ohio americorps planning grants planning... · • an americorps project must be in line with an...

2019 Ohio AmeriCorps

Planning Grants

Informational WebinarMay 1, 2019

11am -12pm

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/596925829

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (786) 535-3211

Access Code: 596-925-829

www.ServeOhio.orgStrengthening Ohio Communities through

Service and Volunteerism.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/596925829

Objectives

• Provide an overview of AmeriCorps planning

grant funding opportunity;

• Share key aspects of the grant application;

• Provide details on budgeting for an AmeriCorps

program; and

• Review expectations of a planning grant.

Strengthening Ohio Communities through

Service and Volunteerism. www.ServeOhio.org

What is AmeriCorps?• National & Community Service Trust Act of 1993 created the

Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

• AmeriCorps is one program of CNCS that engages more than 80,000 Americans every year for a term of national service. www.nationalservice.gov

• Provides federal grants to organizations to design and operate AmeriCorps programs to strengthen organizational capacity to meet a compelling community need by directly engaging AmeriCorps members and community volunteers.

• An AmeriCorps project must be in line with an organization’s mission and cannot supplant or replace pre-existing activities, staff or volunteers.



http://www.nationalservice.gov/

AmeriCorps Focus Areas

• Disaster Services

• Economic Opportunity

• Education

• Environmental Stewardship

• Healthy Futures

• Veterans and Military Families



ServeOhio • Mission: To strengthen Ohio communities

through AmeriCorps and volunteer engagement

• ServeOhio operates under authority pursuant to Section 121.40 of the Ohio Revised Code. ServeOhio is purposed specifically to administer Ohio AmeriCorps grants under the federal National & Community Service Trust Act of 1993.

• ServeOhio currently has 24 partner organizations with 900 AmeriCorps members serving statewide.



Ohio AmeriCorps Grants

• Direct service by members is a key cornerstone

of the overall program model;

• Strengthening capacity of non-profit and

community-based organizations, particularly

through volunteer engagement;

• www.nationalservice.gov

• www.serveohio.org




http://www.serveohio.org/

ServeOhio Priorities• Economic Opportunity - increasing economic opportunities for

communities by engaging opportunity youth, either as the population served and/or as AmeriCorps members, to prepare them for the workforce

• Education – selection of evidence-based interventions in the MSG with a focus on improving student academic performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Mathematics (STEM) during the summer, within the school year, or afterschool.

• Healthy Futures - reducing and/or preventing prescription drug and opioid abuse, improving health, increasing health knowledge and improving access to medical care and health needs.

• Veterans and Military Families - positively impacting the quality of life of veterans and improving military family strength.



ServeOhio Priorities• Rural intermediaries - organizations that demonstrate measurable

impact and primarily serve rural communities with limited resources

and organizational infrastructure.

• Safer Communities - programs that focus on public safety, and/or

partnerships between law enforcement and the community.

• Summer - only programming focused on literacy, health, nutrition

and physical education.

• Faith-based organizations providing any of the above activities

Applications do not have to fit within the

Funding Priorities or Focus Areas to apply.



Application Priorities

• Applications that clearly align the organization’s

mission, need, service activity and measurements

• Programs focusing on specific challenges facing

Ohioans

• Applications that follow directions and did their

homework!



Planning Grants

❑Explore AmeriCorps program feasibility and design

including a Logic Model and Theory of Change

❑Develop program components

❑Build/Assess organizational capacity

❑Prepare to compete for an AmeriCorps program

grant

❑Planning grants do not guarantee organizations will

obtain an AmeriCorps program grant.

Planning Grants

❑No more than three planning grants to be

awarded

❑Strict timeline – see NOFO page 4

❑Provides no more than $100,000 from CNCS

❑Requires a match of 24%

❑Example: $100,000 request requires at least $32,000

match.

❑Match can be in-kind and/or cash

❑Cost Reimbursement grants



Planning Grant Timeline

• May 15, 2019 – Planning grants due by 5pm requesting up to

$100,000 from CNCS

• May 28 – June 6, 2019 – Application clarification period

• June 14, 2019 – Notification of funding provided

• June 17-21 – Application submission into eGrants.

• August 1, 2019 – Earliest start date for selected planning grants

• August 2019 - July 2020 – Bi-monthly planning grant meetings and

required trainings. See next slide



https://egrants.cns.gov/

Planning Grant Timeline

• May 2020– One of the following will occur based on ServeOhio

funding priorities, applicant’s organizational capacity, planning grant

compliance and planning grant progress:

– Applicant submits an operational grant application by the due date; or

– Applicant ceases the planning grant by May 31, 2020; or

– ServeOhio ceases the planning grant by May 31, 2020

• If an AmeriCorps operational grant application is submitted and

selected for funding:

– May through July 2020 – Applicant continues planning grant

implementation for operational grant to begin after August 1 but prior

to October 1, 2020

– July - Program staff attend orientation for new programs.



• Applicant Information – Fill in blanks on page 6; becomes page 1 of grant

• Executive Summary

• Project Design (sections a. and b.)

• Organizational Capability

• Project Budget sections

• Required additional documentation.

Planning Grant Sections



Executive Summary

• Follow the template in the NOFO page 7

• Fill in the blanks



Program Design

• Need Statement - Responses do not need to be

in this order but a response is required to all

items.

– Provide as much detail as available

– Describe elements that a planning grant will help

develop

– For example, target region or city is known and

planning grant can further identify

areas/neighborhoods, etc.



Program Design

• Program Development - Identify which items (no

more than six) that will be a priority to develop

your organization’s capacity to effectively

manage an AmeriCorps program.

• Include a timeline and benchmark for each

priority item selected.



Organizational Capability

• Describe your organization’s capacity to

successfully plan an AmeriCorps program

• Organizational chart

• Planning grant partner letters

• Pre-Award Fiscal Management Survey

• Indirect Cost Rate



http://www.serveohio.org/Grants-Funding/AmeriCorps-Funding

Budget Worksheet• Use the template provided– fill in the blanks

• Attachment A on page 13 for Budget Instructions to

complete the Project Budget below.

• Project budgets must include a minimum grantee match

amount of 24% of the total cost of facilitating the

planning grant process. The match can be from cash

and in-kind resources.

• Additional line items may be added, as needed, but do

not enter additional sections.

• Do not include cents or fractional amounts.



Application Instructions

• All sections must be included, completed and submitted, along with

all required additional documents as a PDF by email to Mary

Cannon at [email protected] by the application due

date of May 15, 2019 by 5:00 pm EST.

• Grant applications should not exceed 10 total pages of Times New

Roman 12-point font, using 1.0 spaced lines of text.

• The page limit includes the following sections: Applicant Information;

Executive Summary; Project Design; Organizational Capability; and

Project Budget Worksheet (pages 6-12).



mailto:[email protected]

Application Instructions• Applicants should respond using a paragraph format thus responses

under Program Design and Organizational Capability do not need to

be in a bullet or list format and the order of responses can be

rearranged, as needed.

• All information must be typed and submitted as a PDF. Do not insert

special characters such as graphs.

• The budget should be entered directly into the Project Budget

Worksheet.

• Required additional documentation will be submitted as separate

documents (also via email) and include the items specified in the

Organizational Capability section. These documents do not count in the

page limitation.



Application Instructions

• Use the Applicant Information as the cover

sheet

• Use the heading/outline provided – delete

instructions

• Fill in the Budget Worksheet

• Include additional documentation

• Submit all required elements to Mary Cannon

by May 15 at 5pm EST.



mailto:[email protected]?subject=Planning%20Grant%20Application%20

For More Information on Program

Requirements:

Information on program requirements and

criteria are located in the AmeriCorps

regulations, 45 CFR §§ 2520-2550

www.gpoaccess.gov/ecfr and

www.americorps.gov/rulemaking



Questions?



2019 Ohio AmeriCorps Application

Detailed Budget Instructions

Ohio Planning Grants$100,000 Maximum Request



Attachment A, Page 13

• Round all figures to the nearest dollar. Do

Not Include Cents.

• Do not inflate the budget; you will be required

to meet the budgeted match amount.

• Expected and/or required line items already

included in the Budget Worksheet

• Add line items as necessary; do NOT enter

new sections.

When completing the budget



Summary of Statutory

Budget Requirements

• Grantee Match – (Planning Grants) You must match with cash and/or in-kind contributions at least 24% of the total project costs (CNCS share plus Grantee share).

• The source(s) of the match may be federal, state, private sector or other funds.

• The Corporation share of these costs may not exceed 76% of the total project costs.



Summary of Statutory Budget

Requirements: Grantee Match

Overall Minimum Match Requirement

Grantees must meet an overall increasing match requirement,

up to 50% by year ten, according to the following table:

Year 1 &

Planning

Grants

Year

2

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10

24% 24% 24% 26% 30% 34% 38% 42% 46% 50%



Match Example

• CNCS share/grant request:

– $100,000 (76%)

• Application match/grantee share:

– $31,579 (24%)

• Total Grant Amount/Award

– $131,579 (100%):



Administrative/Indirect Costs

Commission Administration

Of the 5% charged to the grant, 2% must be

allocated to OCSV, for its use, leaving 3% for

applicants to use, if they wish. In all cases, 2%

must be included within the Corporation Share

of Administrative Costs to be used by the Ohio

Commission on Service and Volunteerism for

expenses related to grant administration.



Administrative/Indirect Costs• Section III. A. CNCS Fixed Percentage Method. Applicants

completing this section may charge 5% to the grant and 10% total administration, in lieu of any documentation.

OR• Section III. B. Federally Approved Indirect Cost Rate.

Applicants completing this section may charge 5% to the grant and use their federally approved Indirect Cost Rate and charge more than 10% to total administration. If so, they complete this section and submit a copy of their IDC rate plan.

OR• Section III.C. De Minimis Rate of 10% of Modified Total Direct

Costs (MTDC). Non-Federal Applicants may complete this section if they have never had a federally negotiated ICR and receive less than $35 million in direct federal funding. For information on what is included in MTDC and use of this option see 2 CFR 200.414(f) and 200.68. If chosen, this option must be used consistently across all federal awards.



For more information on De Minimis and Indirect Costs in general, see CNCS Indirect Cost FAQs at: http://www.nationalservice.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Indirect_CostFAQ_7_20_2015.pdf



http://www.nationalservice.gov/sites/default/files/resource/Indirect_CostFAQ_7_20_2015.pdf

For more information on AmeriCorps Federal Requirements

Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (a.k.a. OmniCircular or OMB SuperCircular)

Grant awards made under this program are subject to 2CFRParts 200 and 2205, the CNCS regulations issued toimplement Part 200.

The OMB OmniCircular may be found on-line at:

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/

2cfr200_main_02.tpl



Planning Grant Expectations

• Service Implementation Plan

• Member Development Plan

• Sustainability Plan

• Fiscal Management

• Monitoring and Evaluation Plan



Service Implementation

• Develop Theory of Change and Logic

Model

• Describe how/when/where/what the

members will do to address the need

• Processes, policies and procedures

• Host sites and supervisors



Member Development

• Member Service Description

• Recruitment, screening, placement and

evaluation

• Training and professional development



Sustainability

• Partnerships

• Advisory Committee

• Staff Support

• Volunteer Engagement

• Public Awareness Campaign



Fiscal Management

• Match requirements

• Financial protocols and process



Monitoring & Evaluation Plan

• Evaluation of

– Service

– Member Development

– Sustainability

• Performance Measures



http://www.nationalservice.gov/resources/performance-measurement

Important to Know…• Planning grants are not solely for curriculum

design;

• Must have a general concept of community

need;

• Time is limited;

• Preparing the organization is important;

• Planning is crucial to develop an Ohio

AmeriCorps grant that supports members to

provide direct service activities.



Resources

• National Service Knowledge Network

• Corporation for National and Community Service

• ServeOhio

• eGrants – an account is required

– Need DUNS and EIN numbers!



http://www.nationalservice.gov/resources


http://www.serveohio.org/grantsfunding

http://egrants.cns.gov/

Contact Info

• Mary Cannon, Director of AmeriCorps – (614) 728-5177,

[email protected]

• Lisa Tope, AmeriCorps Grants Officer – (614) 728-2920

[email protected]





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