e-Grants and your 2013-14 AmeriCorps State application

Office on Volunteerism and Community ServiceFebruary 7, 2013e-Grants and your 2013-14 AmeriCorps State applicationPrior to Creating an ApplicationCreate an e-Grants Account

If your organization has a Grantee Administrator for e-Grants, they must give you the necessary access level2Info that you will need shows on the left

You will need to have your EIN#, along with your general organizational information3Get a DUNS Number, Register for SAMApply for DUNS number

Register for SAM

You will need to provide a number from the Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System with your application, which can be obtained for free (website hyperlinked)After receiving a DUNS number, you can also register with the System for Award Management (also hyperlinked)4Creating an Application in e-GrantsAfter you have created account and logged in.Select New

Under Program Area, select AmeriCorps, and then Go

Select Commission AmeriCorps State FY 2013You will need to select a NOFA. Select Commisssion AmeriCorps State FY 2013, and choose next.8

Choose a State:Virginia Select Prime Application ID 13AC147464Next

Provide all required Applicant Information (indicated by *)This is the information our office will use to contact you concerning your application, please be certain it is accurate and reliable!10

Application Info: Areas affected by programStart date of either August 15 or Sept. 1 2013End date is at 3 year period exactlyOther, remain checked as no (N/A)

Narratives: Enter text in appropriate fieldsSuggestion: Develop narrative in a Word document and paste into relevant sectionsTop 4 completed by all applicants (Exec. Summary, Rationale and Approach, Organizational Capability, Cost Effectiveness and Budget AdequacyEvaluation Summary- re-competes complete, new enter N/AAmendment Justification, Clarification Summary, Continuation Changesenter N/AFor the narratives section, you will need to enter text into some of the fields. A strong suggestion is to create all of your narratives in a Word document prior to working on your e-Grants submission, and pasting the information into the relevant sections.All applicants will need to complete the top 4 narrative categories (executive summary, rationale/approach, organizational capability, cost effectiveness and budget adequacy)Only re-competing programs should complete the Evaluation summary/plan section of the narrative. New applicants should enter N/AThe final 3 narrative categories are N/A (amendment justification, clarification summary, continuation changes), but you must open and enter N/A in them12Executive Summary (Page 10 RFP)

From the narratives page, selecting executive summary opens the field shown. In one paragraph (1/2 page max) describe who you will be serving, what members will do, where it will take place, when your program year starts and ends, and the clear outcomes expected.13Continue in narratives for Rationale/Approach, Org. Capability, Cost Effectiveness/Budget Adequacy, Evaluation Summary (if applicable)

Continue completing the narratives section for the remaining applicable categories (rationale/approach, organizational capability, cost effectiveness and budget adequacy, and evaluation summary/plan (if re-competing). Note on the slide that the Executive Summary now has a green check, signifying that the info was entered and saved for that item. For the next few slides, we will focus on the content for the narratives, rather than the specific entry into e-Grants.

14Rationale and Approach BroadlyCrucial application element (50% of review criteria for this section)

Read Page 11, Section III.

RFP pages 12-14 detail each element

Follow the format prescribed in RFP (Virginia priorities first, CNCS priorities second)The Rationale and Approach section is, in general, the most heavily weighted review criteria used in ours (and CNCSs) process, constituting of the points consideration.For all narratives, but particularly the Rationale and Approach, read Page 11 Section III. If your narrative entries do not follow the recommendations, consider revising them! You should be able to make a strong case succinctly.Remember to follow the format as laid out in the RFP, beginning with Va. Priorities of Strengthening Families and Volunteer Recruitment, before detailing your CNCS priorities narrative.15Rationale and Approach Cont.Key thoughts to consider:

Why AmeriCorps?Is it clear that AmeriCorps members are the best way to meet the identified need?

Be Specific!Are member activities specific, clear, impactful, with documentable outcomes?

Back your Claims!Is your intervention evidence-based? Will you be able to demonstrate/measure impact? Is the theory of change based on research?

Explain Howyou will effectively recruit a diverse Corps. Not just that you will, but how!you will train for service and professional development, making a members service impactful and meaningfulmembers will be supervised, and supervisors will learn how to supervise

In your Rationale and Approach section, read each entry from a reviewers perspective. Is it clear that AmeriCorps members are the proper response to the need that youve identified? Have you given detailed specificity into the activities members will undertake, and how they will achieve your outcomes?Does your Theory of Change make sense and will the interventions youve listed accomplish it? Is it based on solid research and evidence, and will you be able to use research and evidence to evaluate it?Have you explained How? Yes, you will recruit for diversity, and include individuals with disabilities, but did you list specific partners/media/methods/language to do so? Is it clear how you will train and on what, is it clear that member supervision will be adequate (how)?16Organizational CapabilityWhat is proposed can be accomplished with the staff, resources, experience, ideas, and money identified Relevant experience of staffAbility to provide training and evaluation is clear.Management of organization wants the program and will support it.Understanding of path to sustainability Roles/expectations/requirements of everyone that will be involved (staff, other sites, management) are established

Within organizational capability, have you shown that your program will accomplish its outcomes based on the staff, resources, experience, ideas, money, partnerships, management. Why you over another?17Cost Effectiveness and Budget AdequacyThe total amount requested from CNCS cannot exceed # of MSY X $13,300 (ex., requesting 10 MSY X $13,300= maximum request of $133,000).

Diverse resources proven available.

Cost/benefit of your model as opposed to others.

How is budget shown to be adequate for meeting program outcomes (all costs included, clear that costs are appropriate, etc.)

Does your budget reflect the requirements and expectations? Your request for funds cannot exceed the number of MSY times $13,300 (ex., requesting 10 MSY is a maximum of $133,000 that may be requested), but also the budgeted amount should not be so low that it will make it hard to recruit members or accomplish goals. There is a diversity of resources and back-up to show its available.Your program design provides the best cost/benefit ratioNo costs appear excluded, its clear that outcomes can be met with what is proposed.

18Evaluation Summary/PlanRe-competes only must include Evaluation Summary in narrative section

New programs should be planning collection and evaluation however, for their potential re-compete in the 3 years!

Evaluation summary section is only for re-competes to complete, however new programs should be planning their program around being able to evaluate and improve, as they will be submitting a summary when they re-compete, and its necessary for program improvement

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Finish Narratives SectionsSections needing content are all entered and show green checks

Enter N/A for final 3 items and saveYour top 5 sections should be complete and saved. See the green checks depicting that completion. Now open the final 3 narrative fields and enter N/A (and save as well).20Performance Measures

From Narratives we enter the Performance Measures section of the application. 21Selecting Grant Characteristics

Before entering the Performance Measures Module, you will first be on a page where you select the relevant grant characteristics for your overall program by check marking the appropriate boxes.

Just as in the other sections of eGrants, you can use the back and next buttons to navigate back or forward one screen; the save button is used to save the information you have entered.22Enter Performance Measures Module

Once you have selected all the Grant Characteristics relevant to your program, click save at the bottom of the page.

Next, click on the link, Click here to enter Performance Measures. The system will refresh and take you into the Performance Measures Module. Please note, while this module is labeled Performance Measures, you will be entering information about both your overall program as well as your specific performance measure or measures.

There are several steps you will take in this module to enter information about your overall program including identifying all Focus Areas, Objectives, and Interventions your program will offer and the associated MSYs and slots for each, before you actually get to the pages specifically related to your performance measures.

And remember, the Performance Measures Module is only one section of the grant application. You must complete all sections of the application in order to submit it.

23PM Home Page

Your first stop is the Home Page within the Performance Measures Module. Lets go over the features on this page. On the upper right corner, youll see blue buttons for home, back to eGrants application, my account, help, and logout. The Home button will take you back to the eGrants home page where we created the new application. The back to eGrants application will take you back to page of the application where we selected the grant characteristics before entering the Module. The my account page will allow you to update your profile information. The help button will open a sectional help menu. Logout will log you out of the eGrants system.

Below the buttons, youll see the grant application id number, the name of the NOFA, the type of grant application, the status, submission date (if submitted), and the legal applicant name. This information is populated from elsewhere in the grant application. On the left side in green are the screen instructions. You can hide them by clicking on the small arrow or close them by clicking on the x. Hiding will collapse the instructions, while closing will remove them from the current view.

Above the screen instructions are six navigational tabs: Home Page; Objective; MSY/Slot; Performance Measure; Data Collection; and Summary. The Objective and the MSY/Slot tabs take you to pages that capture information about your entire program. The Performance Measure and Data Collection tabs take you to pages that capture information only about the specific intervention(s) or activities that are being measured.

Well go through each of these tabs and their corresponding pages in more detail during this tutorial. Notice that the pink text indicates that you are currently viewing the Home Page. The grayed tabs with the blue text indicate that those tabs are currently inactive. The tabs build on each other, so you will have to enter information in a certain order as it populates selected fields on the inactive tab pages. After those pages have been completed, you are then able to navigate freely by clicking on the tabs.

There are also several blue buttons on the main screen: Begin; Edit Objectives/MSYs/Slots; Add New Performance Measures; and Next. You click Begin to start entering information into the module; once you start, the Begin button will change to a Continue button. You will be able to RESUME your work by clicking on this button.

Before a performance measure is added, the sections on the Home Page will be blank and the Edit Objectives/MSYs/Slots and Add New Performance Measures buttons will be inactive as indicated by the lighter blue buttons. After a performance measure is added, you will be able to use these buttons to edit existing information and add additional new performance measures, if appropriate. To proceed to the following tab, click Next.

Now that weve talked about the basic functionality of the module, lets click Begin to enter the necessary information about the overall program before we start entering a new performance measure.24Select a Focus Area and Objective

You must select a Focus Area and an objective. For our example, we are selecting a focus area of Disaster Services, and an objective of Disaster Assistance Provided.25Select Intervention

Within the objective, you will select an intervention. For example, the intervention within our Disaster Assistance Provided will be to Create Disaster Kits26Primary Focus Area and Intervention

Select Primary Focus area and intervention (will display your selections from previous), and choose next27Assign MSY to Focus Areas

You will assign MSY to each of your selected Focus Areas. You can use the chart on Page 25 of the RFP for determining MSY from you slots (i.e., 2 Full-time, 1 half-time, and a reduced half-time = 2.881 MSY)28Create Aligned Performance Measures

The next screen allows you to create aligned performance measures. Begin by selecting the objective, including a title and problem statement, and selecting your intervention29Select the output

Select an output. For your primary measure, this will be a Tier 1 or Tier 2 measure.30Select or Add an Outcome and MSY for that outcome

Select an outcome. If an aligned outcome already exists, it will be available for selection. Otherwise, you should create an outcome that corresponds with your output.31Data Collection

On the data collection page, you must provide a description of your intervention, and the method by which you will measure the output.32Data Collection Outcome

And the outcome33Validate summarized PMs

After submittal of PMs you can view a summary and validate the PMs before moving on to the next part of your application.34CNCS Detailed PM PowerPointCNCS has prepared a PowerPoint that will take you through this in much more detail.

OVCS will be working with selected applicants to strengthen Performance Measures

Documents section

Evaluation only applicable to re-competes. Re-competes select sentSelect sent or not applicable (see pg. 19-20 of RFP to determine applicability)In the documents section, re-competes should select sent for the evaluation (and send to OVCS as detailed in 5.2.3 of RFP, Page 30). New programs select Not ApplicableFor Labor Union concurrence, read pages 19-20 of the RFP to determine applicability. Most will be Not Applicable36E-Grants Budget

Section I-Operating CostsPg 23-25 of RFP

Section II-Member CostsPg 25-26 of RFP

Section III-Administrative/Indirect CostsPg 26-28 of RFP

Indirect Costs You May Claim5.26% of CNCS Direct Costs (Section I & II)CNCS Direct Costs * .0526 = Maximum Administrative/Indirect Costs in CNCS Column.CNCS Indirect Costs BreakoutTotal CNCS Direct Costs * .0526 * .8 = Corporation Fixed AmountTotal CNCS Direct Costs * .0526 * .2 = Commission Fixed Amount (1% Retainage Pg 26)All Programs include the 1% at a minimumGrantee Share of Administrative/Indirect CostsCNCS Direct Costs + Grantee Share Direct Costs * .110%

1% Goes Here

Grantee indirect goes here

The Importance of Maximizing Indirect CostsReview

Use the Review page to confirm that info is correct, Narrative are marked as entered, budget items show up, etc57Authorize and Submit

Select I agreeSelect view/print certificationSelect I agreeSelect view/print certificationSelect I agreeVerify and Submit

Verify to check for errors, and then Submit 424 to prime applicant to submit to OVCS.

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You should immediately see the message belowTake a screenshot of the message (ctrl and print scrn buttons)If you dont get this message, dont assume its submitted!Final Hints/RemindersMarch 7, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. is deadline for full submittal

Dont Wait! e-Grants can have glitches, submit early!

Contact e-Grants for technical assistance about e-Grantse-Grants Help Line1-800-942-2677

Contact rfp@vaservice.org for general application questionsCheck www.vaservice.org for question updates

Questions?

Thank You!Office on Volunteerism and Community Service

Website www.vaservice.org

E-mail rfp@vaservice.org