Commission Support Grants

Grantee Progress Report Instructions

How will the Corporation use the information reported?

The Commission Support Grants Grantee Progress Report (GPR) provides information for CNCS staff to 

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

information provided in your Grantee Progress Report may be used by CNCS’s Office of Public Affairs to 

promote service. Program staff will use the information you provide to identify trends and issues that 

may lead to changes in policies and procedures, allocation of training and technical assistance, or 

opportunities for peer learning. 

What are the components of the GPR?

The Commission Support Grants Grantee Progress Report consists of the following sections: 

Demographic Information, Performance Measures, and Narratives. 

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

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

When is the GPR due?

The GPR is due on January 31, 2015. 

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

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

1. The report cannot be finished in a timely manner for reasons legitimately beyond the control 

of the grantee, and

2. CNCS receives a request explaining the need for an extension before the due date of the 

report.

Selecting the Right GPR

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

 
You will see a list of possible progress reports for each of your existing grants. Find the grant number 

which includes the 2014 grant year, and expand the list by clicking on the orange arrow key to the right 

of the grant number. 

Find the progress report with the 1/31/15 due date, and click on the “edit” link. You will be taken to the 

main progress report screen. (Note: The screen shot below is showing an incorrect due date of 

10/31/2013.)

Reporting Period

The reporting period is from July 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014. In future years, this progress 

report is cumulative for the year (but not the entire three-year grant period). Even if the reporting 

period listed in eGrants shows just the time period since the mid-year report, the January report should 

include the information for the full program year through December 31, not just for the period since the 

mid-year report.
General Information Tab

On this tab, you will see information for the progress report you have selected. Check the reporting 

period start and end dates, as well as the due date, to ensure you have selected the correct report. If 

you have not selected the correct report for the reporting period and due date, click the “Cancel” button 

and select the correct report. If you have selected the correct report, click the “Begin” button to open 

the progress report. If you return to this tab after starting the report, you will see a “Continue Working” 

button that allows you to open the report that is in progress.

Open amendments interfere with the accuracy of the progress report. If there is an open amendment 

on your grant and you click the “Begin” button, you will see a warning message. If you receive this error 

message, you should talk with your Program Officer to ensure resolution of the amendment so that you 

can submit your GPR on time.

A summary table at the bottom of this tab allows you to see all past reports associated with your grant 

and to view or print a PDF version of these reports.
Demographics Tab

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

 Number of episodic volunteers recruited, trained, or coordinated by the commission

 Number of ongoing volunteers recruited, trained, or coordinated by the commission

 Number of disasters to which the commission responded

 Number of individuals receiving assistance from commission during a disaster

Enter a numerical value in each field; do not enter decimals or punctuation. Ensure that counts are not 

duplicated and only represent the direct efforts of the commission (not the work of subgrantees). If you 

do not collect data on an indicator, enter a zero (0) in that field. The progress report cannot be 

submitted unless there is a numerical value, including zero, entered in every field on this tab. 

If you wish to provide an explanation about the data you have entered on this tab, clicking on the 

“Grantee Narrative” bar will open a text box for this purpose. This is not required.

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

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

performance measure. Use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the page to see the chart in its 

entirety.

For each output and outcome, enter a numerical value documenting progress toward the target. Round 

any decimals to the nearest whole number. When you have entered all data for one performance 

measure, check the “Done with Section” box. This will cause a green checkmark to appear on the 

accordion panel when it is collapsed signaling that you are done entering data in this panel. 

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

of the page. This will enable eGrants to calculate the numerical difference and the percent difference 

between each performance measure target and actual. In each performance measure panel, these 

values will appear in the “Diff” and “% of Difference” columns. A “yes” or “no” will appear in the “Met 

Target” column.

An explanation is required for any output or outcome target that was not met. To enter an explanation, 

click on the “Enter Explanation” button in the “Explanation/Corrective Action” column. Clicking this 

button opens a text box. Enter an explanation and corrective action plan in the text box. If this 

explanation applies to other unmet targets for the measure (e.g., an output and outcome were unmet 

for the same reason), clicking the “Copy” button will automatically copy the explanation to the other 

outputs and outcomes in the measure. If you wish to provide a different explanation for other outputs 

or outcomes in the measure, enter those explanations by clicking on the “Enter Explanation” button for 

those outputs or outcomes.
If activities associated with the performance measure are still ongoing, make a note of this in the 

“Explanation/Corrective Action” column. Do this even if performance measure targets were met.

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

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.

Narratives Tab

Click on the accordion panels to enter narratives. When accordion panels are closed, green check marks 

indicate that text has been entered in the text box. Text must be entered in every narrative field before 

submitting the GPR. For fields that are not required, if not providing narrative, enter “NA” in the text 

box.

Provide the following narratives:

Summary of Results and Accomplishments (Required): Provide a brief summary, utilizing the below 

format, that will give a snapshot of the commission’s accomplishments during the year. 

AmeriCorps Grant Outreach and Selection (Required): Describe the results of your outreach to 

organizations interested in operating an AmeriCorps program. Describe the results of your risk 

assessment and pre-award review processes for AmeriCorps applicants during the reporting period.

Compliance and Performance (Required): Describe how the commission met outcomes/results outlined 

in its State Service Plan and logic model. Describe any factors or trends that positively or negatively 

affected the commission’s performance. In addition, if you did not fully utilize the awarded funds, or 

needed to make significant changes to your budget, please provide an explanation. How did you 

prevent, detect, and (if applicable) enforce compliance issues within the commission and among your 

subgrantees?
Collaboration and Sustainability (Required): Describe the outcomes of ongoing efforts or special 

initiatives that involved convening and/or collaborating with the CNCS state offices, multi-state 

AmeriCorps programs, AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps NCCC, Senior Corps, State Education Agencies, 

state networks of volunteer centers, and/or other volunteer service organizations within the state. 

Describe any community and private sector resources you leveraged in support of the goals identified in 

your State Service Plan. Please describe the progress made towards your commission succession plan 

and continuity of operations. 

Click “Next” to go to the next tab.

Summary Tab

This tab provides a summary of the data entered in previous tabs. 

From this tab, you can view or print all text and data entered into the GPR by clicking “Print Overall GPR 

Summary.” 

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

Submitting the GPR

When all data has been entered into the progress report, go to the Summary Tab and click the “Grantee 

– Submit to CNCS” button.
REVIEWING FEEDBACK AND RESPONDING TO CLARIFICATION ITEMS IN THE GPR

For each tab where data is entered, the CNCS Program Officer reviews data and determines whether 

clarification is necessary. If no clarification is required, the Program Officer closes out the GPR. If 

clarification is required, the Program Officer checks the “Clarification Required” box on each tab that 

requires clarification and returns the GPR for rework.

The following text fields for feedback and clarification appear on all tabs where data is entered:

 Program Officer Feedback – May contain feedback from the CNCS Program Officer. Grantees 

are not required to provide clarification regarding this feedback.

 Program Officer Clarification Items – Contains clarification items from the CNCS Program Officer. 

Grantees are required to respond to these clarification items.

 Grantee Clarification Items – Grantees use this text field to enter their responses to the 

clarification items that appear in the Program Officer Clarification Items field.

Charts on the Performance Measures tab also contain clarification columns to signal specific items on 

the chart that require clarification. Instructions for entering these explanations were outlined in 

previous sections of these instructions.

After responding to all clarification items, the grantee returns the report to CNCS by clicking the 
“Grantee – Submit to CNCS” button on the summary tab.

If the progress report does not require clarification or all clarification items have been satisfactorily 

addressed, the CNCS Program Officer will set the GPR status to “Reviewed.” The grantee will receive 

email notification and will be able to review all feedback provided in the progress report when the 

report is in reviewed status.