment Team (SAT) of key financial, program, and 

administrative executives. Senior managers from the Office of Inspector 

General (OIG) also attend the meetings to keep abreast of CNCS’ activities 

and to provide suggestions for improvement. The SAT is staffed by the 

Internal Control and Analysis Team (IC&A) within the Department of 

the Chief Financial Officer. The SAT approves internal control program 

improvements, oversees its maintenance, and reviews IC&A activities.

The risk-based assessment approach used by CNCS gives priority for 

internal control reviews, including testing to specific organizational and 

functional areas where significant risks are known to exist. For example, 

CNCS’ Accounting, Grants Management, Human Capital, Procurement 

Services, Budget, and Information Technology Offices are all considered 

as high priority when developing the annual internal control testing 

plan. CNCS also continued to improve its grantee oversight and 

monitoring program using a similar risk-based approach.

Basis of FY 2010 Assesment

CNCS’ assessment is based on internal control reviews and other 

analyses of Corporation operations, programs, and grantees including 

the following:

• Review of manager responses on the internal control risk assessment 

tool for selected Corporation units. 

• Comprehensive risk-based Internal Control Reviews (ICR) including 

risk assessments and random-sample testing of key internal controls 

within selected Corporation program and administrative operations. 

For example, FY 2010 payments made by the National Service Trust 

were tested to verify that the payment was properly authorized, the 

amount was correct, and the payment was made in a timely manner to 

the correct vendor, among other attributes. 

• In-Progress Reviews (IPR) at NCCC campuses including a focused 

management control assessment that provides for a self-assessment 

by campus staff, followed by an independent review by headquarters 

staff. All five campuses received an IPR during FY 2010. The IC&A also 

performs NCCC transaction testing that sometimes includes campus 

site visits. Review items include project management, Corps member 

management, operating inventories, and fiscal controls. Following the 

on-site review, a written report is prepared and campus staff develop 

corrective action plans in response to IPR recommendations. 

• Office of Inspector General reports, including the annual financial 

statement audit and recent audits of portions of CNCS’ operations. 

In addition, management’s knowledge of CNCS’ day-to-day operations 

helps the agency to ensure that adequate controls are in place for all 

of the agency’s operations. These controls include announcement of 

funds availability for grants, the receipt and evaluation of applications 

for financial assistance, and the negotiation and award of grants, 

contracts, and cooperative agreements. The FY 2010 risk assessment 

testing priority decisions were influenced by the dollar volume of grant 

programs and findings associated with the FY 2009 financial statement 

audit and related management letter.

In carrying out the internal control program the IC&A considered the 

nature of each deficiency, the existence of a compensating control, the 

dollar value of transactions potentially affected by the deficiency, the 

level of risk, and the likelihood that an error may not be prevented or 

detected. The SAT assessed and evaluated CNCS’ compliance with these 

internal control requirements as of September 30, 2010, and determined 

that none of the deficiencies found rise to the level of a material 

weakness or a significant deficiency. Recommended corrective actions 

for the deficiencies were reviewed and CNCS’ progress in implementing 

them will be monitored by the SAT during FY 2011 to assure that 

appropriate corrective actions are taken.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 33

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Certification and Accreditation Assessment

Corporation policy, in accordance with federal law, OMB guidance, and 

the NIST SP 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework 

to Federal Information Systems, requires the assessment of information 

systems security controls using appropriate assessment procedures to 

determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, 

operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome with respect 

to meeting the security requirements for the system every three years or 

when there is a significant change to the system.

During FY 2010, CNCS conducted security control assessments of the 

Network and the eSPAN information systems, which had undergone 

significant changes. The Certification and Accreditation Assessment 

determined that the security controls in place provide adequate 

security. As required by NIST SP 800-37 and OMB guidance, CNCS has 

implemented a continuous monitoring strategy for assessing a subset of 

the security controls employed within and inherited by the system during 

the authorization period. Also, CNCS has acquired and is implementing 

automated tools to automate system security-related activities and 

analyze security-related information.

Annual Financial Audit Results

Fiscal Year 2010 marks the 11th consecutive year CNCS has earned 

an unqualified opinion on its financial statements. It also marked the 

10th consecutive year with no material internal control weaknesses. 

The auditors also found no instance of noncompliance with laws 

and regulations. These results reflect CNCS’ commitment to sound 

financial management and the hard work by staff over the past year to 

continuously improve financial operations.

Management Assurances

Certification of Trust Obligations

The Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act (SAPA) established specific 

criteria for estimating and recording obligations in the National Service 

Trust. SAPA required an annual certification that CNCS is in compliance 

with the requirements of the SAPA and to obtain an independent audit of 

the accounts and records demonstrating the manner in which CNCS has 

recorded its Trust estimates. Effective October 1, 2009, the Edward M. 

Kennedy Serve America Act (Public Law 111-13) repealed the provisions 

of SAPA and added the same requirements to the National and 

Community Service Act of 1990 (Section 149 of Public Law 101-610, 42 

USC 12606). CNCS’ Office of Inspector General contracted with Kearney 

& Company to perform the audit required for FY 2010. Based on CNCS’ 

analysis and review of Trust activities and the results of OIG’s audit, 

CNCS certifies that it complied with these requirements for FY 2010.

Statement of Assurance for Financial Management Systems, 

Operations, and Compliance with Laws and Regulations

CNCS is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal 

control and financial management systems that meet the objectives 

of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA). CNCS 

conducted its assessment of internal control over the effectiveness 

and efficiency of operations and compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations in accordance with OMB Circular A-123. Based on the 

results of this evaluation, CNCS provides reasonable assurance that its 

internal control over the effectiveness and efficiency of operations and 

compliance with applicable laws and regulations as of September 30, 

2010, was operating effectively and no material weaknesses were found 

in the design or operation of the internal controls.

Statement of Assurance for Internal Control over Financial Reporting

In addition, CNCS’ internal control program described above assured 

effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, this includes 

safeguarding of assets and compliance with applicable laws and 

regulations. Based on the results of this evaluation, CNCS provides 

reasonable assurance that its internal control over financial reporting 

as of September 30, 2010, was operating effectively and no material 

weaknesses were found in the design or operation of the internal control 

over financial reporting.

Compliance with Financial Systems Requirements, Accounting 

Standards, and U.S. Standard General Ledger

The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) requires 

federal agencies to implement and maintain financial management 

systems that are in substantial compliance with federal financial 

system requirements, federal accounting standards issued by the 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, and implementation 

of the Department of the Treasury Standard General Ledger (USSGL) 

at the transaction level. Pursuant with FFMIA, OMB issued Circular 

A-127, Financial Management Systems. Circular A-127 prescribes the 

policies and standards for agencies to follow in developing, operating, 

evaluating, and reporting on financial management systems.

CNCS utilizes Momentum Financials as its core financial system. 

Momentum is a commercial off-the-shelf software application certified 

by the Office of Federal Financial Management as meeting the Circular 

A-127 financial system requirements. Activity is posted in Momentum 

following the USSGL at the transaction level.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 34

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Based on CNCS’ review of its central financial processes and auditors’ 

report, the agency determined that CNCS complies substantially with the 

requirements of the FFMIA for FY 2010.

Patrick A. Corvington

Chief Executive Officer

William Anderson

Chief Financial Officer
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 35

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Financial Management Metrics

Since FY 2005, CNCS has measured its financial performance against 

a set of nine metrics originally developed by U.S. CFO Council for CFO 

Act departments. CNCS’ goal each year is to meet the standard for a 

“green” score on each of the metrics. For the majority of FY 2005, CNCS 

achieved “green” on only one out of nine (11 percent) of these metrics. 

Since that time CNCS has made significant strides in improving its 

financial performance. For FY 2010, the yearly average of “green” scores 

was 97 percent. Comparable average scores for FYs 2006 through 2009 

are 48 percent, 62 percent, 63 percent, and 69 percent, respectively. 

Performance in each of the individual metrics during fiscal year 2010 is 

summarized as follows:

• Fund Balance with Treasury was “green” for the entire fiscal year 

(Metric 1). 

• Suspense Account Clearance and Accounts Receivable Delinquency 

was “green” for the entire year (Metrics 2 and 3). 

• The Percent of Vendor Payments by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) 

achieved a “green” performance level for the entire year (Metric 4). 

• Percent of Vendor Payments Made on Time was “green” for the entire 

year (Metric 5). 

• Late Payment Penalties Paid as a Percent of Total Vendor Payments 

was “green” for the entire year (Metric 6). 

• The last three metrics relate to credit card payment timelines. During 

FY 2010, Centrally Billed Travel Timeliness (Metric 7) and Purchase 

Card Timeliness (Metric 8) were at the “green” level for the entire 

fiscal year. Individually Billed Account (IBA) Travel Card Timeliness 

(Metric 9) was at “red” levels for the first three months of the year 

and at “green” levels for the last nine months. IBA accounts are paid 

directly by employees who travel, and achieving “green” on this metric 

requires Corporation travelers to keep the lateness rate equal to or 

below two percent. With the implementation of a split pay interface 

for IBA cards we expect to remain at the “green” performance level for 

future reporting periods. 

Analysis of Appropriations and 

Financial Condition

CNCS’ goals for financial management are to deliver the highest level of 

business services to our customers and stakeholders through effective 

internal controls and efficient work processes and to provide reliable and 

timely financial information to support sound management decisions. 

In carrying out these activities, CNCS is committed to the principles of 

transparency, accountability, and excellence. The result is an established 

record of effectiveness in federal financial management documented 

by clean audit opinions. In FY 2010, the areas where CNCS’ financial 

management was focused included:

• Implementation of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act—

On April 21, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Edward 

M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the first reauthorization of CNCS’ 

programs since passage of the National and Community Service Trust 

Act of 1993. Fulfilling the promise of the Act has been the top priority 

of CNCS. CNCS has made excellent progress, from standing up new 

programs to improving technology and mobilizing more Americans to 

serve, all while using a collaborative and transparent process with a 

high degree of public input. One year after its enactment, volunteering 

is up, momentum is strong, and a new vision for service is taking 

effect. One based on growth, innovation, and targeting resources on 

our nation’s pressing problems. During FY 2010 CNCS: 

> Continued the expansion of service opportunities for Americans 

of all ages, setting a path for increasing the number of 

AmeriCorps members to 250,000 by 2017; 

> Launched a Social Innovation Fund pilot program to provide 

seed money and scale up innovative and evidence-based 

programs that leverage private and foundation capital to meet 

major social challenges; 

> Continued simplifying AmeriCorps program management, 

including through the availability of fixed amount grants; and 

> Increased the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award and 

established a process tying the award to the maximum amount 

of a Pell grant in accordance with the Serve America Act. 

• Development of a new five year strategic plan—Every five years, 

Congress requests each federal agency to adopt a strategic plan that 

defines its missions, goals, and the means by which it will measure its 

progress. With the Serve America Act as our guide, in 2010 CNCS began 

soliciting public input for the new plan. The Serve America Act stipulates 

that national service should focus on areas of national need, identifying 

education, energy conservation, health, economic opportunity, and 

disaster services as top priorities. Engaging veterans as participants 

in and recipients of service was also highlighted as a priority. Thus, in 

looking to increase impact in communities, CNCS will focus its efforts in 

these areas. 

The solutions to these challenges are not simple. They require an 

“all hands on deck” approach that engages multiple partners, 

organizations, and approaches. Targeting resources to tackle national 

priorities from increasing high school graduation rates to fostering 

economic opportunity, CNCS will identify where service has an 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 36

The Corporation for National and Community Service

important role to play and target resources to tackle those issues. 

That said, these national priorities are best addressed through local 

solutions. CNCS will continue to work with state commissions, local 

governments, and community based organizations to ensure that the 

full potential of service and volunteering can be effectively harnessed. 

The new strategic plan will guide CNCS’ formulation and development 

for future years.

• Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

of 2009 (Recovery Act)—The Recovery Act introduced additional 

accountability and reporting requirements for the $200 million 

received by CNCS under the Recovery Act.2 CNCS has worked 

closely with its OIG to ensure compliance and quality assurance. 

Accountability and transparency were fundamental requirements for 

the awarding, monitoring, tracking, and reporting of Recovery Act 

funds. 

•Improved system operations—The escalating pace of change 

in the federal environment is an opportunity to improve financial 

management performance. Changes currently affecting CNCS include 

new technology and new accountability legislation. In FY 2010, CNCS 

continued to make progress in modernizing its Information Technology 

infrastructure, moving our antiquated data center from our D.C. 

Headquarters building to an off-site Managed Data Center Service. 

As a result, Corporation systems are no longer susceptible to power 

outages; all internet connections have fail-over protection; connectivity 

with field offices has been improved with T1 line speeds; and Load 

Balancers manage traffic to prevent e-Grants failures at grants closing 

time. These changes will help to improve our customer and stakeholder 

experience. 

• Improved Fund Balance with Treasury (FBWT) Reconciliation—As 

CNCS’ operations continue to grow, improving efficiency and better 

utilizing scarce staff resources becomes paramount. During FY 2010 

CNCS dramatically improved its process for reconciling FBWT, automating 

several manual processes to significantly improve the accuracy and time 

needed to identify and correct differences between amounts reported by 

the Department of Health and Human Services and Department Agriculture 

on behalf of CNCS and CNCS’ financial management system. This 

automation allows CNCS to post corrections in current periods. As a result 

of these improvements, there were zero differences between CNCS’ general 

ledger and FBWT at FY 2010 year end. 

• Increased transparency in Corporation operations—CNCS 

began exploring better ways to provide meaningful information to 

our stakeholders and the general public. In April 2010 we launched 

our Open Government Plan. The Plan describes CNCS’ commitment 

to transparency, participation, and collaboration in carrying out our 

mission, and includes milestones to release additional data on grants 

and grantees. It also invites feedback from the public so that we can 

constantly improve on our efforts. In July 2010, CNCS began posting 

information on the grants award process for the new Social Innovation 

Fund. The information posted included complete applications for 

grantees selected for award, reviewer comments of the applications, 

the list of expert reviewers, and a list of organizations that applied for 

a Social Innovation Fund grant but did not receive an award. A process 

is being established to provide similar information on future grant 

competitions. 

Understanding the Financial Statements

CNCS has a fiduciary and stewardship responsibility to efficiently 

and effectively manage its federal funds and to comply with federal 

guidance on financial management. As part of this responsibility, 

the agency prepares annual financial statements in conformity with 

generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for U.S. federal 

government corporations and subjects them to an independent audit to 

ensure their integrity and reliability in assessing performance. For FYs 

2009 and 2010 CNCS’s financial statements received an unqualified 

opinion. This opinion recognizes that CNCS’ financial statements 

are fairly presented, in all material respects, and in conformity with 

generally accepted accounting principles.

The consolidated financial statements report CNCS’ financial position, 

results of operations, cash flows, and budgetary resources, as required 

by the Government Corporation Control Act (GCCA) and Executive Order 

13331, National and Community Service Programs. As specified in GCCA, 

the principal financial statements of CNCS are the:

• Statement of Financial Position, which reports the status of 

Corporation assets, liabilities, and net position; 

• Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position, which reports 

CNCS’ revenues and expenses for the year and the changes in net 

position that occurred during the year; and 

• Statement of Cash Flows, which shows how changes in CNCS’ 

financial position and results affected its cash (Fund Balance with 

Treasury), and breaks the analysis down according to operating, 

investing, and financing activities. 

2. The Recovery Act provided $200 million to CNCS to expand the AmeriCorps State and National and VISTA programs and $1 million to the Office 

of Inspector General for oversight activities. CNCS’ Recovery Act funding was available for obligation during fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Additional 

information on CNCS’ Recovery Act activities can be found at http://recovery.nationalservice.gov/index.asp. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 37

The Corporation for National and Community Service

In addition, under the requirements of Executive Order 13331, CNCS 

prepares a Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR). The SBR provides 

information about the budgetary resources made available to CNCS as 

well as the status of those resources at the end of the fiscal year.

CNCS’ financial statements present comparative information for 

FYs 2010 and 2009. The following table presents the changes in 

Corporation’s financial position in FY 2010.

The Statement of Financial Position presents the total amounts available 

for use by CNCS (assets) against the amounts owed (liabilities) and 

amounts that comprise the difference (net position). Over 97 percent 

of CNCS’ total assets are comprised of Fund Balance with Treasury and 

Trust Investments and Related Receivables. A significant balance also 

exists in the Advances to Others account.

In FY 2010, total assets increased 3.8 percent over the balance at the 

end of FY 2009. The majority of the increase occurred in the Fund Balance 

with Treasury account (FBWT), which grew by $47.9 million and Trust 

Investments and Related Receivables, which grew by $45.5 million.

FBWT is funding available to CNCS from which it is authorized to make 

expenditures for amounts due through the disbursement authority of the 

Department of the Treasury. The FBWT is increased through appropriations 

and collections and decreased by expenditures and rescissions.

Trust Investments and Related Receivables are used to pay Segal 

AmeriCorps Education Awards for eligible participants who complete 

AmeriCorps service. Funding for the Trust comes from appropriations, 

interest earned, and proceeds from the sale or redemption of 

investments. The account increased by $45 million primarily due to the 

funding needed to provide awards to a greater number of AmeriCorps 

members and the increase in the maximum amount of the award.

CNCS records Trust obligations at the time of grant award for 

AmeriCorps State and National, or at the time CNCS enters into an 

enforceable agreement with an individual participant in the AmeriCorps 

VISTA and NCCC programs.3

 The amount to be obligated is the estimated 

value of authorized education benefits, discounted for the estimated 

enrollment, earning and usage rates and the time value of money. 

CNCS has also set aside a Trust reserve of $50.1 million (including $3.5 

million set aside in FY 2009 for Recovery Act positions) to protect CNCS 

in the event that the estimates used to calculate obligations differ from 

actual results. During FY 2010 CNCS based its obligation amount on 

the full value of the education award, a 100 percent enrollment rate 

(allowing for refills), and earning and usage rates of 77 to 86 percent 

depending on term type.

As of September 30, 2010, the National Service Trust had available cash 

and investments of about $565.6 million to make education award and 

interest forbearance payments. Of this amount, CNCS’ unliquidated 

obligations for awarded AmeriCorps positions totaled about $498.8 

million.

About $11.9 million was available at year-end to fund new AmeriCorps 

member positions, of which $1.8 million derives from Recovery Act 

funding, which cannot be used without new authorization. Trust assets 

are estimated to be fully sufficient to pay for all awarded AmeriCorps 

positions. As grants expire, CNCS deobligates funds related to member 

positions that were not filled. CNCS also continuously analyzes Trust 

operations and liability projections to identify any needed adjustments to 

obligations.

Advances to Others mainly represent funds provided to grantees in 

advance of their performance under a grant. For the most part, these 

advances are liquidated during the first quarter of the subsequent 

fiscal year. Advances to Others decreased by about 50 percent, from $67 

million at September 30, 2009 to $32 million at September 30, 2010, 

reflecting the effects of Recovery Act activity and the increased funding 

level for 2010 programs.

Net Financial Condition FY 2010 FY 2009 Increase/(Decrease)

(Dollars in thousands)

Assets $ 1,600,679 $ 1,542,363 $ 58,316

Liabilities $ 665,753 $ 462,455 $ 203,298

Net Position $ 934,926 $ 1,079,908 $ (144,982)

Net of Revenue over Expense $ (11,416) $ 15,648 $ (27,064)

3. With the passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act the requirements of the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act were added to the 

National and Community Service Act of 1990.
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 38

The Corporation for National and Community Service

CNCS’ most significant liabilities are the Trust Service Award Liability 

and Grants Payable. Individuals who successfully complete terms of 

service in AmeriCorps programs earn education awards that can be 

used to make payments on qualified student loans or for educational 

expenses at qualified educational institutions. The awards, which can be 

used for a period of up to seven years, are paid from the National Service 

Trust. Since CNCS’ inception through FY 2009 the maximum amount 

of an education award was $4,725. Beginning with FY 2010, the Serve 

America Act tied the amount of the award to the amount of a Pell Grant 

administered by the Department of Education. The new award amount FY 

2010 was $5,350. The Trust also pays forbearance interest on qualified 

student loans during the period members perform community service. 

In FY 2010, the award liability components related to education awards 

and interest forbearance were adjusted, based on historical experience, 

to reflect the fact that some eligible participants may not use these 

benefits. For FY 2010, the Trust Service Award Liability increased by 

$55.8 million, largely due to the continued growth of the AmeriCorps 

State and National program, the additional members serving in Recovery 

Act positions, and the change in the value of an education award.

Grants Payable represents funds due to grantees in payment of their 

performance under a grant. For the most part, these payables are 

liquidated during the first quarter of the subsequent fiscal year. Grants 

Payable increased by about $148 million, reflecting the significant 

increase in program activity brought about by the Recovery Act and the 

higher program funding level for FY 2010. The Statement Operations and 

Changes in Net Position presents revenue earned by CNCS (primarily 

appropriations) and the annual cost of operating Corporation programs. 

Using an appropriate cost accounting methodology, CNCS’ expenses 

have been allocated among its major programs, at the sub-program 

level. Costs for each major Corporation program are reported on 

separately. Program costs include grant expenses, as well as direct and 

allocated personnel and administrative costs including AmeriCorps 

recruitment and National Service Trust operations. No indirect costs are 

allocated to pass-through grants or to the OIG.

For FY 2010, Corporation revenue totaled $1.273 billion, an increase of 

$302.9 million, or 31 percent, above the FY 2009 level. This increase 

was primarily attributable to an increase in appropriations used of 

approximately $283.5 million related to the increased funding level for 

FY 2010 and the continued use of Recovery Act funding.

Total expenses reported for FY 2010 were $1.285 billion which represents 

an increase of $330.0 million, or 35 percent, above the FY 2009 level. 

Most of the increase is related to additional program expenses for all three 

major Corporation programs, particularly the AmeriCorps program. This 

increase is in line with CNCS’ goal to increase the AmeriCorps member 

levels to 250,000 by FY 2017 as a commitment to national service.

$3,783

$32,164

$565,195

$998,408

$1,129

Fund Balance with Treasury

Trust Investments and Related Receivables

Advances to Others

Accounts Receivable, Net

Property and Equipment, Net

Corporate Assets as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands) 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 39

The Corporation for National and Community Service

CNCS’ net revenue over expenses for FY 2010 was ($11.4) million; this 

compares to a surplus of revenue over expenses of $15.6 million in 2009. 

The deficit of revenue over expenses in FY 2010 is primarily attributable 

to the Trust, wherein expenses exceeded revenues by $10.8 million, 

reflecting a surge in enrollments by Recovery Act members that were 

funded in the Trust in FY 2009.

The Statement of Budgetary Resources provides information on how 

budgetary resources were made available to CNCS for the year and the 

status of those budgetary resources at year-end. For FY 2010, Total 

Budgetary Resources increased by $136.6 million due to the increased 

funding levels and an unobligated balance brought forward at the 

beginning of FY 2010. Similarly, total Obligations Incurred in FY 2010 

also increased significantly, by $168.9 million. The increase in both total 

budgetary resources available to CNCS in FY 2010 and the obligations 

CNCS incurred reflects the significant expansion in the AmeriCorps 

program, the increase in the Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards, 

and the increase in a wide range of high-quality opportunities for all 

Americans to serve their communities.

Future Business Trends and Events

CNCS is continuously faced with increased expectations for oversight, 

transparency, and accountability. To meet these expectations, CNCS takes 

a broad view of financial management, seeking to continuously improve 

and integrate its financial operations and processes at the systems and 

program support level and beyond. As CNCS monitors resources, it will 

continue to focus on discerning the value of the goods and services we get 

in return for our expenditures. Some of the areas that CNCS will focus on 

both in the immediate and long-term future include:

• Open Government—To foster unprecedented levels of accountability 

and transparency in government spending, CNCS is actively 

implementing its Open Government Plan4

 in an effort to imbed the 

principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration that form 

the cornerstone of an open government into agency operations: 

Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with 

information about what the government is doing; 

Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and 

expertise so that their government can make policies with the benefit 

of a wide range of views and information; and 

$2,875

$12,092

$13,839

$4,163

$14

$379,878

$252,892

Corporate Liabilities as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands) 

Trust Service Award Liability

Grants Payable

Accounts Payable

Actuarial FECA Liability

Other Liabilities

Accrued Annual Leave

Advances from Others

4. CNCS’ plan can be found at http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/open. 
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 40

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Collaboration improves the effectiveness of government by 

encouraging partnerships and cooperation within the federal 

government, across levels of government, and between the 

government and private institutions and citizens.

Over the next 12 months, CNCS will begin taking additional steps to 

improve the data published on our activities including:

> Reviewing the information recorded in our systems and 

determining how it can best be conceptually divided into 

publishable data sets. CNCS will include both already 

published data and data not made public; 

> Publishing new data, seeking public comment on the relative 

importance of the datasets and review prior FOIA requests to 

look for areas of high public interest; 

> Publishing communications between CNCS and Congress, 

including responses to inquiries and testimony before 

committees; 

> Streamlining the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 

process and improve the transparency of FOIA requests and 

responses; and 

> Publishing media and publication policies. 

• Grants Process Improvements—CNCS is beginning the design of 

its next generation Grants Processing and Management Application 

Database. This project will review CNCS’ current systems, 

organizational structure, and business processes and provide 

recommendations for a more efficient grants process and structure. 

The goal of the project is to streamline the grants management and 

member application systems and processes to reduce the burden on 

programs and the public by: 

> Reducing duplication of efforts; 

> Eliminating unnecessary steps;

> Shortening processing timeframes;

> Effectively sequencing tasks to achieve greater staff efficiency; 

and

> Aligning with the requirements of the Serve America Act. 

• Financial System Upgrade—CNCS utilizes a commercial off-the-shelf 

accounting system to manage its core financial activities. Currently, 

this system is Momentum version 6.1.5. Momentum was implemented 

without customization in order to minimize risks associated with 

systems development efforts. CNCS is in the process of upgrading 

the system to a more modern version in order to have continued 

vendor maintenance, continue improving its internal controls, and 

improve efficiencies. CNCS expects this effort to proceed without any 

customizations and to be completed during FY 2011. 

$943,938

$280,157

$53,316

$7,292

$182

Corporate Expenses for the Year Ended September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

AmeriCorps

Pass-through Grants

SeniorCorps

Learn and Serve America

Office of the Inspector General
Management’s Discussion & Analysis | PART I 41

The Corporation for National and Community Service

• Budget Formulation—In FY 2010, CNCS entered into an interagency 

agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to adopt its Budget 

Formulation and Execution Manager (BFEM). BFEM will allow CNCS to 

automate the collection, aggregation, and publication of its budget 

submissions to OMB and Congress. BFEM, currently in use by a number 

of other federal agencies, enables federal budget offices to define when 

data is collected, the level of detail required for submission, and the 

justifications required to submit data for review. It ensures numbers 

within documents tie to sums and justifications and the system 

maintains all historic data for each refinement of the budget. Following 

an initial period of data gathering and process mapping, CNCS expects 

to launch BFEM to develop its FY 2013 Budget Request. 

• Data Security—CNCS values the trust placed in it by programs, 

participants, and others interested in national and community 

service. During FY 2010, CNCS discovered and corrected two access 

vulnerabilities in the MyAmeriCorps Portal website that may have 

created the potential for others to view personal information of 

program applicants and participants. The vulnerabilities would 

not have caused personal information to be exposed in the normal 

operation of the Portal. However, to ensure that all privacy data 

provided to CNCS is protected to the fullest extent practical, we notified 

all system users and began working with an independent computer 

security specialist to conduct a comprehensive review of the system, 

including vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. We expect 

this additional assessment to be completed and identified weakness, if 

any, corrected early in FY 2011. 
Financial Statements | PART II 42

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service

Fiscal Year 2010 and 2009

Financial Statements
Financial Statements | PART II 43

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Message from the CFO

I am pleased to report that in FY 2010 CNCS maintained its record of strong fiscal stewardship for 

the American people. CNCS received an unqualified “clean” opinion on its consolidated financial 

statements for the 11th consecutive year.

CNCS also achieved the distinction of having no material weaknesses in internal control for the past 

10 years. These are tremendous accomplishments in light of the challenges, new mandates, and 

transitions that CNCS has undertaken over the past two years. During FY 2010, CNCS continued to 

automate and refine its financial processes to achieve greater efficiencies and future savings in 

operations.

Some notable efforts undertaken during the year include:

• Successfully carrying out CNCS’ Recovery Act program and meeting new reporting and accountability 

requirements. 

• Developing internal structures for Serve America Act implementation—with accountability, responsibility, and extensive involvement across 

CNCS—and implementing competitions for all new funded programs. 

• Publishing a comprehensive Open Government Plan with aggressive milestones for publishing data on CNCS’ operations. The plan was recognized 

by outside reviewers as third best in the Federal government. 

• Automating the process for submitting the Statement of Transactions (SF-224) to Treasury. Through a financial system interface data is now 

directly uploaded to the Treasury. 

• Streamlining the Fund Balance with Treasury reconciliation process to allow more timely and accurate reconciliation. No temporary FACTS II 

adjustment was needed at fiscal year end. 

• Automating the financial statement preparation process which includes extensive edit checks to ensure proper consolidation of data. 

Staff and senior leadership across the agency are committed to sound, accountable, and transparent financial management and our stakeholders 

should have confidence in our efforts to further strengthen financial management practices at CNCS moving forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the financial management professionals throughout the agency for their dedication and hard work 

throughout the past year. Their efforts ensure that we deliver the most accurate, transparent, and useful financial information possible.

William Anderson

Chief Financial Officer
Financial Statements | PART II 44

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Consolidated Financial 

Statements

These consolidated financial statements report the Corporation 

for National and Community Service’s financial position, results of 

operations, cash flows, and budgetary resources, as required by the 

Government Corporation Control Act (Act) and Executive Order 13331, 

National and Community Service Programs. The Government Corporation 

Control Act requires that government corporations submit an annual 

report including the corporation’s financial statements to Congress. As 

specified in the Act, the principal financial statements of the Corporation 

are the:

• Statement of Financial Position, which reports the status of 

Corporation assets, liabilities, and net position; 

• Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position, which reports 

the Corporation’s revenues and expenses for the year and the changes 

in net position that occurred during the year; and 

• Statement of Cash Flows, which shows how changes in the 

Corporation’s financial position and results affected its cash (Fund 

Balance with Treasury), and breaks the analysis down according to 

operating, investing, and financing activities. 

In addition, under the requirements of Executive Order 13331, the 

Corporation prepares a Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) as a 

principal financial statement. The SBR provides information about the 

budgetary resources made available to the Corporation as well as the 

status of those resources at the end of the fiscal year.

The Corporation’s financial statements present comparative information 

for fiscal 2010 and 2009. For fiscal 2010, the Corporation’s financial 

statements, for the 11th consecutive year, received an unqualified 

opinion. This opinion recognizes that the Corporation’s financial 

statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, and in 

conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

Limitations of the Financial Statements

The principal financial statements have been prepared in compliance 

with the reporting requirements described above. The Corporation’s 

financial statements published herein are in addition to the financial 

reports it uses to monitor and control budgetary resources which are 

prepared from the same books and records. The statements should 

be read with the realization that they are for a component of the U.S. 

Government, a sovereign entity. One implication of this is that liabilities 

cannot be liquidated without legislation that provides the resources to 

do so.
Financial Statements | PART II 45

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service 

Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of September 30 

(dollars in thousands) 

ASSETS 2010 2009

Fund Balance with Treasury (Note 2) $ 998,408 $ 950,532

Trust Investments and Related Receivables (Note 3) 565,195 519,838

Advances to Others 32,164 67,521

Accounts Receivable, Net (Note 4) 3,783 2,763

Property and Equipment, Net (Note 5) 1,129 1,709

 Total Assets $ 1,600,679 $ 1,542,363

LIABILITIES 

Trust Service Award Liability (Note 6) $ 379,878 $ 324,067

Grants Payable 252,892 105,084

Accounts Payable 2,875 2,031

Actuarial FECA Liability (Note 8) 12,092 11,365

Other Liabilities 13,839 16,774

Accrued Annual Leave 4,163 3,120

Advances from Others 14 14

 Total Liabilities $ 665,753 $ 462,455

Contingencies (Note 14)

NET POSITION (Note 9) $ 934,926 $ 1,079,908

Total Liabilities and Net Position $ 1,600,679 $ 1,542,363

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
Financial Statements | PART II 46

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service 

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Changes in Net Position for the Periods 

Ended September 30 (dollars in thousands) 

REVENUE 2010 2009

Appropriated Capital Used $ 1,054,258 $ 770,708

Appropriations Transferred to the Trust Fund (Note 10) 199,659 174,932

Interest 7,288 12,236

Revenue from Services Provided 2,486 4,536

Other 9,778 8,062

 Total Revenue $ 1,273,469 $ 970,474

EXPENSES 

AmeriCorps 943,938 661,482

Senior Corps 280,157 238,805

Learn and Serve America 53,316 47,812

 Subtotal - Program Expenses 1,277,411 948,099

Pass-through Grants 182 682

Office of the Inspector General 7,292 6,045

 Total Expenses (Note 11) $ 1,284,885 $ 954,826

Net of Revenue Over Expenses $ (11,416) $ 15,648

NET POSITION 

Net of Revenue over Expenses $ (11,416) $ 15,648

Increase/(Decrease) in Unexpended Appropriations, Net (Note 13) (133,566) 121,940

Increase/(Decrease) in Net Position, Net (144,982) 137,588

Net Position, Beginning Balance 1,079,908 942,320

Net Position, Ending Balance (Note 9) $ 934,926 $ 1,079,908

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
Financial Statements | PART II 47

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service 

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Periods Ended September 30 

(dollars in thousands) 

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 2010 2009

Net of Revenue over Expenses $ (11,416) $ 15,648

Adjustments Affecting Cash Flow:

 Depreciation, Amortization, and Loss on Disposition of Assets 580 1,334

 Amortization of Premium/Discount on Investments 4,045 1,647

 Appropriated Capital Used (1,054,258) (770,708)

 Appropriations Received in Trust (199,659) (174,932)

 Decrease/(Increase) in Accounts Receivable (1,020) (147)

 Decrease/(Increase) in Interest Receivable 2,363 (141)

 Decrease/(Increase) in Advances 35,357 (8,133)

 Increase/(Decrease) in Accounts Payable and Other Liabilities (2,091) (2,626)

 Increase/(Decrease) in FECA and Annual Leave Liabilities 1,770 (317)

 Increase/(Decrease) in Capital Lease Liability - (250)

 Increase/(Decrease) in Trust Liability 55,811 20,700

 Increase/(Decrease) in Grants Payable 147,808 15,628

 Total Adjustments (1,009,294) (917,945)

Net Cash Provided/(Used) by Operating Activities $ (1,020,710) $ (902,297)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Sales of Securities 905,140 844,999

Purchase of Securities (956,905) (882,739)

Net Cash Provided/(Used) in Investing Activities $ (51,765) $ (37,740)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES 

Appropriations Received, Net of Trust 1,149,721 1,090,866

Rescissions and Cancellations (29,370) (23,286)

Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities $ 1,120,351 $ 1,067,580

Net Increase/(Decrease) in Fund Balance with Treasury $ 47,876 $ 127,543

Fund Balance with Treasury, Beginning $ 950,532 $ 822,989

Fund Balance with Treasury, Ending $ 998,408 $ 950,532

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
Financial Statements | PART II 48

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Corporation for National and Community Service 

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources for the Periods Ended 

September 30 (dollars in thousands)

BUDGETARY RESOURCES 2010 2009

Unobligated balance, brought forward, October 1 $ 187,608 $ 145,061

Recoveries of prior year unpaid obligations 

 Actual 32,951 25,335

 Anticipated - -

Budget authority: 

 Appropriation 

 Actual 1,366,207 1,273,580

 Anticipated - -

 Spending authority from offsetting collections: 

 Collected 11,435 13,075

 Change in receivables from federal sources - (338)

 Change in unfilled customer orders: 

 Advance received - (276)

 Without advance from federal sources - (932)

 Anticipated for rest of year - -

Total budget authority 1,377,642 1,285,109

Temporarily Not Available - -

Permanently not available (29,370) (23,286)

 Total budgetary resources $ 1,568,831 $ 1,432,219

STATUS OF BUDGETARY RESOURCES 

Obligations incurred $ 1,413,524 $ 1,244,611

Unobligated balance: 

 Apportioned

 Currently Available - -

 Subsequent Periods 50,497 104,506

 Anticipated - -

 Unobligated balance not available 104,810 83,102

 Total status of budgetary resources $ 1,568,831 $ 1,432,219

 (Continued)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
Financial Statements | PART II 49

The Corporation for National and Community Service

 (Continued)

Corporation for National and Community Service 

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources for the Periods Ended September 30 

(dollars in thousands) 

CHANGE IN OBLIGATED BALANCE 2010 2009

Obligated balance, net:

 Unpaid obligations, brought forward, October 1 $ 1,265,772 $ 1,150,605

 Uncollected customer payments from federal sources, 

 brought forward, October 1 - (1,270)

 Total unpaid obligated balance, net 1,265,772 1,149,335

Obligations incurred, net 1,413,524 1,244,611

Gross outlays (1,246,284) (1,104,109)

Recoveries of prior year unpaid obligations, actual (32,951) (25,335)

Change in uncollected customer payments from federal sources - 1,270

 Total unpaid obligated balance, net, end of period $ 1,400,061 $ 1,265,772

Obligated balance, net, end of period:

 Unpaid obligations 1,400,061 1,265,772

 Uncollected customer payments from federal sources - -

 Total unpaid obligated balance, net, end of period $ 1,400,061 $ 1,265,772

NET OUTLAYS 

Gross outlays $ 1,246,284 $ 1,104,109

Offsetting collections (11,436) (12,799)

Distributed offsetting receipts (200,822) (175,838)

 Net outlays $ 1,034,026 $ 915,472

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
Financial Statements | PART II 50

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 

A. REPORTING ENTITY

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) was created 

by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (Public Law 

103-82). CNCS’ mission is to improve lives, strengthen communities, 

and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. To meet 

its mission, CNCS provides grants and other assistance to states, local 

municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations to help communities 

meet critical challenges in the areas of education, public safety, human 

needs, and the environment through volunteer service. CNCS’ major 

programs are:

Senior Corps. The Senior Corps offers a network of programs that 

tap the rich experience, skills, and talents of older citizens to meet 

community challenges. Senior Corps comprises the Retired and Senior 

Volunteer Program, the Foster Grandparent Program, and the Senior 

Companion Programs.

AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans to make 

an ongoing, intensive commitment to service through the following 

programs:

• State, National, Tribes, and Territories (State and National) offers 

grants supporting a broad range of local service programs that 

engage thousands of Americans in intensive service to meet critical 

community needs. 

• Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) helps community 

organizations and public agencies create and expand programs 

that build capacity and ultimately bring low-income individuals and 

communities out of poverty. 

• National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) strengthens communities 

while developing leaders through direct, team-based national and 

community service. 

Learn and Serve America. Learn and Serve America supports programs 

in schools, colleges, and community-based organizations that link 

community service to educational objectives.

CNCS for the most part administered its programs in fiscal year 2010 

from the following trust, gift, and appropriated funds:

Trust and Gift Funds:

• National Service Trust (the Trust), from which CNCS provided 

education awards and interest forbearance for volunteers under the 

AmeriCorps State and National; NCCC; and VISTA programs. 

• Gifts and Contributions, into which CNCS deposited gifts and 

contributions from individuals and organizations for use in furthering 

CNCS’ goals. 

Appropriated Funds:

• Operating Expenses, from which CNCS funded the Senior Corps, 

AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve programs. 

• Salaries and Expenses, from which CNCS funded its general 

administrative expenses. 

• Office of Inspector General, from which CNCS funded the expenses of 

the OIG.

• VISTA Advance Payment Revolving Fund, from which CNCS paid 

the living allowances for VISTA members enrolled under cost share 

agreements with sponsoring organizations. CNCS is reimbursed for 

these costs by the sponsoring organization. Despite the account title, 

the VISTA Advance Payment Revolving Fund is not a revolving fund, 

but rather a general fund expenditure account. 

On February 17, 2009, the President signed into law the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The Recovery 

Act included funding for the use of CNCS to support an expansion of the 

AmeriCorps State and National and VISTA programs. As a result of the 

passage of the Recovery Act, three additional appropriated funds were 

established for fiscal years 2009 and 2010:

• Operating Expenses, Recovery Act, from which CNCS funded the 

increased AmeriCorps State and National and VISTA membership as a 

result of the Recovery Act. 

• Salaries and Expenses, Recovery Act, which funded CNCS’ expenses 

to improve IT systems and administer the increased AmeriCorps State 

and National and VISTA membership. 

• Office of Inspector General, Recovery Act, from which CNCS funded the 

expenses of the OIG’s Recovery Act oversight responsibilities. 

B. BASIS OF ACCOUNTING

The accompanying financial statements include all funds administered 

by CNCS, as delineated in Note 1A – Reporting Entity. They include 

CNCS’ activities related to providing grants and other assistance to 

eligible states, local governments, and not-for-profit organizations as 

well as education awards to eligible national service participants. All 

significant inter-entity transactions and balances are eliminated in 

consolidation.

C. FINANCIAL STATEMENT PRESENTATION AND CONSOLIDATION POLICY

The accompanying financial statements report CNCS’ financial position, 

results of operations, and cash flows, as required by the Government 

Corporation Control Act (GCCA). As required by GCCA, the principal 

financial statements of CNCS are the:

• Statement of Financial Position, which reports the status of 

Corporation assets, liabilities, and net position; 
Financial Statements | PART II 51

The Corporation for National and Community Service

• Statement of Operations and Changes in Net Position, which reports 

CNCS’ revenues and expenses for the year and the changes in net 

position that occurred during the year; and 

• Statement of Cash Flows, which shows how changes in CNCS’ 

financial position and results affected its cash (Fund Balance with 

Treasury), and breaks the analysis down according to operating, 

investing, and financing activities. 

The financial statements are presented in accordance with the 

accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of 

America (GAAP), as applicable to federal government corporations. The 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) is the standard 

setting body for the federal government. Statement of Federal Financial 

Accounting Standards Number 34 (SFFAS 34) provides that financial 

statements prepared by certain government corporations in conformity 

with the accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting 

Standards Board (FASB) are regarded as being in conformity with 

GAAP. As provided by SFFAS 34, where there is no standard issued by 

FASB applicable to the Federal corporation the financial statements 

are presented in accordance with the accounting standards issued by 

FASAB.

In addition, under Executive Order 13331, National and Community 

Service Programs, CNCS must prepare a Combined Statement of 

Budgetary Resources as a principal statement. The accompanying 

Combined Statements of Budgetary Resources have been prepared in 

accordance with GAAP, as prescribed by FASAB.

CNCS’ consolidation policy requires the consolidation of all funds 

administered by CNCS, as delineated in Note 1A—Reporting Entity.

D. BUDGETS AND BUDGETARY ACCOUNTING

The activities of CNCS are primarily funded through the annual 

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and 

Related Agencies Appropriation Act. CNCS’ accounting structure 

reflects both accrual and budgetary accounting transactions. Under the 

accrual method of accounting, revenues are recognized when earned 

and expenses are recognized when incurred, without regard to the 

actual collection or payment of cash. Federal budgetary accounting 

recognizes the obligation of appropriations and other funds upon the 

establishment of a properly documented legal liability, which, in many 

cases, is different from the recording of an accrual-based transaction. 

The recognition of budgetary accounting transactions is essential for 

compliance with legal controls over the use of federal funds.

E. ASSET AND LIABILITY VALUATION

CNCS values its investments at carrying value and discloses fair value. 

As of September 30, 2010, the carrying amounts of Fund Balance with 

Treasury, Accounts Receivable, Advances to Others, Accrued Interest 

Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Other Liabilities approximate their 

fair value.

F. FUND BALANCE WITH TREASURY

CNCS considers Fund Balance with Treasury (FBWT) to represent cash 

and cash equivalents. It is CNCS’ cash accounts with the Department 

of the Treasury (the Treasury). The Treasury processes cash receipts and 

disbursements on behalf of CNCS and CNCS’ accounting records are 

reconciled with those of the Treasury on a regular basis. CNCS’ FBWT 

includes all of its appropriated and trust funds.

The FBWT maintained in the National Service Trust is restricted to 

specific purposes, such as paying service awards earned by eligible 

participants, and are not available for use in the current operations of 

CNCS. In addition, the majority of the funds received from individuals 

and organizations for deposit in the Gifts and Contributions fund are 

restricted for particular uses, such as service projects.

G. INVESTMENTS AND RELATED RECEIVABLES

By law, CNCS may invest the funds of the National Service Trust in 

interest-bearing Treasury securities guaranteed by the United States 

as to principal and interest. These Treasury securities are referred to as 

“market-based,” since they mirror actual Treasury securities sold on the 

open market. They consist of Treasury notes, bonds, bills, and one-day 

certificates.

Since they are expected to be held to-maturity, CNCS’ investments 

are valued at cost and adjusted for the amortization of premiums and 

discounts. The premiums and discounts are recognized as adjustments 

to interest income, using the effective interest method. Interest 

receivable represents amounts earned, but not received on investments 

held at year-end. Prepaid interest is the amount of interest earned on 

a security since the date of its last interest payment up to the date 

the security is purchased by CNCS. Such interest, if any, at year-end is 

included in the interest receivable balance.

H. ADVANCES TO OTHERS

CNCS advances funds to non-federal entities, primarily in response 

to grantee drawdown requests, to facilitate their authorized service 

activities. The cash payments to grantees, in excess of amounts 
Financial Statements | PART II 52

The Corporation for National and Community Service

appropriately expended under the terms of the grant agreements, 

are accounted for as advances. At the end of the fiscal year, the total 

amount advanced to grantees is compared with the total Corporationfunded amount of grant expenses properly incurred by the grantees. 

Grantee expenses are determined from reports submitted by the 

grantees. For those grantees with advances exceeding expenses, the 

aggregate difference is reported as the advance account balance.

I. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

Accounts receivable represents amounts due to CNCS primarily under 

federal and non-federal reimbursable agreements, grantee audit 

resolution determinations, and outstanding travel advances due from 

employees. An allowance for doubtful accounts is established for 

reporting purposes based on past experience.

J. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and Equipment is stated at full cost, including all costs related 

to acquisition, delivery, and installation, less accumulated depreciation 

(or amortization). Property and Equipment also includes assets acquired 

through capital leases, which are initially recorded at the amount 

recognized as a liability for the capital lease at its inception. Normal 

maintenance and repair costs on capitalized property and equipment are 

expensed when incurred.

CNCS’ general policy is to capitalize Property and Equipment if the initial 

acquisition price is $50 thousand or more. Property and equipment with 

an estimated useful life that extends beyond the year of acquisition 

is capitalized at historical cost and is depreciated (or amortized) on a 

straight-line basis over estimated useful lives ranging from two to 10 

years, using the half-year convention.

K. TRUST SERVICE AWARD LIABILITY

The Trust Service Award Liability represents unpaid earned, and expected 

to be earned, education awards and eligible student loan interest 

forbearance costs, which are expected to be used. These amounts relate 

to participants who have completed service or are currently enrolled 

in the program and are expected to earn an award, based on CNCS’ 

historical experience.

L. GRANTS PAYABLE

CNCS awards grants to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, 

states, municipalities, and other external organizations. Grants become 

budgetary obligations, but not liabilities, at the time they are awarded. 

Although most grantees request funds prior to incurring expenses, 

some incur expenditures prior to initiating a request for disbursement, 

based on the nature of the expenditures. At the end of the fiscal year, 

CNCS computes and reports an estimate of the amount of unreimbursed 

grantee expenses as grants payable. This accrual is based on an 

analysis of the amounts actually disbursed to grantees in the third 

quarter.

M. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

CNCS records as liabilities all amounts that are likely to be paid as 

a direct result of a transaction or event that has already occurred. 

Accounts payable represents amounts due to external entities for goods 

and services received by CNCS, but not paid for at the end of the fiscal 

year.

N. ACTUARIAL FECA LIABILITY

The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) provides income and 

medical cost protection to covered federal civilian employees, NCCC and 

VISTA members injured on the job, employees who have incurred a workrelated occupational disease, and beneficiaries of employees whose 

death is attributable to a job-related injury or occupational disease. 

Claims incurred for benefits for Corporation employees and members 

under FECA are determined and paid by the Department of Labor 

(DOL) and later billed to CNCS. CNCS’ actuarial liability for workers’ 

compensation includes costs incurred, but unbilled as of year-end, as 

calculated by DOL. CNCS reimburses DOL for FECA claims out of current 

appropriations upon receipt of a bill from DOL.

O. OTHER LIABILITIES

Other liabilities include amounts owed but not paid at the end of the 

fiscal year for payroll and benefits and VISTA stipends. Also included as 

other liabilities are the amount of claims for benefits for Corporation 

employees under FECA that have been paid by DOL and billed to CNCS 

but have not yet been reimbursed to DOL.

P. ACCRUED ANNUAL LEAVE

Annual leave is accrued as a liability based on amounts earned but not 

used as of the fiscal year-end. Each year, the balance in the accrued 

annual leave account is adjusted to reflect current year pay rates and 

leave balances. Annual leave is funded from current appropriations 

when used. As unused annual leave is used in the future, financing will 

be obtained from appropriations current at that time. Sick leave and 

other types of non-vested leave are also expensed when used.
Financial Statements | PART II 53

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Q. ADVANCES FROM OTHERS

Advances from others consist of advances from other federal agencies 

and the public related to interagency and cost share agreements into 

which CNCS entered to provide services.

R. NET POSITION

Net Position represents Net Assets. It is comprised of CNCS’ unexpended 

appropriations and its cumulative results of operations. Unexpended 

appropriations reflect the balance of appropriated authority granted to 

CNCS against which no outlays have been made. Cumulative results of 

operations represent the net differences between revenues and expenses 

from the inception of CNCS.

S. REVENUE RECOGNITION

Appropriated Capital Used. CNCS recognizes its use of appropriated 

capital as revenue at the time it is expended to pay program or 

administrative expenses. Appropriations expended for property and 

equipment are recognized as used when the property is purchased. 

Appropriated capital not expended within five fiscal years after it 

became available for obligation is cancelled. Unpaid obligations 

recorded against cancelled appropriated capital are paid from currently 

available appropriated funds as payments become due. Appropriations 

received for CNCS’ Trust are recognized as revenue when received in the 

Trust Fund. Trust appropriations do not expire with the passage of time 

and are retained by CNCS in the Trust until used for eligible education 

service award purposes.

Interest on Investments. Interest income is recognized when earned. 

Treasury notes and bonds pay interest semi-annually, based on the 

stated rate of interest. Interest on Treasury bills is paid at maturity. 

Interest income is adjusted by amortization of premiums and discounts 

using the effective interest method.

Revenue from Services Provided. CNCS also receives income from 

reimbursable service agreements that is recorded as revenue from 

services provided. Revenue from services provided is recognized when 

earned, i.e., goods have been delivered or services rendered.

Gifts and Donations. Revenue is recognized at the time gifts and 

donations are received and deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the 

Gifts and Contributions Fund.

T. RETIREMENT BENEFITS

CNCS’ employees participate in either the Civil Service Retirement 

System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). 

FERS was established by the enactment of Public Law 99-335. 

Pursuant to this law, FERS and Social Security automatically cover most 

employees hired after December 31, 1983. Employees hired prior to 

January 1, 1984, elected to join FERS and Social Security or remained in 

the CSRS.

For employees covered by CSRS, CNCS contributes 7.0 percent of their 

basic pay. For those employees covered by FERS, CNCS contributes 11.2 

percent of their gross pay towards retirement. Employees are allowed 

to participate in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). For employees 

under FERS, CNCS contributes an automatic one percent of basic pay to 

TSP and matches employee contributions up to an additional 4 percent 

of pay, for a maximum Corporation contribution amounting to 5 percent 

of pay. Employees under CSRS may participate in the TSP, but will not 

receive either CNCS’ automatic or matching contributions.

CNCS made retirement contributions of $403 and $419 thousand to the 

CSRS, and $9.6 and $7.8 million to FERS and TSP in fiscal years 2010 

and 2009, respectively.

U. INCOME TAXES

As a federal entity, CNCS is exempt from all income taxes imposed by 

any governing body, federal, state, commonwealth, local, or foreign 

government.

V. USE OF ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP 

requires CNCS to make estimates and assumptions about future events. 

These estimates and assumptions affect the amounts reported in 

CNCS’ financial statements and accompanying notes. CNCS evaluates 

its estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis using historical 

experience and other factors that it believes to be reasonable under 

the circumstances. Adjustments to estimates and assumptions are 

made when facts and circumstances warrant. As future events and 

their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could 

differ from the estimates used in preparing the accompanying financial 

statements. Significant estimates and assumptions are required as part 

of determining the liability for service awards.

W. RECLASSIFICATIONS

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to current 

year presentation.
Financial Statements | PART II 54

The Corporation for National and Community Service

X. CONCENTRATION OF RISKS

The Congress annually considers whether to fund CNCS’ program 

and operational activities. Should the Congress opt not to enact 

appropriations to fund them, CNCS would be unable to continue 

operations. Corporation management believes the risk of such an 

occurrence is remote.

CNCS also has established agreements with other federal entities and 

contracts with service providers to help it administer key business 

processes. Should these agreements be terminated without ample time to 

replace them, CNCS could experience significant difficulty in fulfilling its 

statutory responsibilities. These Corporation’s agreements are as follows:

• National Finance Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 

payroll services; 

• U.S. General Service Administration for the lease of buildings and 

automobiles;

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for grants processing 

services;

• CGI Group, Inc. for the maintenance of the system platform supporting 

accounting and procurement; and 

• SRA International, Inc. for information technology services.

Corporation management believes the risk of termination of these 

agreements is remote.
Financial Statements | PART II 55

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 2—Fund Balance with Treasury

U.S. Government cash is accounted for on an overall consolidated basis 

by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The Fund Balance with Treasury line 

on the Statement of Financial Position consists of the following:

Appropriated Funds—Appropriated funds are received through 

congressional appropriations to provide financing sources for CNCS’ 

programs on an annual, multi-year, and no-year basis. 

Trust Funds—Trust funds are accounts designated by law for receipts 

earmarked for specific purposes and for the expenditure of these 

receipts. Funds from the National Service Trust may be expended for 

the purpose of providing an education award or student loan interest 

forbearance payment and are made directly to a qualified institution 

(college, university, or other approved educational institution, or a 

lending institution holding an existing student loan) as designated by 

the participant. The National Service Trust also pays awards under the 

President’s Freedom Scholarship, Summer of Service, and Silver Scholar 

programs. 

Gift Funds—Gift Funds are funds received from individuals and 

organizations as donations in furtherance of the purposes of national 

service laws. 

Fund Balance with Treasury as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

Appropriated Funds $ 997,549 $ - $ 997,549

Trust Funds - 241 241

Gift Funds - 618 618

Total $ 997,549 $ 859 $ 998,408

Fund Balance with Treasury as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

Appropriated Funds $ 949,192 $ - $ 949,192

Trust Funds - 452 452

Gift Funds - 888 888

Total $ 949,192 $ 1,340 $ 950,532
Financial Statements | PART II 56

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Unexpended Balances as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

FBWT $ 997,549 $ 859 $ 998,408

Investments - 565,195 565,195

Total $ 997,549 $ 566,054 $1,563,603

Status of Unexpended Balances as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

Unobligated:

 Available $ 96,444 $ 16,901 $ 113,345

 Unavailable - 50,197 50,197

 Obligated not yet Disbursed 901,105 498,956 1,400,061

Total $ 997,549 $ 566,054 $1,563,603

Unexpended Balances as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

FBWT $ 949,192 $ 1,340 $ 950,532

Investments - 519,838 519,838

Total $ 949,192 $ 521,178 $1,470,370

Status of Unexpended Balances as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Type Unrestricted Restricted Total

Unobligated:

 Available $ 127,155 $ 13,763 $ 140,918

 Unavailable - 63,680 63,680

 Obligated not yet Disbursed 822,037 443,735 1,265,772

Total $ 949,192 $ 521,178 $1,470,370
Financial Statements | PART II 57

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 3—National Service Trust Invesments and Related Receivables 

The composition of National Service Trust Investments and Related Receivables at September 30 is as follows:

Investments and Related Receivables as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Investments, Carrying Value $ 563,453 $ 515,733

Investment and Interest Receivable 1,742 4,105

Total $ 565,195 $ 519,838

Amortized Cost and Fair Value of Investment Securities as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Unrealized

Securities Amortized Cost Gains/(Losses) Fair Value

Notes $ 310,307 $ 4,736 $ 315,043

Bills 253,146 52 253,198

Total $ 563,453 $ 4,788 $ 568,241

Amortized Cost and Fair Value of Investment Securities as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Unrealized

Securities Amortized Cost Gains/(Losses) Fair Value

Notes $ 358,614 $ 3,571 $ 362,185

Bills 157,119 80 157,199

Total $ 515,733 $ 3,651 $ 519,384

At September 30, 2010, the notes held at year-end had an interest rate 

range of 0.750 percent to 5.00 percent and an outstanding maturity 

period of approximately seven days to five years. The bills held at yearend had an interest rate range of 0.075 percent to 0.365 percent and 

were all due to mature within 217 days. The par values of these bills 

range from $.30 million to $46.14 million. The fair value of the bills 

and notes is based on bid and ask prices quoted by the Treasury as of 

September 30, 2010 and 2009. Since fiscal 2003, CNCS has set aside 

in reserve a portion of the funds in the National Service Trust for use 

in the event that its estimates used to calculate obligational amounts 

for education awards prove to be too low. This reserve was originally 

required by the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act, and is now required 

by section 149(b) of the National and Community Service Act (42 

U.S.C. 12606(b)). As of September 30, 2010, $50.197 million of CNCS’ 

investment account has been set aside for this reserve.
Financial Statements | PART II 58

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 3—Trust Investments and Related Receivables—Continued

Investments held at September 30 mature according to the following schedule:

NOTE 4—Accounts Receivables, Net 

NOTE 5—Property and Equipment, Net

Maturation of Securities Held as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Amortized Amortized

Held-to-Maturity Securities Cost Fair Value Cost Fair Value

Due in 1 year or less $ 332,181 $ 332,378 $ 426,683 $ 429,627

Due after 1 year up to 5 years 231,272 235,863 89,050 89,757

Total $ 563,453 $ 568,241 $ 515,733 $ 519,384

Accounts Receivable as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

Appropriated Funds Trust Fund Total

2010

Accounts receivable $ 4,357 $ 214 $ 4,571

Less: allowance for loss on receivables (788) - (788)

Accounts Receivable, Net $ 3,569 $ 214 $ 3,783

2009

Accounts receivable $ 2,875 $ 350 $ 3,225

Less: allowance for loss on receivables (462) - (462)

Accounts Receivable, Net $ 2,413 $ 350 $ 2,763

General Property and Equipment as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

Service Life Accumulated Net Book

Major Class (Years) Cost Depreciation Value

Equipment 3 - 10 $ 2,997 $ (1,868) $ 1,129

Capital leases 3 - 5 8,263 (8,263) -

Total $ 11,260 $ (10,131) $ 1,129
Financial Statements | PART II 59

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 5—Property and Equipment, Net—Continued

NOTE 6—Trust Service Award Liability 

Individuals who successfully complete terms of service in AmeriCorps 

programs earn education awards, which can be used to make payments 

on qualified student loans or for educational expenses at qualified 

educational institutions. The awards, which are available to use 

for a period of up to seven years after the benefit has been earned, 

are paid from the National Service Trust. The National Service Trust 

also pays forbearance interest on qualified student loans during the 

period members perform community service, as well as awards under 

the Presidential Freedom Scholarship Program. The award liability 

components related to education awards and interest forbearance have 

been adjusted, based on historical experience, to reflect the fact that 

some eligible participants may not use these benefits. The Service Award 

was composed of the following as of September 30:

General Property and Equipment as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

Service Life Accumulated Net Book

Major Class (Years) Cost Depreciation Value

Equipment 3 - 10 $ 2,996 $ (1,662) $ 1,334

Capital leases 3 - 5 - - -

ADP software 2 8,263 (7,888) 375

Total $ 11,259 $ (9,550) $ 1,709

Depreciation Expense for the Period Ending September 30 (dollars in thousands)

Major Class 2010 2009

Equipment $ 206 $ 121

Capital leases - (291)

ADP software 375 489

Total $ 581 $ 319

Service Award Liability as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Education awards $ 1,712,184 $ 1,501,414

Interest forbearance 55,207 48,209

President’s Freedom Scholarship Program 22,527 22,527

Total estimated service award liability 1,789,918 1,572,150

Less: cumulative awards paid 1,410,040 1,248,083

Total $ 379,878 $ 324,067
Financial Statements | PART II 60

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 6—Trust Service Award Liability —Continued

The net Service Award Liability as of September 30, 2010 increased 

by approximately $55.8 million from the net Service Award Liability as 

of September 30, 2009. This change was largely due to new member 

enrollments and an increase in the number of members still serving 

during the year. Past Corporation appropriations made amounts from 

the National Service Trust available for $1,000 scholarships for high 

school students known as Presidential Freedom Scholarships. To fund 

each scholarship, a local community or corporate source matched the 

$500 portion of the scholarship provided by CNCS. The program was 

discontinued in fiscal 2006; however, because students have up to seven 

years to use the scholarship, some payments will continue to be made 

over the next several years. As of October 1, 2009, the National Service 

Trust is also available to pay Summer of Service and Silver Scholar 

educational awards. However, these programs where not funded in fiscal 

year 2010, so there is no current liability for those educational awards.

NOTE 7—Operating Leases

CNCS leases office space through the General Services Administration 

(GSA). GSA charges CNCS a Standard Level Users Charge that 

approximates commercial rental rates for similar properties. The 

NCCC also leases housing facilities for its campuses. Additionally, 

CNCS leases motor vehicles on an annual basis through GSA under 

an Interagency Fleet Management Service agreement for the NCCC. 

The leases are renewable with no purchase or escalation clause. The 

following schedule presents future minimum rental commitments under 

operating leases that have initial or remaining non-cancellable lease 

terms in excess of one year as of September 30.

NOTE 8—Actuarial FECA Liability

CNCS’ actuarial liability for future workers’ compensation benefits under 

FECA was $12.092 and $11.365 million as of September 30, 2010 and 

2009, respectively. The amount includes the expected liability for death, 

disability, medical, and miscellaneous costs for approved compensation 

cases. The actuarial liability is determined using a method that utilizes 

historical benefit payment patterns related to a specific incurred period 

to predict the ultimate payments related to that period. Consistent 

with past practice, these projected annual benefit payments have 

been discounted to present value using the Office of Management and 

Budget’s economic assumptions for 10-year Treasury notes and bonds.

Estimated Operating Lease Commitments as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Fiscal Facilities

Year Space Vehicles Other Total Space Vehicles Other Total

2010 $ - $ - $ - $ - $ 9,215 $ 504 $ 110 $ 9,829

2011 9,487 861 276 10,624 9,491 521 107 10,119

2012 9,781 820 266 10,867 9,776 539 99 10,414

2013 10,083 852 261 11,196 10,069 557 91 10,717

2014 10,395 885 264 11,544 10,371 576 90 11,037

2015 10,717 919 266 11,902 - - - -

Total $ 50,463 $ 4,337 $ 1,333 $ 56,133 $ 8,922 $ 2,697 $ 497 $ 52,116
Financial Statements | PART II 61

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 9—Net Positions

Net position consists of unexpended appropriations and cumulative results of operations. Component balances are separately maintained for the Gift 

Fund, Trust Fund, and Appropriated Funds.

CNCS is required to report information regarding its financial position according to three classes of net assets (net position): unrestricted, 

temporarily restricted, and permanently restricted. CNCS has no permanently restricted assets. The following table presents CNCS’ unrestricted and

temporarily restricted net assets.

Net Position by Fund Balance Component as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Gift Fund Trust Fund Appropriated Funds Total

Total unexpended appropriations $ - $ - $ 757,390 $ 757,390

Cumulative results of operations 571 185,772 (8,807) 177,536

Total Net Position $ 571 $ 185,772 $ 748,583 $ 934,926

Net Position by Fund Balance Component as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Gift Fund Trust Fund Appropriated Funds Total

Total unexpended appropriations $ - $ - $ 890,956 $ 890,956

Cumulative results of operations 909 196,573 (8,530) 188,952

Total Net Position $ 909 $ 196,573 $ 882,426 $1,079,908

Restrictions on Net Position as of September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

Unrestricted Temporarily Restricted Total

Appropriated Funds $ 748,583 $ - $ 748,583

Trust Funds - 185,772 185,772

Gift Funds - 571 571

Total Net Position $ 748,583 $ 186,343 $ 934,926

Restrictions on Net Position as of September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

Unrestricted Temporarily Restricted Total

Appropriated Funds $ 882,426 $ - $ 882,426

Trust Funds - 196,573 196,573

Gift Funds - 909 909

Total Net Position $ 882,426 $ 197,482 $ 1,079,908
Financial Statements | PART II 62

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 10—Appropriations Received by the National 

Service Trust

For fiscal year 2010, the National Service Trust received $197.000 million 

under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-117). 

For fiscal year 2009, the National Service Trust received $131.075 

million under the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111-8) 

and an additional $40.000 million under the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The Acts also authorized 

CNCS to transfer additional amounts from Subtitle C program funds 

to the National Service Trust if necessary to support the activities of 

national service participants. CNCS transferred $2.659 million and 

$3.857 million to the Trust under this provision in fiscal year 2010 and 

2009, respectively.

NOTE 11—Expenses

Using an appropriate cost accounting methodology, CNCS’ expenses 

have been allocated among its major programs, at the sub-program 

level. Costs for each sub-program are reported on separately:

AmeriCorps includes the State and National, Tribes, and Territories

(State/National); National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC); and 

Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) programs. The State/National 

sub-program includes grant expenses, as well as direct and allocated 

personnel and administrative costs including AmeriCorps recruitment 

and National Service Trust operations. The NCCC sub-program includes 

member stipend and benefits, and direct and allocated personnel and 

administrative costs including AmeriCorps recruitment and National 

Service Trust operations. The VISTA sub-program includes grant 

expenses, member stipend and benefits, as well as direct and allocated 

personnel and administrative costs including AmeriCorps recruitment 

and National Service Trust operations.

The National Senior Service Corps (NSSC) includes the Foster 

Grandparent Program (FGP); Senior Companion Program (SCP); and the 

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). The NSSC responsibility 

segment includes grant expenses, as well as direct and allocated 

personnel and administrative costs for RSVP, FGP, and SCP.

Learn and Serve America includes grant expenses, as well as direct 

and allocated personnel and administrative costs, for the Learn and 

Serve America Program, the President’s Student Service Challenge, and 

National Service Leader Schools. The President’s Freedom Scholarships 

are included in the National Service Award expense component.

Other Program Costs

National Service Award Expense—the National Service Award expense 

component consists of CNCS’ estimated expense for education awards 

based on the increase in its service award liability during the year, 

interest forbearance costs on qualified student loans during the period 

members perform community service, as well as disbursements for the 

President’s Freedom Scholarship Program (see Note 12). No indirect 

costs have been allocated to the National Service Award expense 

component.

Pass-through Grants—CNCS has reimbursable agreements with state 

agencies whereby CNCS awards and administers grants to a list of 

grantees selected and funded by the state. No indirect costs have been 

allocated to these pass-through grants.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) receives a separate appropriation. 

No indirect costs have been allocated to the OIG.

Components of Grant Funds Expended for the Period Ended September 30 

(dollars in thousands)

2010 2009 

Domestic Volunteer Service Act Programs $ 297,662 $ 248,945

National and Community Service Act Programs 523,323 333,676

Pass-through Grants 182 682

Total Grant Funds Expended $ 821,167 $ 583,303
Financial Statements | PART II 63

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Expenses by Major Responsibility Segment for the Period Ended September 30

(dollars in thousands) 

2010 2009 

AmeriCorps

 State/National $ 722,332 $ 484,486

 NCCC 73,609 44,830

 VISTA 147,997 132,166

 Subtotal $ 943,938 $ 661,482

National Senior Service Corps: 

 Retired and Senior Volunteer Program 76,253 66,783

 Foster Grandparent Program 143,839 120,381

 Senior Companion Program $ 60,065 $ 51,641

 Subtotal 280,157 238,805

Learn and Serve America 53,316 47,812

Pass-through Grants 182 682

Office of Inspector General (OIG) 7,292 6,045

Total Expenses $1,284,885 $ 954,826
Financial Statements | PART II 64

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Expenses by Type and Sub-Program for the Period Ended September 30, 2010 (dollars in thousands)

AmeriCorps National Senior Service Corps

Type State/National NCCC VISTA RSVP FGP SCP Learn & Serve Pass-through Grants OIG Total

Grant and Related Expense

Grant funds expended $ 476,896 $ - $ 39,307 $ 69,653 $ 131,365 $ 55,337 $ 6,427 $ 182 $ - $ 821,167

VISTA and NCCC stipends and benefits - 38,849 63,002 - - - - - - 101, 851

Service award expense 190,499 4,685 22,209 - - - - - - 217,767

Total Grant and Related Expense 667,395 43,534 124,518 69,653 133,365 55,337 46,801 182 - 1,140,785

Administrative Expense

Federal employee salaries and benefits 33,051 10,404 6,749 2,747 5,242 2,177 3,829 - 4,053 68,252

Travel and transportation 1,107 3,182 3,228 777 1,446 624 118 - 197 10,679

Rent, communications, and utilities 4,368 6,157 1,043 412 788 327 445 - 383 13,923

Program analysis and evaluation 925 796 797 249 469 196 586 - - 4,018

Printing and reproduction 126 99 65 28 36 14 16 - 1 385

Other services and expenses 14,687 7,537 11,464 2,321 2,367 1,338 1,469 - 2,580 43,763

Supplies and materials 257 1,877 72 25 46 19 24 - 78 2,398

Depreciation, amortization, and loss on 354 20 52 35 68 28 24 - - 1581

disposition of assets

Bad debt 62 3 9 6 12 5 4 - - 101

Total Administrative Expense 454,937 30,075 23,479 6,600 10,474 4,728 6,515 - 7,292 144,100

Total Expenses by Type $ 722,332 $473,609 $ 147,997 $ 76,253 $ 143,839 $ 60,065 $ 53,316 $ 182 $ 7,292 $ 1,284,885
Financial Statements | PART II 65

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Expenses by Type and Sub-Program for the Period Ended September 30, 2009 (dollars in thousands)

AmeriCorps National Senior Service Corps

Type State/National NCCC VISTA RSVP FGP SCP Learn & Serve Pass-through Grants OIG Total

Grant and Related Expense

Grant funds expended $ 290,948 $ - $ 29,413 $ 61,081 $ 111,055 $ 47,396 $ 42,728 $ 682 $ - $ 583,303

VISTA and NCCC stipends and benefits - 11,759 53,656 - - - - - - 65,415

Service award expense 152,312 2,885 16,465 - - - - - - 171,662

Total Grant and Related Expense 443,260 14,644 99,534 61,081 111,055 47,396 42,728 682 - 820,380

Administrative Expense

Federal employee salaries and benefits 26,786 11,894 20,665 2,860 5,192 2,217 3,372 - 3,678 76,664

Travel and transportation 878 2,530 3,792 699 1,278 551 213 - 94 10,035

Rent, communications, and utilities 3,935 4,235 934 448 813 347 299 - 369 11,380

Program analysis and evaluation 744 677 677 218 392 168 507 - - 3,383

Printing and reproduction 59 91 74 27 28 9 8 - - 296

Other services and expenses 7,602 9,676 6,181 1,189 1,240 755 571 - 1,861 29,075

Supplies and materials 459 1,064 172 161 201 120 44 - 43 2,264

Depreciation, amortization, and loss on 753 19 135 99 180 77 69 - - 1,332

disposition of assets

Bad debt 10 - 2 1 2 1 1 - - 17

Total Administrative Expense 41,226 30,186 32,632 5,702 9,326 4,245 5,084 - 6,045 134,446

Total Expenses by Type $ 484,486 $ 4,830 $ 132,166 $ 66,783 $ 120,381 $ 51,641 $ 47,812 $ 682 $ 6,045 $ 954,826
Financial Statements | PART II 66

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 12—National Service Award Expense

Members serving in approved national service positions are eligible 

to earn a service award to pay for qualified education expenses. The 

National Service Trust also pays interest forbearance costs on qualified 

student loans during the period members perform community service. 

CNCS estimates the expense for national service awards based on the 

increase in its cumulative service award liability during the year (see 

Note 6). The total service award liability as of September 30, 2010 and 

2009, respectively, has been adjusted to reflect the fact that earned 

awards are not always used.

NOTE 13—Change in Unexpected Appropriations, Net 

Unexpended Appropriations, Net as of September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Unexpended Appropriations, Beginning Balance $ 890,956 $ 769,016

Increases:

Appropriations Received, Net of Trust 1,149,721 1,090,866

Decreases:

Appropriated Capital Used (1,054,258) (770,708)

Appropriations Transferred to Trust Fund (net of rescissions) (197,000) (171,075)

Program Funds Transferred to Trust (2,659) (3,857)

Rescissions and Cancellations (29,370) (23,286)

Total Decreases (1,283,287) (968,926)

Change in Unexpended Appropriations (133,566) 121,940

 

Unexpended Appropriations, Ending Balance $ 757,390 $ 890,956

National Service Award Expense for the Period Ended September 30 (dollars in thousands)

2010 2009

Estimated education awards $ 210,769 $ 166,160

Estimated interest forbearance 6,998 5,502

President’s Freedom Scholarship Program - -

National Service Award Expense $ 217,767 $ 171,662
Financial Statements | PART II 67

The Corporation for National and Community Service

NOTE 14—Contingencies

CNCS is a party to various routine administrative proceedings, legal 

actions, and claims brought by or against it, including threatened 

or pending litigation involving labor relations claims, some of which 

may ultimately result in settlements or decisions against CNCS. In 

the opinion of CNCS’ management and legal counsel, there are no 

proceedings, actions, or claims outstanding or threatened that would 

materially impact the financial statements of CNCS.

Certain legal matters to which CNCS is a party may be administered 

and, in some instances, litigated and paid by other federal agencies. 

Generally, amounts paid in excess of $2.5 thousand for Federal Tort 

Claims Act settlements or awards pertaining to these litigations are 

funded from the Treasury Judgment Fund (TJF). Although the ultimate 

disposition of any potential TJF proceedings cannot be determined, 

management does not expect that any liability or expense that might 

ensue would be material to CNCS’ financial statements.

NOTE 15—Subsequent Events

CNCS has evaluated subsequent events through November 15, 2010, 

which is the date these financial statements were available to be issued. 

As a consequence of its evaluation, CNCS has determined that no 

subsequent events need to be recognized or disclosed.

NOTE 16—Undelivered Orders at Fiscal Year-End

CNCS’ undelivered orders at September 30, 2010 and 2009 were 

$791,757 and $894,283 thousand, respectively.

NOTE 17—Apportionment Categories of Incurred 

Obligations

An apportionment is a distribution by OMB of amounts available for 

obligation. OMB apportions Corporation funds on a quarterly basis. 

Obligations incurred during FY 2010 and 2009 were:

Consolidated Obligations Incurred through September 30 (dollars in thousands)

Fiscal Year Direct Reimbursable Total

 

2010 $ 1,403,065 $ 10,459 $ 1,413,524

2009 $ 1,232,085 $ 12,526 $ 1,244,611
Financial Statements | PART II 68

The Corporation for National and Community Service

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Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 69

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Independent Auditor’s Report
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 70

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Office of Inspector General

Audit of the

Corporation for National and

Community Service’s

Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Statements

Audit Report Number 11- 01

Prepared by:

Kearney & Company

1701 Duke Street, Suite 500

Alexandria, Virginia 22314

This report was issued to Corporation management on November 15, 2010. Under the laws and regulations governing audit follow up, the Corporation is to 

make final management decisions on the report’s findings and recommendations no later than May 16, 2011, and complete its corrective actions by November 15, 2011. Consequently, the reported findings do not necessarily represent the final resolution of the issues presented.
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 71

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Date: November 15, 2010

To: Patrick A. Corvington

Chief Executive Officer

From: Kenneth Bach/s/

Acting Inspector General

Subject: Audit of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Fiscal Year 2010

Financial Statements, OIG Audit Report Number 11-01

We contracted with the independent certified public accounting firm of Kearney & Company (Kearney) to audit the consolidated financial statements 

of the Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) as of September 30, 2010 and 2009, and for the years then ended. The contract 

required that the audit be performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

In its audit, Kearney found

• The financial statements were fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles; 

• Two significant deficiencies in the Corporation’s internal controls; 

• No instances of noncompliance with relevant laws and regulations. 

Kearney is responsible for the attached auditor’s report, dated November 15, 2010, and the conclusions expressed therein. The Office of Inspector 

General does not express an opinion on the Corporation’s financial statements or Kearney’s conclusions about the effectiveness of internal controls or 

compliance with laws and regulations.

Attachment

cc: James Siegal, Chief of Staff 

Robert Velasco, Chief Operating Officer 

William Anderson, Chief Financial Officer 

Kristin McSwain, Chief of Program Operations 

Wilsie Minor, Acting General Counsel 

Rocco Gaudio, Deputy CFO for Grants and Field Financial Management 

Tom Hanley, Acting Chief Information Officer 

David Zavada, Engagement Partner, Kearney & Company 

1201 New York Avenue, NW « Suite 830 « Washington, DC 20525 

202-606-9390 « Hotline: 800-452-8210 « www.cncsoig.gov 

Senior Corps « AmeriCorps « Learn and Serve America
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 72

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Report of Independent Auditors

1

1701 Duke Street, Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314

PH: 703.931.5600, FX: 703.931.3655, www.kearneyco.com

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

To the Board of Directors and Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community 

Service

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial position of the 

Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) as of September 30, 2010, 

and the related consolidated statements of operations and changes in net position, the 

consolidated statements of cash flows, and the combined statements of budgetary resources 

(hereinafter referred to as the “financial statements”) for the year then ended. These financial 

statements are the responsibility of the Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to 

express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. The Corporation’s financial 

statements as of September 30, 2009 were audited by other auditors, whose report dated 

November 10, 2009 expressed an unqualified opinion on those statements.

We conducted our audit of the financial statements in accordance with auditing standards 

generally accepted in the United States of America; standards applicable to financial audits 

contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United 

States; and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 07-04, Audit Requirements for 

Federal Financial Statements, as amended. Those standards require that we plan and perform the 

audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material 

misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and 

disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles 

used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial 

statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion on 

the financial statements.

An Executive Order released in 2004 entitled “National and Community Service Programs” (E.O. 

13331) requires assurance by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer in the 

Corporation’s Management Representation Letter that its financial statements, including the 

Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR), are accurate and reliable. The Corporation has 

interpreted this requirement to include presenting the SBR as a principal financial statement. The 

SBR is prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

In our opinion, the consolidated statements of financial position, the consolidated statements of 

operations and changes in net position, the consolidated statements of cash flows, and the 

combined statements of budgetary resources, including the accompanying notes, present fairly, 

in all material respects, the financial position of the Corporation as of September 30, 2010, as 

well as its net income and changes in net position, cash flows, and changes in budgetary 

resources for the year then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted 

(GAAP) in the United States of America.

We were engaged for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements taken as 

a whole. The Corporation’s accompanying Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and 
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The Corporation for National and Community Service

2

other accompanying information are not required parts of the basic financial statements. This 

supplementary information is the responsibility of the Corporation’s management. We applied 

certain limited procedures to the MD&A, which consisted principally of inquiries of management 

regarding the methods of measurement and presentation of the supplementary information; 

however, such information has not been subjected to the procedures applied in our engagement to 

audit the basic financial statements. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on it.

In accordance with Government Auditing Standards and OMB Bulletin No. 07-04, as amended, 

we have also issued reports, dated November 15, 2010, on our consideration of the Corporation’s 

internal control over financial reporting and compliance, and on our tests of the Corporation’s 

compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, and other matters for the year ended 

September 30, 2010. The purpose of the reports is to describe the scope of our testing of internal 

control over financial reporting and compliance as well as the results of that testing, and not to 

provide an opinion on the internal control over financial reporting or on compliance and other 

matters. Those reports are an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government 

Auditing Standards and OMB Bulletin No. 07-04, as amended, and should be considered in 

assessing the results of our audit.

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the management of the Corporation, 

the Office of Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, OMB, and Congress, 

and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.

Alexandria, Virginia

November 15, 2010
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 74

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Compliance and other matters1701 Duke Street, Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314

PH: 703.931.5600, FX: 703.931.3655, www.kearneyco.com

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ON COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MATTERS

To the Board of Directors and Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community 

Service

We have audited the consolidated statements of financial position of the Corporation for 

National and Community Service (the Corporation) as of September 30, 2010, and the related 

consolidated statements of operations and changes in net position, the consolidated statements of 

cash flows, and the combined statements of budgetary resources (hereinafter referred to as the 

“financial statements”), for the year then ended, and have issued our report dated November 15,

2010. We conducted our audit in accordance with audit standards generally accepted in the 

United States of America, the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government 

Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 07-04, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial 

Statements, as amended. The management of the Corporation is responsible for complying with 

laws and regulations applicable to the Corporation. 

As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the Corporation’s financial statements 

are free of material misstatement, we performed tests of the Corporation’s compliance with 

certain provisions of laws and regulations, noncompliance with which could have a direct and 

material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts, and certain other laws and 

regulations specified in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 07-04, Audit 

Requirements for Federal Financial Statements, as amended. We limited our tests of 

compliance and we did not test compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to the 

Corporation. Providing an opinion on compliance with certain provisions was not an objective 

of our audit and accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. 

The results of our tests of compliance described in the preceding paragraph disclosed no 

instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government 

Auditing Standards and OMB Bulletin No. 07-04, as amended.

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the management of the Corporation, 

the Office of Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, OMB, and Congress, 

and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.

Alexandria, Virginia

November 15, 2010
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 75

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Internal Control

1

1701 Duke Street, Suite 500, Alexandria, VA 22314

PH: 703.931.5600, FX: 703.931.3655, www.kearneyco.com

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL

To the Board of Directors and Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community 

Service

We have audited the consolidated statements of financial position of the Corporation for 

National and Community Service (the Corporation) as of September 30, 2010, and the related 

consolidated statements of operations and changes in net position, the consolidated statements of 

cash flows, and the combined statements of budgetary resources (hereinafter referred to as the 

“financial statements”), for the year then ended, and have issued our report dated November 15, 

2010. We conducted our audit in accordance with audit standards generally accepted in the 

United States of America; the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government 

Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; and Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 07-04, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial 

Statements, as amended.

In planning and performing our work, we considered the Corporation’s internal control over 

financial reporting and compliance by obtaining an understanding of the design effectiveness of 

the Corporation’s internal control, determining whether controls had been placed in operation, 

assessing control risk, and performing tests of the Corporation’s controls as a basis for designing 

our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and 

not to provide an opinion on the internal controls. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on 

the effectiveness of the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance, 

or on management’s assertion on internal control included in Management’s Discussion and 

Analysis.

We limited our internal control testing to those controls necessary to achieve the OMB Bulletin 

No. 07-04, as amended, control objectives that provide reasonable, but not absolute assurance 

that: (1) transactions are properly recorded, processed, and summarized to permit the preparation 

of the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the 

United States of America (GAAP), and assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized 

acquisition, use, or disposition; and (2) transactions are executed in compliance with laws 

governing the use of budget authority, government-wide policies and laws identified in 

Appendix E of OMB Bulletin No. 07-04, as amended, and other laws and regulations that could 

have a direct and material effect on financial statements. We did not test all internal controls 

relevant to operating objectives, as broadly defined by the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity 

Act of 1982 (FMFIA), such as those controls relevant to ensuring efficient operations.

A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow 

management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to 

prevent or detect and correct misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a 

deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control, such that there is a reasonable 
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 76

The Corporation for National and Community Service

2

possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented 

or detected and corrected in a timely manner.

Our consideration of internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose 

described in the preceding paragraphs and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal 

control that might be deficiencies, significant deficiencies, or material weaknesses; therefore, 

there can be no assurance that all deficiencies, significant deficiencies, or material weaknesses 

have been identified. We did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to 

be material weaknesses, as defined above. However, as discussed below, we identified certain 

deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be significant deficiencies. A significant 

deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control that is less severe 

than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those charged with 

governance. We noted other matters involving internal control and its operations over financial 

reporting, which have been reported to the Corporation’s management in a separate letter.

We consider the following deficiencies in the Corporation’s internal control to be significant 

deficiencies.

Significant Deficiencies

I. Information Technology

The Corporation’s information technology (IT) internal control structure for the general support 

systems and significant applications supporting the financial reporting process did not support a 

sound control environment related to application business processes, logical access, and audit log 

monitoring. Both the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) (in its Federal Information System Controls Audit 

Manual [FISCAM]) provide control objectives and evaluation techniques, which were utilized 

during our audit. The Corporation’s IT control structure exhibited design and operational

weaknesses that, when combined, are considered to be a significant deficiency. The deficiencies, 

in order of significance, are summarized below.

The Corporation uses eSPAN and, in particular, the eGRANTS subsystem to process 

grant activity, payroll for Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) volunteers, and 

vendor table maintenance actions that interface with the Corporation’s core financial 

management system, Momentum. In reviewing and testing the eGRANTS interfaces, we 

identified several issues related to confidentiality controls over system logs, interfaced 

applications, generic user IDs, and passwords. For example, users of the eGRANTS 

system are capable of directly accessing the Momentum application using a generic user 

ID. The generic user ID has privileges to approve notice of grant awards and grant 

requests, create and modify vendors and related information in the vendor table, and 

approve certain transaction overrides. This deficiency increases the risk of unauthorized 

users gaining access to eSPAN and Momentum, processing unauthorized transactions, 

and viewing confidential information without being uniquely identified in the system 

logs.
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 77

The Corporation for National and Community Service

3

Password complexity related to the eSPAN and Momentum systems does not meet the 

Corporation’s password complexity policy. Without enforcement of strong passwords, 

the eSPAN system is subject to a higher risk of unauthorized access.

User accounts were not deactivated in a timely manner to prevent unauthorized access. 

Without removing access rights in a timely manner, terminated or separated users may 

continue to have access to systems without authorization. Additionally, the Corporation 

establishes “guest” accounts on the network for individuals who are not regular full-time 

employees, but have a need for access to the Corporation’s systems. The procedures and 

controls for “guest” accounts issued to contractors are not effectively documented or 

readily available. The procedures and controls for activation and deactivation of these 

“guest” accounts are not documented, and the practices are inconsistently applied, which 

leads to the untimely deactivation of these accounts. Without timely removal of user 

accounts, the risk of unauthorized access to systems and key applications increases.

System logs in the eSPAN system did not include sufficient information documenting 

actions recorded, which hampers the Corporation’s review and response capabilities. The 

logs do not provide sufficient information to determine if the action was appropriate or 

needs further investigation. As a result, unauthorized activities captured in the system 

logs may not be identified and investigated in a timely manner.

Incident handling policies and procedures were not provided to the eSPAN third-party 

servicer responsible for help desk activities. These policies and procedures should 

include steps for classifying, handling, and reporting incidents. Without properly 

disseminating clear and concise procedures, the Corporation and the third-party servicer 

may not properly escalate and provide notifications as required by legislation to protect 

personally identifiable information. In addition, violations may continue to occur that 

may jeopardize the information systems’ and related resources’ confidentiality, integrity, 

and availability.

Users’ system access requests must be based on a business need, and a system access 

request must be approved by the user’s supervisor or manager. We were unable to 

determine that some Momentum user access request forms were approved by the 

supervisor, and system owner permissions were granted prior to assignments or 

alterations of user privileges and/or roles in Momentum. Without sufficient controls to 

ensure direct supervisors authorize their staff members’ user access, the Corporation 

faces an increased risk of unauthorized access and inappropriate assignment of system 

rights and privileges.

The Corporation had inadequate controls over ensuring proper segregation of duties. A 

Business Unit or Business Owner is assigned to authorize user access and privileges (i.e., 

roles) in the eSPAN system, which includes eGRANTS. We found that there is 

insufficient clarity regarding Business Owner assigning principles. During our review 

and walkthrough of the eSPAN account privilege approvals process, we noted that the 

personnel responsible for the assignment of roles to users in the eSPAN systems did not 
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The Corporation for National and Community Service

4

have access to role descriptions or documentation of incompatible roles. Without 

complete information and an effective monitoring process, proper segregation of duties 

may not exist.

Kearney has been informed that the Corporation implemented corrective actions to address some 

of these IT deficiencies in late fiscal year (FY) 2010 and early FY 2011. Kearney plans to test 

these corrective actions in FY 2011.

II. Fund Balance with Treasury

During the course of our audit, we identified deficiencies in the Fund Balance with Treasury 

(FBWT) reconciliation process that inhibited a full and complete reconciliation of differences 

between the Corporation’s general ledger and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) 

balances. Treasury guidance requires the Corporation to reconcile (at a transaction level) its 

FBWT balance in its general ledger with corresponding balances reported on the GovernmentWide Accounting (GWA) Account Statement issued by Treasury. The reconciliation is required 

for each Treasury account symbol on at least a monthly basis. The FBWT reconciliation is a 

fundamental account reconciliation and an important control used to maintain financial integrity. 

If this reconciliation is not adequately performed, loss, fraud, and irregularities could occur and 

not be promptly detected, and/or financial reports that are inaccurate may be prepared and used 

in decision making. Adequate documentation should be maintained to support all reconciling 

items, and any reconciling differences identified should be researched and resolved in a timely 

manner. Adjustments should only be posted after the causes of the differences have been 

established and documented. During the course of our audit, we noted the following deficiencies 

related to the FBWT reconciliation process:

The GWA ending balance for December 2009, which was reported on the Corporation’s 

FBWT reconciliation, did not agree to the December 2009 ending balance reported on the 

GWA Account Statement, resulting in a difference of $1,331,389.04. The difference was 

the result of errors in the spreadsheet used to calculate the Corporation’s FBWT 

reconciliation.

As of December 31, 2009, the general ledger and Treasury’s records differed by a net 

value of $464,834.56 and an absolute value of $1,276,980.18. The Corporation does not 

identify this difference by individual transactions or reconciling items. Developing a 

transaction-level listing of reconciling items is essential to performing a complete 

reconciliation, clearing differences timely, and obtaining adequate financial transparency 

and accountability. Corporation general ledger account balances were adjusted monthly 

to agree to Treasury balances.

The Corporation’s monthly FBWT reconciliation template and corresponding procedures were 

designed throughout the year to perform the reconciliation by Agency Location Code rather than 

Treasury account symbol, which is required by the Treasury Financial Manual (TFM). The 

reconciliation does not allow the preparer and/or reviewer to view aggregate balances and any 

variances by Treasury account symbol, as indicated by TFM guidance. Additionally, on a 
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The Corporation for National and Community Service

5

monthly basis, differences between GWA and the general ledger remain unreconciled at the 

transaction level. The Corporation has taken action to address these deficiencies and enhance the 

documentation of the process to facilitate a complete and more transparent reconciliation. The 

efforts underway are intended to ensure differences between Treasury and the Corporation’s 

general ledger are reconciled at a transaction level on a monthly basis. The Corporation has also 

taken steps to automate the FBWT reconciliation process in order to improve it. 

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the management of the Corporation, 

the Office of Inspector General, GAO, OMB, and Congress, and is not intended to be and should 

not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.

Alexandria, Virginia

November 15, 2010
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 80

The Corporation for National and Community Service

MEMORANDUM

DATE: November 15, 2010

TO: Ken Bach, Acting Inspector General

FROM: William Anderson, Chief Financial Officer

SUBJECT: Draft Report on the Corporation’s FY 2010 Financial Statements

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the draft report on the results of your audit of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s 

(Corporation) FY 2010 financial statements. I am pleased that we can report that in FY 2010 the Corporation maintained its record of strong 

fiscal stewardship for the American people. The Corporation received an unqualified “clean” opinion on its consolidated financial statements for 

the eleventh consecutive year. We also achieved the distinction of no material weaknesses in internal control for the past ten years. These are 

tremendous accomplishments in light of the challenges, new mandates, and transitions that the Corporation has undertaken over the past two 

years. During FY 2010 the Corporation continued to automate and refine its financial processes to achieve greater efficiencies and future savings in

operations. Some notable efforts undertaken during the year include:

• Successfully carrying out the Corporation’s Recovery Act program and meeting new reporting and accountability requirements. 

• Developing internal structures for Serve America Act implementation—with accountability, responsibility and extensive involvement across the 

Corporation—and implementing competitions for all new funded programs. 

• Publishing a comprehensive Open Government Plan with aggressive milestones for publishing data on the Corporation’s operations. The plan was 

recognized by outside reviewers as third best in the Federal government. 

• Automating the process for submitting the Statement of Transactions (SF-224) to Treasury Through a financial system interface data is now 

directly uploaded to Treasury. 

• Streamlining the Fund Balance with Treasury reconciliation process to allow more timely and accurate reconciliation. No temporary FACTS II 

adjustment was needed at fiscal year end. 

• Automating the financial statement preparation process which includes extensive edit checks to ensure proper consolidation of data. 

1201 New York Avenue, NW • Washington, DC 20525

202-606-5000 • www.nationalservice.org 

Senior Corps • AmeriCorps • Learn and Serve America
Independent Auditor’s Report | Part III 81

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Staff and senior leadership across the agency are committed to sound, accountable, and transparent financial management and our stakeholders 

should have confidence in our efforts to further strengthen financial management practices at the Corporation moving forward.

Although there were no material weaknesses, the audit report did identify two areas of internal control as a significant deficiency. I have 

reviewed both carefully and determined that neither gives rise to a significant risk to the Corporation’s operations. The first issue, regarding 

Information Technology, mostly dealt with staff not providing adequate documentation to the IT auditors. Follow up with IT staff found that most 

of the information requested is available and has been made available to the firm. There were also two instances where the auditors believe 

that an application did not enforce sufficiently strong password authentication. However, since you must first log into the Network using strong 

authentication, it was determined that the risk of not having strong passwords for these two internal applications was low. In any event, the 

Corporation implemented strong passwords in one (Momentum) and is scheduled to do so for the other application (eSPAN) in December. In addition, 

the Corporation added each of the IT findings to the appropriate Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&M) with a vulnerability impact of low, as the 

issues noted are also protected by compensating controls that are in place and working.

The second issue concerned the Corporation’s reconciliation process for Fund Balance with Treasury (FBWT). The Corporation followed a reconciliation 

process at the Agency Location Code (ALC) and Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) level throughout the year. The Treasury Financial Manual specifies that 

the reconciliation is required only at the Treasury Account Symbol level. We exceeded the requirement on a monthly basis. Each month the Corporation 

summarized the reconciliation at the ALC level to facilitate management evaluation of where the discrepancies occurred. The Corporation also 

summarized the FBWT reconciliation at the TAS level for each of our quarterly reporting periods. Documentation supporting the reconciliation and 

adjustments is maintained by the reconciliation team. This information was used to post adjustments to the trial balance on a quarterly basis so 

that our cash position was fairly stated on the quarterly financial statements.

The FBWT reconciliation process used in past years and for the majority of FY 2010 was labor intensive. To reduce the impact on staff and to improve 

the process the Corporation began an initiative in November 2009 to streamline and automate the FBWT reconciliation. Under the automated process 

(implemented prior to year end and in effect as we prepared our annual financial statements) the Corporation can accurately reconcile FBWT within a

day of Treasury making the Government-wide Accounting Program (GWA) cash balances available to agencies. It also allows the Corporation to post 

adjustments as part of our SF-224 submission in the current month. The audit trail for the automated process also makes it much easier for staff to

research and reconcile any variances.

This is a significant enhancement to our research ability as well as necessary preparation for Treasury’s implementation of the Government-wide 

Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS) scheduled for 2013. Once GTAS is implemented there will be no manual SF-224 

submissions. All cash activity will flow directly from trial balance submissions in GTAS. Our new automated process will allow the continued proper 

reporting of funds usage against our appropriations once GTAS is implemented. These efficiencies have put us in a solid position to implement GTAS 

from a cash reporting perspective as well as improving the timing of our reporting while reducing the manual effort required to provide our standard 

high quality reporting.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the financial management professionals throughout the agency for their dedication and hard 

work throughout the past year. Their efforts ensure that we deliver the most accurate, transparent, and useful financial information possible.
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 82

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Other Accompanying Information
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 83

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Donations & Contributions

Under CNCS’ authorizing legislation, donated funds may be accepted 

and used in furtherance of the purposes of the national service laws (42 

USC 12651g (a) (2) (A)). The law allows CNCS to “solicit, accept, hold, 

administer, use, and dispose of, in furtherance of the purpose of the 

national service laws, donations of any money or property, real, personal, 

or mixed, tangible or intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest, 

or otherwise.” The legislation also requires that CNCS report to the 

Congress on the nature and the amount of donations, as well as on how 

they were used and disposed of (in the case of donated property) 

in support of its programs and activities. This report fulfills these 

requirements for FY 2010.

CNCS also utilizes Pay.gov, a Treasury program that allows federal 

agencies to conduct transactions online. Under the Pay.gov program, 

CNCS collects donations by credit card or direct debit from donors. Pay.

gov facilitates the process of collecting gift funds from donors online 

through a secure website with real-time identification verification 

and provides the reporting necessary for processing transactions. The 

following schedules show the Gift Fund balances available to fund 

authorized activities as well as the receipts and expenses paid from the 

Gift Fund in FY 2010 and FY 2009, respectively.

Status of Gift Fund Balance at September 30, 2010

Donor With Treasury Commitments Funds Available

 

A&E Television Networks $ 3,142 $ (600) $ 2,542

Best Buy 1,977 (855) 1,122

Bradley Foundation 2,030 (2,030) -

CVS 7,500 - 7,500

Home Depot 158,606 - 158,606

Land ‘O Lakes 2,814 (717) 2,097

Ralph Lauren Polo Foundation 55,493 (311) 55,182

State Farm Insurance Co. 11 - 11

UPS Foundation 2,026 - 2,026

Walt Disney Company 60,521 - 60,521

Kellogg Foundation 57,041 (26,415) 30,626

Disaster Relief Fund 15,734 (2,962) 12,772

Motorola Foundation 427 (427) -

Shell Oil Co. 76,091 (72,711) 3,380

Microsoft 84,130 (25,185) 58,945

Target 1,127 (6,814) (5,687)

American Express 25,000 - 25,000

IBEW Union 2,287 (754) 1,533

Miscellaneous Check Donations 10,090 (8,458) 1,632

Miscellaneous Electronic Donations 51,756 (1,431) 50,325

Total $ 617,803 $ (149,670) $ 468,133
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 84

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Supplemental Information on the Source and Usei Of Donations

2010 2009

Donor Use of Funds Received Used Received Used

A&E Television Networks Support for summit on History, Civics, $ - $ - $ - $ 1,658

and Service 

Best Buy Grants for the Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Day of Service - 2,703 - 5,000

 

Ralph Lauren Polo Support for NCCC program activities - 1,285 - 2,721

Foundation

 

State Farm Insurance Co. Learn and Serve America 15th - - 119,209 118,304

anniversary conference 

Walt Disney Company Corporation projects in support of USA - - - 107

FreedomCorps

 

Shell Oil Co. Support for the Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Day of Service - 21,483 25,000 8,394

 

Kellogg Foundation AmeriCorps volunteer mobilization - 321,283 - 16,143

 

IBEW Union CNCS Board of Directors Support - 2,820 5,000 490

Motorola Foundation National Conference 50,000 49,573 15,000 15,000

Microsoft Student Driven Virtual Help Desk 238,000 252,185 152,000 60,000

Target Summer of Service - 19,708 94,212 67,062

 

Citi Corp Foundation United We Serve/Cities of Service 50,000 50,000 - -

 

American Express United We Serve 25,000 - - -

 

Small Individual Donations Restricted to

Disaster Relief 1,122 - 4,290 150

Senior Corps 44 - 231 -

AmeriCorps (Miscellaneous) 1,070 - 2,387 -

AmeriCorps*NCCC 250 1,810 31,925 4,340

Learn and Serve America 10,150 - - 7,474

AmeriCorps* VISTA 350 - 230 -

Service-Learning Toolkit Promotion - 690 230 -

General/Miscellaneous Support 2,074 2,000 3 5,923

Total $ 378,060 $ 725,540 $ 449,717 $ 312,766

i Funds reported as used during the fiscal year in the schedule may be from amounts donated in a previous year(s). In addition, the expenses above only include the amount 

accrued during the fiscal year and do not reflect amounts that have been obligated but not yet expensed.
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 85

The Corporation for National and Community Service

National Service Trust Fund 

Status Report—September 

2010

The National Service Trust Fund (the Trust) was established by the 

National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (42 USC 12601, 

et seq.) to provide funds for Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards for 

eligible participants who complete AmeriCorps service. Funding for 

the Trust comes from appropriations, interest earned, and proceeds 

from the sale or redemption of Trust investments. The Trust is also 

authorized to receive gifts or bequests; however, to date, no donations 

have been received by the Trust. Under the Act, funds are available to 

repay qualified student loans; pay educational expenses at qualified 

educational institutions; and repay eligible interest expense on student 

loans.

The value of an education award depends on the term of service 

performed by an AmeriCorps member. For Program Year 2010 completion 

of a full-time term of service, requiring a minimum of 1,700 hours 

of service, entitles an AmeriCorps member to an education award of 

$5,350. Completion of a part-time term, requiring a minimum of 900 

hours of service, entitles an AmeriCorps member to an education award 

of $2,675. Reduced part-time terms, which provide awards of $500 to 

$2,038, are also offered. The education award is indexed to Pell grants, 

therefore these amounts could change each year.

Education awards earned by AmeriCorps members are generally 

available to be used for seven years from the completion of the service. 

Payments are made directly to the educational institutions and the loan 

holders as directed by the members and by the institutions. Trust funds 

are not used to pay member stipends or other grant costs. Beginning 

in Program Year 2010, members who are 55 or older when they begin 

service may also transfer the education award to a qualified child or 

grandchild.

Table 1 shows the planned activity for the current Program Year and 

actual enrollments to date against the plan. The table also includes 

similar data on the prior Program Year for comparative purposes. 

Member positions (slots) classified as “Certified Not Awarded” have 

been approved by CNCS’ Chief Executive Officer for award to grantees 

for which the final grant award has not been executed. For budgetary 

purposes these positions are considered commitments in the Trust Fund.

The 90,299 planned Trust positions for Program Year 2010 do not include 

an estimated 1,883 AmeriCorps VISTA members (1,578 full-time and 305 

Summer Associates) who will elect an end-of-service stipend instead 

of an education award and 100 summer NCCC members who do not 

receive an education award. Total planned enrollment for Program Year 

2010, including VISTA members electing a stipend and summer NCCC 

members, is 92,282. Of the 5,838 VISTA member positions in the Trust 

for 2010, 1,107 positions are for Summer Associates who receive a Trust 

award of $1,132.

Table 1. Member Position Award Activity 

Program Year 2010 Program Year 2009

Awarded Awarded

 Certified Planned Certified Planned 

Not Not Not Not Not Not 

AmeriCorps Program Enrolled Enrolled Awarded Certified Total Enrolled Enrolled Awarded Certified Total

State and National 29,858 49,408 – – 79,266 62,879 2,510 – – 65,389

VISTA 5,838 – – – 5,838 5,083 – – – 5,083

NCCC 1,195 – – – 1,195 1,066 – – – 1,066

Summer of Service 954 3,046 – – 4,000 n/a – – – n/a

Total 37,845 52,454 – – 90,299 69,028 2,510 – – 71,538
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 86

The Corporation for National and Community Service

The 71,538 Trust positions for Program Year 2009 do not include 

2,164 AmeriCorps VISTA members (1,882 full-time and 282 Summer 

Associates) who elected an end-of-service stipend instead of an 

education award and 75 summer NCCC members who did not receive 

an education award. Total planned enrollment for Program Year 2009, 

including VISTA members electing a stipend and summer NCCC 

members, is 73,777. Of the 5,083 VISTA Trust positions, 1,193 are for 

Summer Associates who receive a Trust award of $1,000. Program 

Year 2009 slots have been adjusted to reflect slot corrections and 

reconfigurations by grantees.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

CNCS received funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) to put AmeriCorps State and National and 

AmeriCorps VISTA members to work through national service, meeting 

the needs of vulnerable populations and communities during the current 

economic recession. The Trust received $40 million dollars to fund 

education award and interest forbearance payments for members serving 

in these Recovery Act positions. Table 2 shows the planned Recovery Act 

Trust positions and actual enrollments to date against the plan.

Table 2. Member Position Award Activity—American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Awarded

 Certified Planned

Not Not Not

AmeriCorps Program Enrolled Enrolled Awarded Certified Total

AmeriCorps State and National 10,296 161 – – 10,457

Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) 3,552 – – – 3,552

Total Recovery Act Positions 13,848 161 – – 14,009

Chart 1. Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards Earned and Used by Program Year

$0 

$20,000,000 

$40,000,000 

$60,000,000 

$80,000,000 

$100,000,000 

$120,000,000 

$140,000,000 

$160,000,000 

$180,000,000 

$200,000,000 

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Recovery

Act 

2010 

Awards Earned to Date

Awards Used to Date
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 87

The Corporation for National and Community Service

The 14,009 Recovery Act Trust positions do not include 2,359 AmeriCorps 

VISTA members (2,040 full-time and 319 Summer Associates) electing 

an end-of-service stipend instead of an education award. Total planned 

enrollment for Recovery Act funding, including VISTA members electing 

a stipend, is 16,368.6 Recovery Act members are projected to enroll 

between April 2009 (initial VISTA Recovery Act enrollments) and January 

2011 (State and National enrollments). Recovery Act slots have been 

adjusted to reflect slot corrections and reconfigurations by grantees.

Trust Awards

Since CNCS’ inception in 1994, AmeriCorps members have earned more 

than $1.96 billion in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards and used 

more than $1.34 billion to fund their education and repay student loans. 

In addition, CNCS has made $47.86 million in interest forbearance 

payments. Approximately $198.23 million in education awards earned 

have expired without being used as of September 30, 2010. The Trust 

obligation formula has been adjusted to reflect these expired awards.

Not reflected in the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award balances are 

payments for President’s Freedom Scholarships to high school students. 

CNCS no longer awards these $500 scholarships from the National 

Service Trust earned by high school students. Under this program a 

Trust scholarship was matched with $500 from a local sponsor for a 

total of $1,000 to help the student fund a college education. Although 

the program was discontinued in fiscal 2006, students have up to seven 

years to use their scholarship; therefore some payments will continue to 

be made over the next several years. President’s Freedom Scholarships 

payments to date have totaled $21.64 million.

Refilled Positions

CNCS implemented a limited policy allowing grantees to refill positions 

vacated before a member served more than 15 percent of his or her 

service term. In May 2007, this policy was expanded to include positions 

vacated within 30 percent of service term completion provided that 

the departing member had not earned a pro-rated education award. 

To prevent over enrollment, the policy includes “fail safe” triggers 

that restrict the overall number of refills to no more than 5 percent of 

awarded positions and suspends refilling altogether if total AmeriCorps 

enrollment reaches 97 percent of awarded positions. Table 3 provides 

information on the number of positions refilled. Recovery Act positions 

and positions in Program Years 2008 can no longer be refilled.

Trust Accounting

The Schedule of Financial Position (Table 4) and the Schedule of 

Operations (Table 5) present information on the assets, liabilities, 

revenue, and expenses of the Trust Fund using Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles (GAAP), which is the method of accounting for the 

liability used for financial statement purposes. Discrete information on 

the Trust activity related to Recovery Act funds and general funds, as 

well as on a consolidated basis, is provided.

GAAP requires the recording of a liability, which is a point in time 

estimate, for the unpaid earned and expected-to-be-earned education 

award and interest forbearance costs that are likely to be claimed. GAAP 

estimates are for members who have already completed at least 15 

percent of the minimum service requirement and who, therefore, have 

served enough hours to qualify for at least a partial education award.

Table 3. Number of Refilled Positions

Program Year

Program Program Program Program Program

Year Year Year Year Recovery Year Fail-safe

2006 2007 2008 2009 Act 2010 Trigger

Number of Refilled Positions 1,099 1,441 1,437 1,356 328 42 N/A

Refills as a Percent of Awarded State and

National Positions 1.64% 2.16% 2.17% 2.07% 3.14% 0.05% 5%

State and National Enrollment as a Percentage

of Awarded State and National Positions 94.60% 92.41% 97.01% 96.16% 98.46% 0.20% 97%
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 88

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 4. Corporation for National and Community Service 

National Service Trust Schedule of Net Position as of September 30, 2010

Recovery Act General Fund Consolidated

Assets

Fund Balance with Treasury $ 54 $ 240,957 $ 241,011

Investments, Net 31,015,226 532,438,245 563,453,471

Interest Receivable 767 1,740,782 1,741,549

Accounts Receivable - 213,578 213,578

Subtotal $ 31,016,047 $ 534,633,562 $ 565,649,609

Liabilities

Service Award Liability $ 25,596,621 $ 354,281,986 $ 379,878,607

Net Position

Cumulative Results of Operations 5,419,426 180,351,576 185,771,002

Total Liabilities and Net Position $ 31,016,047 $ 534,633,562 $ 565,649,609

The estimate of the Service Award Liability under GAAP includes factors 

for members who enroll but do not earn an award, and for members who 

earn an award but do not use it within the period of availability. CNCS 

estimates that up to 84.4 percent of members earning an award will 

eventually use it. Because certain accruals used to prepare the Schedule 

of Financial Position and the Schedule of Operations and Changes in 

Net Position are only available on a quarterly basis, the monthly report 

presents information for the most recently completed quarter.

Table 6 shows the most significant factors used to calculate Trust 

obligations on a historical basis. It is important to note that Program 

Year refers to positions awarded with (although not necessarily filled in) 

a particular fiscal year’s grant funds. For example, a grantee may receive 

a grant in fiscal year 2009 but not fill all positions until fiscal 2010. All 

positions related to this grant would be considered Program Year 2009 

positions irrespective of the year filled.

The Program Year data used throughout these tables reflects all 

enrollments recorded through the month of the report. Prior year 

enrollment numbers may change slightly from time to time due to 

corrections or late reporting by grantees. The percentage of members 

earning an award in Table 6 is calculated by taking the number of 

members earning an award divided by the total members enrolled, net 

of members still earning. For example, in Program Year 2009 there are 

69,028 members enrolled in the Trust, of which 15,396 are reported 

as still earning an award, and 45,892 as having earned an award. 

Therefore the percentage of members who earned an education award is 

calculated by dividing 45,892 by 53,632, which is 85.5 percent 

[69,028 - 15,396 = 53,632].

The percentage of members using an award is calculated by taking the 

dollar amount of education awards used divided by the total amount 

earned for the Program Year to date. Term type is based on Program 

Year enrollments to date. The enrollment and award usage data used to 

compute these factors can be found in Table 9, at the end of this report.

Tables 7 and 8 present information on the budgetary resources and 

obligations of the Trust, including the Trust Reserve. The Schedule of 

Obligations and Schedule of Budgetary Resources presents information 

on a budgetary basis, which represents the accounting used to 

determine adherence to the Anti-Deficiency Act. CNCS records Trust 

obligations at the time it awards AmeriCorps State and National grants 

or at the time it enters into an enforceable agreement with AmeriCorps 

VISTA and NCCC members.
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 89

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 5. Corporation for National and Community Service 

National Service Trust Schedule of Operations through the Quarter Ended 

September 30, 2010

Recovery Act General Fund Consolidated

Revenues

Appropriations $ - $ 197,000,000 $ 197,000,000

Transfer in of Program Funds - 2,659,265 2,659,265

Interest 101,013 7,186,737 7,287,750

Other Revenue - 154,560 154,560

Total Revenues $ 101,013 $ 207,000,562 $ 207,101,575

Expenses 

Service Award Expense $ 28,276,353 $ 189,491,056 $ 217,767,409

(Write off)/Recovery of Receivables - 135,915 135,915

Total Expenses 28,276,353 189,626,971 217,903,324

Excess of Revenues Over Expenses $ (28,175,340) $ 17,373,591 $ (10,801,749)

Net Position 

Excess of Revenues Over Expenses $ (28,175,340) $ 17,373,591 $ (10,801,749)

Net Position, Beginning of Year 33,594,766 162,977,985 196,572,751

Net Position, End of Period $ 5,419,426 $ 180,351,576 $ 185,771,002

Table 6. Factors Affecting the National Service Trust Fund

Program Year

 Recovery

2006 2007 2008 2009 Act 2010

Member enrollments in the Trust 69,263 67,981 70,076 69,028 13,848 37,845

Percent of members who earned an education award 78.6% 81.1% 83.7% 85.6% 82.9% 19.6%

Percent of earned education awards used 67.4% 65.2% 54.4% 30.3% 23.4% 0%

Weighted average maturity for investments 3% 2.5% 2.4% 2.0% .25% 1.25%

Breakout of enrollment by term type:

Full-time 44% 45% 46% 45% 57% 77%

Part-time 17% 15% 15% 14% 12% 9%

Reduced Part-time 39% 40% 39% 41% 31% 14%
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 90

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 7. Corporation for National and Community Service 

National Service Trust Schedule of Budgetary Activity for the Period Ended 

September 30, 2010

Resources Recovery Act General Fund Consolidated

Funds Available at October 1 $ 3,727,840 $ 9,147,211 $ 12,875,051

Budgetary Resources 

Fiscal Year Appropriation $ - $ 197,000,000 $ 197,000,000

Transfers in of Program Funds - 2,659,265 2,659,265

Deobligation Prior Year Positions (net) - 8,388,347 8,388,347

Collection of Audit Receivables 154,560 154,560

Less: Additions to Trust Reserve - - -

Total Budgetary Resources $ 3,727,840 $ 217,349,383 $ 221,077,223

Obligations 

Education Awards $ (1,664,927) $(199,724,597) $(201,389,524)

Interest Forbearance (180,758) (7,634,620) (7,815,378)

Total Obligations $ (1,845,685) $(207,359,217) $(209,204,902)

Net Change in Commitments 

Education Awards $ - $ - $ -

Interest Forbearance - - -

Net Change in Commitments - - -

Funds Available for Obligation $ 1,882,155 $ 9,990,166 $ 11,872,321

The amounts obligated in the Trust are based on the estimated value of 

the education benefit, discounted for the estimated enrollment, earning 

and usage rate, and the time value of money. For fiscal 2010, these 

factors are the full value of the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, a 

100 percent enrollment rate (allowing for refills), an average earning 

rate of 84 percent (ranges from 77 to 86 percent depending on term 

type), and an average usage rate of 86 percent (under the Serve America 

Act awards earned by members over age 55 can be transferred to an 

eligible beneficiary; we are projecting that all transferable awards will 

eventually be used). For program years 2002 and prior, CNCS used the 

actual amounts earned, adjusted for amounts used and the time value 

of money when establishing the obligation. Estimates for program years 

2003 and forward are periodically adjusted to reflect current usage 

projections.

A portion of the funds in the Trust are held in reserve and are for use 

only in the event that the estimates used to calculate obligations differ 

from actual results. The reserve currently totals $46.7 million for the 

General Fund and $3.5 million for the Recovery Act Fund. To date, no 

reserve funds have been used.
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 91

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 8. Corporation for National and Community Service 

National Service Trust Schedule of Trust Obligations as of September 30, 2010

Resources Recovery Act General Fund Consolidated

Fund Balance with Treasury $ 54 $ 240,957 $ 241,011

Investments, Net 31,015,226 532,438,245 563,453,471

Interest Receivable 767 1,740,782 1,741,549

Accounts Receivable - 213,578 213,578

Subtotal $ 31,016,047 $ 534,633,562 $ 565,649,609

Less:

Cumulative Trust Reserve (3,500,000) (46,697,000) (50,197,000)

Receivables Not Available for Obligation (37,270) (4,733,639) (4,770,909)

Total Resources $ 27,478,777 $ 483,202,923 $ 510,681,700

Unliquidated Obligations

Education Awards $ (24,934,907) $ (456,148,770) $ (481,083,677)

Interest Forbearance (661,715) (16,181,487) (16,843,202)

President’s Freedom Scholarships - (882,500) (882,500)

Total Unliquidated Obligations $ (25,596,622) $ (473,212,757) $ (498,809,379)

Commitments 

Education Awards $ - $ - $ -

Interest Forbearance - - -

Total Commitments - - -

Funds Available for Obligation $ 1,882,155 $ 9,990,166 $ 11,872,321
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 92

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Enrollment Activity

Table 9 presents the cumulative activity to date on Trust enrollments, education awards earned and used for Program Years 1994 through 2010 as 

well as Recovery Act positions.

Table 9. Trust Enrollment Activity—Program Years 1994 through 2010

Members

Program Members Earning or Earned an

Year Type Enrolled Not Exited Award Did Not Earn Amount Earned Amount Used

Full-time 15,331 0 11,463 3,868 $ 48,266,389.19 $ 35,310,580.59

1994 Part-time 6,264 0 4,172 2,092 8,988,028.17 6,694,416.79

Reduced Part-time 2,814 0 2,432 382 2,467,981.29 1,752,755.29

Total 24,409 0 18,067 6,342 $ 59,722,398.65 $ 43,757,752.67

Full-time 17,551 0 13,563 3,988 $ 61,095,280.87 $ 46,177,901.17

1995 Part-time 6,850 0 4,362 2,488 9,551,027.13 6,944,709.87

Reduced Part-time 577 0 493 84 481,481.98 349,740.58

Total 24,978 0 18,418 6,560 $ 71,127,789.98 $ 53,472,351.62

Full-time 17,634 0 13,319 4,315 $ 60,762,700.91 $ 47,451,146.25

1996 Part-time 6,942 0 4,467 2,475 10,085,197.90 7,157,223.16

Reduced Part-time 593 0 505 88 499,514.66 394,179.93

Total 25,169 0 18,291 6,878 $ 71,347,413.47 $ 55,002,549.34

Full-time 23,259 0 17,294 5,965 $ 79,318,854.34 $ 62,491,005.11

1997 Part-time 12,832 0 7,083 5,749 15,939,868.60 11,716,294.60

Reduced Part-time 3,677 0 2,975 702 2,904,130.87 2,315,198.17

Total 39,768 0 27,352 12,416 $ 98,162,853.81 $ 76,522,497.88

Full-time 24,749 0 17,903 6,846 $ 82,264,571.93 $ 65,317,004.14

1998 Part-time 11,156 0 6,208 4,948 14,031,027.14 10,222,193.59

Reduced Part-time 5,101 0 3,829 1,272 3,799,775.12 3,002,711.80

Total 41,006 0 27,940 13,066 $ 100,095,374.19 $ 78,541,909.53

Full-time 23,294 0 17,016 6,278 $ 78,324,396.27 $ 62,148,465.23

1999 Part-time 11,333 0 6,915 4,418 15,636,042.42 11,226,489.84

Reduced Part-time 7,260 0 5,862 1,398 6,095,874.28 4,841,701.83

Total 41,887 0 29,793 12,094 $ 100,056,312.97 $ 78,216,656.90

Full-time 26,203 0 19,082 7,121 $ 87,921,306.62 $ 69,518,456.25

2000 Part-time 13,213 0 8,453 4,760 19,404,182.70 13,689,493.32

Reduced Part-time 13,619 0 10,272 3,347 10,645,579.77 8,519,805.64

Total 53,035 0 37,807 15,228 $ 117,971,069.09 $ 91,727,755.21

Full-time 29,455 0 22,600 6,855 $ 104,409,272.45 $ 82,598,100.94

2001 Part-time 13,834 0 8,884 4,950 20,165,005.40 13,830,758.86

Reduced Part-time 15,827 0 12,470 3,357 12,967,902.89 9,909,856.75

Total 59,116 0 43,954 15,162 $ 137,542,180.74 $ 106,338,716.55

Full-time 28,139 0 23,172 4,967 $ 107,730,673.73 $ 87,026,302.68

2002 Part-time 9,427 0 6,478 2,949 14,859,278.64 10,178,296.48

Reduced Part-time 10,842 0 8,118 2,724 9,300,854.33 7,249,538.18

Total 48,408 0 37,768 10,640 $ 131,890,806.70 $ 104,454,137.34
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 93

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Table 9. Trust Enrollment Activity—Program Years 1994 through 2010 (continued)

Members

Program Members Earning or Earned an

Year Type Enrolled Not Exited Award Did Not Earn Amount Earned Amount Used

Full-time 18,319 0 15,236 3,083 $ 70,063,810.06 $ 53,418,139.80

2003 Part-time 9,424 0 7,063 2,361 16,283,881.70 11,020,235.35

Reduced Part-time 13,272 0 10,590 2,682 12,084,613.06 8,999,556.03

Total 41,015 0 32,889 8,126 $ 98,432,304.82 $ 73,437,931.18

Full-time 29,043 0 24,365 4,678 $ 113,193,761.73 $ 87,777,941.46

2004 Part-time 10,833 0 7,614 3,219 17,514,510.62 11,507,439.58

Reduced Part-time 22,779 0 17,992 4,787 20,763,252.88 15,402,028.87

Total 62,655 0 49,971 12,684 $ 151,471,525.23 $ 114,687,409.91

Full-time 28,303 0 23,083 5,220 $ 107,099,256.89 $ 78,375,757.05

2005 Part-time 11,132 0 7,809 3,323 17,968,525.35 11,616,353.69

Reduced Part-time 23,365 14 18,084 5,267 20,338,612.06 14,404,292.56

Total 62,800 14 48,976 13,810 $ 145,406,394.30 $ 104,396,403.30

Full-time 30,388 42 25,132 5,214 $ 116,815,968.57 $ 79,639,796.83

2006 Part-time 11,620 88 8,190 3,342 18,915,625.09 11,478,766.33

Reduced Part-time 27,255 12 20,997 6,246 23,828,981.63 16,382,585.32

Total 69,263 142 54,319 14,802 $ 159,560,575.29 $ 107,501,148.48

Full-time 30,905 77 26,138 4,690 $ 121,775,315.00 $ 80,890,107.64

2007 Part-time 10,135 358 7,245 2,532 16,745,568.91 9,466,052.40

Reduced Part-time 26,941 82 21,354 5,505 24,296,700.61 15,792,458.46

Total 67,981 517 54,737 12,727 $ 162,817,584.52 $ 106,148,618.50

Full-time 32,381 195 28,070 4,116 $ 131,209,689.70 $ 72,171,535.38

2008 Part-time 10,674 1,053 7,532 2,089 17,477,382.64 8,040,176.67

Reduced Part-time 27,021 299 21,755 4,967 24,867,872.28 14,157,832.34

Total 70,076 1,547 57,357 11,172 $ 173,554,944.62 $ 94,369,544.39

Full-time 30,973 4,138 23,555 3,280 $ 110,026,126.50 $ 33,147,854.92

2009 Part-time 9,677 4,011 4,339 1,327 10,017,005.59 2,099,355.36

Reduced Part-time 28,378 7,247 17,998 3,133 20,277,008.29 7,290,525.76

Total 69,028 15,396 45,892 7,740 $ 140,320,140.38 $ 42,537,736.04

Recovery Full-time 7,901 420 6270 1211 $ 29,211,473.79 $ 6,442,317.45

Act Part-time 1,659 186 1081 392 2,490,854.64 579,604.10

Reduced Part-time 4,288 256 3,410 622 3,971,675.35 1,334,035.07

Total 13,848 862 10,761 2,225 $ 35,674,003.78 $ 8,355,956.62

Full-time 27,764 26,468 717 580 $ 3,667,951.56 $ 669,464.76

2010 Part-time 3,133 3,093 1 39 2,362.50 0.00

Reduced Part-time 6,948 4,817 2,071 60 1,741,271.49 401,354.06

Total 37,845 34,378 2,789 679 $ 5,411,585.55 $ 1,070,818.82

Cumulative to Date 852,287 52,856 617,081 182,351 $ 1,960,565,258.09 $ 1,340,539,894.28
Other Accompanying Information | PART IV 94

The Corporation for National and Community Service

Improper Payments

The Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA—P.L. 107-300) requires 

federal agencies to identify and report on significant payment programs 

that are susceptible to improper payments. The Act defines significant 

improper payments as those within a single payment program that 

exceed both 2.5 percent of that program’s annual amounts paid and 

$10 million annually. CNCS reviewed its operations identifying 12 

payment programs, and assessed each to determine which, if any, were 

susceptible to significant improper payments. Only seven of the 12 

programs make total annual payments that exceed $10 million. For any 

of these seven payment programs, a preliminary error rate exceeding 

2.5 percent and an estimated improper payment amount of $10 million 

would have to be subsequently confirmed through a statistical sampling 

process to designate a payment program as susceptible to significant 

improper payments.

The two largest Corporation payment programs are the Domestic 

Volunteer Service Act; and National and Community Service Act grant 

programs. Together the annual payments for these programs account 

for about 62 percent of all Corporation payment amounts. As grant 

programs, these payments are administered by the Department of 

Health and Human Services’ Payment Management System. There 

are numerous internal and external controls making improper grant 

program payments highly unlikely. For example, awards go through 

many levels of review and approval before obligations are created and 

transmitted to the Payment Management System. These payments are 

all requested by authorized grantees, and then they are validated and 

disbursed by Health and Human Services. Moreover, the receipt and use 

of grant funds by grantees are monitored by CNCS and in many cases 

are subject to independent audits under the Single Audit Act and OMB 

Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit 

Organizations.

Based on the results of the FY 2010 IPIA review, there were no significant 

payment programs susceptible to improper payments. However, even 

though CNCS concluded its programs are not susceptible to improper 

payments as defined under the Act, most non-grant payments are 

reviewed as part of the OMB Circular A-123 Internal Control Assessment 

and Testing Program discussed above.

Going forward, the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 

2010 (IPERA) amends the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 to 

expand requirements for identifying programs and activities susceptible 

to improper payments. IPERA defines significant as any single payment 

program where improper payments may have exceeded $10 million and 

2.5 percent of all outlays from that program in the preceding year. CNCS 

has initiated a project assisted by a major public accounting firm that 

has a great deal of experience in assessing, remediating, reporting, 

and recovering improper payments at federal agencies. That project is 

designed to:

• Evaluate critical processes for all payment programs; 

• Analyze risk conditions and perform risk assessment of all payment 

programs; 

• Identify the two highest risk programs and perform random testing of 

payments in those programs;

• Estimate the error rate and improper payment amount for those 

programs; 

• Determine the need for remedial and recovery actions based on the 

test results; and 

• Prepare a plan for fiscal 2011 financial statement reporting 

compliance with IPERA.