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Welcome to the RSVP session on the Senior Corps Application.
This session will review the various pieces
of the RSVP Senior Corps Grant Application Instructions.
By the end of this session you will gain an understanding of how
to enter your application information into e-Grants and submit your complete application.
This session was created prior to final approval
of the RSVP Senior Corps Grant Application Instructions.
Please be sure to review the FINAL instructions document for any changes.
Let's get started.
The RSVP grant application consists of five primary parts: the facesheet,
project narratives, performance measures and work plans, required documents, and budget.
Each part of the application corresponds to one or more fields in e-Grants.
Each part of the application will be reviewed in further detail throughout this session,
with the exception of the performance measures, which is covered in a separate training.
First, let's review the process for starting your RSVP application.
All Senior Corps applications are submitted through e-Grants,
the web-based application system of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
e-Grants can be accessed through the Senior Corps website: www.seniorcorps.gov.
Here you can see the e-Grants link on the Senior Corps homepage.
e-Grants can also be accessed at egrants.cns.gov.
If you experience any technical issues with e-Grants, such as problems logging in,
you can contact the National Service Hotline at 1-800-942-2677.
The National Service Hotline is available Monday through Friday,
8:00 a.m. to 8: 00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The next step depends on whether you already have an e-Grants account.
If you already have an e-Grants account, enter your user name
and password on the e-Grants login screen.
Then, click "Login to e-Grants".
If you have an existing e-Grants account, but run into challenges logging in,
please do not start a new e-Grants account.
Instead, contact the National Service Hotline to gain access to your existing e-Grants account.
Slide 5: "Creating a New eGrants Account"
If you do not have an e-Grants account, you will need to create one.
From the e-Grants login screen, click on the "Don't have an e-Grants account?
Create an account" link.
After clicking that link, you will click on the "Create a Grantee account" link.
Then click on "This is my first time.
I want to create a new account with e-Grants..."
link. You will then be prompted to create a profile for your organization.
When creating your organizational profile, e-Grants will walk you through six steps
in the following order: Login Information - This step allows you to enter your name
and create a unique user name and password.
Enter EIN # - Enter the EIN for your applicant organization Select an Organization -
Once you enter the EIN, you may see a screen similar to the one you see here.
You will have two choices: select an existing organizational profile for the EIN
or create a new organizational profile for your EIN.
If an existing organizational profile is listed for your organization, please select it rather
than creating a new organization.
If more than one organization exists for your EIN, please contact the National Service Hotline
to determine which organization to select.
Organization Information - If you selected an account for an existing organization,
you will review the organizational information next.
After you click submit, the grantee administrator
for your organization will be notified about your account request.
The name of the grantee administrator for your organization should be listed.
The grantee administrator must grant you access before you can complete your account
in e-Grants under the selected organization.
If your grantee administrator encounters challenges with approving your account
in e-Grants, they should contact the National Service Hotline for further assistance.
If a new employee of your organization needs
to create an e-Grants account (a new project director, bookkeeper,
or authorized representative, for example), they would follow these same steps
to create an account linked to your organization.
Any e-Grants accounts for employees who are no longer at the organization should be disabled.
When creating a new organizational profile under the EIN, you will need to enter a DUNS number,
organization name, organization type, address, and phone number for your organization.
Grantee Phone Numbers - Enter
at least 1 convenient daytime phone number for your organization.
Review and Submit - Please review all organization and personal account information
on this screen and submit to complete the account creation process.
Once you finish creating your account, you can begin the process
of creating your RSVP application.
If you already had an existing e-Grants account,
this would be your starting point for the application.
From the e-Grants homepage, click on the "New" link under "Creating an Application".
You will then be prompted to select a NOFA.
Start by selecting the program area "Senior Corps" and click the "go" button.
A list of NOFA options will appear.
Select the appropriate NOFA and click next.
The NOFA title to select in e-Grants will be included in the Notice of Funding Availability
or provided to you by your CNCS State Office.
Once the appropriate NOFA is selected,
you can begin entering information specific to your application.
You will see a toolbar on the left side of the e-Grants screen that will display which part
of the application you are currently in.
The various sections in e-Grants correspond to the application parts previously listed
in this session: * Applicant Info, Application Info,
and Funding/Demographics correspond to the facesheet.
* Narratives correspond to the project narratives.
* Work plan is where you enter work plans and performance measures.
* Documentsis for notes on required documents.
* Budget sections 1 and 2 are for the budget; and...
* Review, Authorize, and Submit are the final steps
to actually submitting your application in e-Grants.
In the Applicant Info screen, you will have the opportunity to review the NOFA
that you selected to start the application.
If you selected the incorrect NOFA, you can change it at this time.
First time applicants will click on "Create a New Project".
They will be prompted to enter a unique project title.
Keep in mind that the title should be descriptive
and unique to your proposed RSVP project.
Entering only "RSVP" in this section may make it difficult
to associate your project with your organization.
You will also enter other information about your project in this section,
such as the state where the volunteers will be serving, project address, and phone number.
The Project Director's name will also be entered.
If a project director has not yet been selected, enter the name of the person
who should be contacted if there are questions about this application.
Previous applicants will review the project information
that was submitted with the last application.
Edits can be made as needed.
After completing the applicant info section, the application info section is next.
Here you will enter a list of the counties where RSVP volunteers will be serving.
This should be entered in the "areas affected by the project" text box.
For competitive applications, please also include in the text box the appropriate state
and number of the grant opportunity from the Notice for your service area.
For example, North Carolina #3 followed by a list of the counties associated
with North Carolina #3 as described in the Notice.
The proposed project start and end dates will be entered in the application info section as well.
This is a three-year period, also known as the "project period."
For continuation or amendment applications,
the dates of the project period will likely stay the same
as when the application was originally submitted.
The application info section is also
where you would indicate whether the application is subject to review
by the State Executive Order 12372 Process by checking the box.
Executive Order 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs," was issued with the desire
to foster the intergovernmental partnership and strengthen federalism by relying on state
and local processes for the coordination and review
of proposed federal financial assistance and direct Federal development.
The Order allows each state to designate an entity to perform this function.
Contact the Single Point of Contact to determine whether your application is subject
to the state intergovernmental review process.
If Yes, indicate the date a copy of your application was submitted to the state
for review under the Executive Order 12372 Process.
The application info page also allows you
to indicate whether the applicant organization is delinquent on any federal debt.
Categories of federal debt include delinquent audit allowances, loans, and taxes.
The State Application Identifier is for use in AmeriCorps applications
and does not apply to Senior Corps and RSVP.
The next application section is the project narratives.
The purpose of the narratives is for you to provide a project plan
for achieving results with the requested funds.
You may not exceed 25 double-spaced pages for the Narratives, including the Executive Summary
and facesheet, as the pages print out from e-Grants.
In the case of competitive grants, reviewers will not consider material submitted
over the page limit, even if e-Grants allows you to enter and submit text over the limit.
From the Review and Submit page, print out your application prior to final submission
to ensure it is not over the 25 page limit.
This limit does not include the budget and work plan performance measures.
As you enter the project narratives in e-Grants,
keep in mind that the e-Grants system does not allow special characters such as bullet points.
You can review your application from the print view in e-Grants to see
if any special characters caused formatting challenges in your application.
The first narrative is the Executive Summary.
The Executive Summary should include:
* The number of unduplicated RSVP volunteers serving or that will serve.
* The types of populations they serve or will serve,
such as children, frail seniors, or veterans.
* The primary focus area that the project will address.
* The volunteer service activities or what they will actually do.
* The locations of these service activities.
* The expected results or outcomes of the volunteers' services.
* The number of stations.
* The federal funding level; and * The non-federal funding level.
The Senior Corps application instructions contain an Executive Summary template
that can be used to create your executive summary.
CNCS will post these summaries on nationalservice.gov in the interest
of transparency and open government.
The Executive Summary should be no longer than one page.
The next project narrative is Strengthening Communities.
In this section, much of the information entered will pertain to the 30 percent of volunteers
that must be placed to meet needs in one primary focus area.
Your Strengthening Communities narrative should respond to the following:
* Describe the community you serve.
Provide persuasive evidence that community needs identified in the primary focus area exist
in the geographic service area and are currently unmet.
Use demographic information, census data, or other sources as needed to present your case.
* Describe the ways in which RSVP volunteers and their stations are managed
as a highly effective means to address the identified community need(s)
in the primary focus area.
Describe the service activities in the primary focus area that lead
to National Performance Measure outputs or outcomes.
Connect the following three major elements in the primary focus area,
so that the service activities address the need,
and result in the anticipated outputs and/or outcomes: 1.
the community needs identified 2.
the service activities that will be carried out by RSVP volunteers 3.
the anticipated outputs or outcomes Include current or planned significant activities
in service to veterans and military families.
Serving veterans and military families should be discussed as part of the Primary Focus Area,
Other Focus Areas, or in Capacity Building.
Serving veterans and military families does not need to be included in the Community Priorities.
The next narrative section is where you describe your plans
for recruiting and developing RSVP volunteers.
This section should include: * Your plan and infrastructure
to create high quality volunteer assignments with opportunities such as building skills,
developing leadership potential, reflecting on the meaning of service,
and enhancing the quality of the volunteers' own lives.
* Your plan and infrastructure to ensure RSVP volunteers receive training needed
to be effective in their assignments.
* Your plan and infrastructure to recruit a volunteer pool reflective of the demographics
of the geographic communities served.
As applicable, include plans to recruit and place individuals of all races, ethnicities,
and degrees of English language proficiency.
* Your plan and infrastructure to recruit veterans
and military family members as RSVP volunteers.
* Your plan and infrastructure to recruit RSVP volunteers with disabilities,
including individuals with age-related disabilities, and * Your plan and infrastructure
to retain and recognize the RSVP volunteers.
The next narrative section is Program Management.
In this section you will describe specific plans and strategies for overall management
of the RSVP project that you propose.
Your narratives should focus on: * Your plan and infrastructure to ensure management
of volunteer stations in compliance with RSVP program regulations and applicable laws.
* Your plan and infrastructure to develop capacity to recruit
and manage volunteer stations that address specified unmet community needs outside the
primary focus area.
* Your plan and infrastructure to responsibly graduate volunteer stations
to meet changing community needs and to minimize disruptions
to current volunteers where possible.
The plan may include reassigning volunteers at the station to capacity building assignments.
* Your plan and infrastructure to assure National Performance Measure outcomes
and outputs are measured and collected; and * Your plan and infrastructure
to manage project resources, both financial and in-kind, to ensure accountability and efficient
and effective use of available resources.
The next narrative section is Organizational Capability.
In this narrative you will describe your organization's capacity
to operate the RSVP project you propose with respect to: * Your plans and infrastructure
to provide sound programmatic and fiscal oversight, day-to-day operational support
and data collection, to include clearly defined internal policies.
* Descriptions of clearly defined staff positions,
including (as applicable) identification of current staff assigned to the project.
* Your organization's track record in the primary focus area, senior service,
managing volunteers, and in measuring performance.
* Demonstrating strong organizational infrastructure, including: (1) Tangible assets
such as facilities, equipment, and supplies; (2) Governance structure and operations,
such as internal policies, purchasing procedures, and personnel management;
(3) Role of a community participation group, such as an RSVP advisory council,
to ensure input from the community; and (4) The existence of robust financial management systems
and past experience managing federal grant funds
and * Demonstrate how your organization will adequately sustain the proposed required
non-federal share.
The final narrative section in e-Grants is simply entitled "Other."
This section is used, as needed, to address any additional program requirements that appear
in the published Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) or supplemental instructions.
Refer to the NOFO for specifics that may pertain to this narrative section.
If no specific instructions are included in your Notice,
you may leave this section blank or simply enter N/A.
The next section to be completed in e-Grants is the work plan section.
This is the section where you will enter your performance measure work plans.
Refer to the performance measure training session for further details
on performance measure requirements and how to enter your work plans in e-Grants.
After you enter your work plans, the next section in e-Grants is Documents.
In this section you will indicate the status
of all required supplemental documents for your application.
The options for document status include: Already on File at CNCS,
Not Applicable, Sent, or Not Sent.
Documents cannot actually be attached in e-Grants.
For competitive applications, all items marked as "Sent" in e-Grants should be sent
to the address listed in the NOFO.
For continuation applications, all items marked as "Sent"
in e-Grants should be sent to your CNCS State Office.
The exception is financial documents.
All financial documents for competitive applications
and continuation applications should be sent to the FFMC.
Financial documents include direct deposit forms, the financial management survey,
negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, statement of audit status,
aggregate annual dollar amounts of funding, certification of non-profit status,
and financial statement audit or 990.
Include your e-Grants application ID number
and organization name with all document submissions.
The Senior Corps application instructions include a complete list
of all required documents and whether they must be submitted for a new applicant,
a new or competitive applicant who has previously received a grant award
from CNCS, and a continuation applicant.
The next two e-Grants sections are for the budget.
Although most project periods are for three years,
nearly all budget periods will be for only 12 months.
The funding amount for all competitive applications is found in the Notice
for each corresponding geographic service area.
The budget allows you to demonstrate which areas you will use
to achieve the required non-federal share.
The required non-federal share applies differently
to current sponsors and new applicants.
New applicants that do not currently sponsor an RSVP project are required to have 10%
of the total project cost in non-federal share in year 1,
20% in year 2, and 30% in subsequent years.
Current RSVP sponsors applying for a competitive grant
in their current geographic service area are required to have 30% of the total project cost
in non-federal share every grant year.
For each line item in the budget, enter the total cost
to identify the source of funds as appropriate.
There are three options for documenting the source for each budget item: CNCS Share,
Grantee Share, and Excess Amount.
The CNCS share column should total the full amount of funding that is being requested.
This funding amount should correspond to the grant opportunity
for which you are applying as described in the Notice.
The grantee share column should total the required non-federal share.
The non-federal share can include grantee funds, funds expected from other sources,
as well as both cash and in-kind support.
The excess amount includes any contributions in excess of the required non-federal share.
This column is optional and does not count toward the required non-federal share.
As you will see in e-Grants, the budget is divided into two sections.
Section 1 is for all volunteer support expenses.
Section 2 is for volunteer expenses.
At the beginning of budget sections 1 and 2, you will enter the source of all matching
or non-federal funds that you have entered into the grantee share budget column.
In order to enter the source, click on 'enter source of matching funds.'
This link is at the very top of both budget sections 1 and 2.
After you click on 'enter source of matching funds' a new text field will open
and you can enter the source of non-federal funds.
The sources you list may be names of other organizations
such as foundations, local government, or businesses.
Be as specific as possible when entering this information.
As you enter each budget line item you will not only enter budget amounts, but also explanations
or calculations of budget amounts as needed.
Each budget line item includes a corresponding space for you to enter these descriptions,
which are known as the budget narratives.
In each section, you will be able to add line items as needed
by clicking on "add a new budget item."
Budget section 1 includes 9 headings in which you can create budget line items.
The first is project personnel expenses.
In this section you can add line items for each position that will be funded by CNCS,
the grantee share, or excess resources.
For each position listed here the position title should be included as well
as the full-time equivalent annual salary.
100% full time equivalent is normally 40 hours per week.
Thus, if an employee works half time or 20 hours per week for the project
and is paid $10,000 annually from project funds,
the full time equivalent annual salary would be $20,000.
The percentage of time the person will work for the project
over a 12 month year should also be included.
For example, if the employee works 10 hours per week for the project
over 12 months, you would enter 25%.
The second section is personnel fringe benefits.
In this section enter the cost of fringe benefits to which employees are entitled,
calculated on the same percentage of time indicated
in the project personnel expenses section for each individual.
In your budget narrative, provide details concerning the benefits provided.
For example, retirement contributions for all staff working over 60% time,
calculated at 5% of total annual salaries of $80,000 equals $4,000.
Next section is local travel.
Include only travel costs for staff listed under the project personnel expenses section
and who directly support the grant activities described in your application.
Local travel is travel within the project service area
as entered in the application info section.
Briefly list the purpose of anticipated local travel and the basis for cost calculations.
Next enter travel costs for long distance travel, as appropriate.
Include only travel costs for staff listed in the project personnel expenses section
and who directly support the grant activities described in your application.
All travel outside of the service area is considered long distance travel.
For long distance travel, show the purpose for each trip and break out for each the cost
of transportation, meals and lodging, and other travel costs.
The next section is equipment.
Any items costing more than $5,000 are considered equipment and should be listed here.
Supplies include items that cost less than $5,000.
List the types of supplies and their respective costs.
Itemize large items.
The next budget section is for contractual and consultant services.
Enter the cost of contracts and consultants as appropriate.
In your Narrative itemize each contract or consultant
and provide a brief justification of the need for each.
Include here all services documented in a contract, such as clerical support,
training consultants, equipment repair and maintenance, or bookkeeping services.
In Other Volunteer Support costs,
briefly describe all other allowable Volunteer Support Expenses not included
in the previous budget categories, such as criminal history background checks, training,
evaluation services, recruitment expenses and other items.
Criminal history background checks are required for all employees or other individuals
who receive a salary or similar payment from the grant
through either the federal or non-federal share.
The final part of budget section 1 is indirect costs.
Enter indirect charges applicable to volunteer support expenses.
In your Narrative, describe the type of rate in effect during the budget period,
estimated amount of the base to which the indirect rate was applied,
and total indirect expense.
The type of rate may include provisional, predetermined, final or fixed.
A current negotiated indirect cost agreement must be in place
with the appropriate federal agency.
After all parts of section 1 are complete,
the subtotal for section 1 will automatically be populated.
Budget section 2 is for other volunteer costs.
RSVP allowable costs and reimbursable expenses may include: Volunteer Travel, Meals,
Volunteer Recognition, and Insurance.
Insurance for volunteers when on assignment is required.
Volunteers may also be reimbursed for costs incurred while performing assignments -
including transportation, equipment, and supplies,- provided such costs are described
in the Memorandum of Understanding negotiated with the volunteer station
where the volunteer is assigned, and there are sufficient funds available
to cover these expenses and meet all other requirements of the Notice of Grant Award.
Once budget section 2 is complete, the subtotal will automatically be populated based
on the information entered.
At the very end of the budget sections, you will see a subtotal field
that will provide the totals for CNCS share, grantee share, and any excess amount
that you have entered under the budget.
This section will also automatically populate the total percentage
of non-federal share for the project.
At the very end of the budget sections, you will validate your budget by clicking the
"validate this budget" link you see here.
By validating your entire Budget section, you will be able to view
or edit any errors on the list that pops up.
Once you have validated the budget, the link will turn green with a check mark.
The next section in e-Grants is Funding and Demographics.
Information for this section will be automatically populated based
on the totals in the budget sections.
The total amount will auto-populate from the totals in budget sections 1 and 2.
The federal share will auto-populate from the CNCS share of the total budget.
The applicant share will auto-populate based on the grantee share of the budget.
To complete the applicant share breakdown section, you will be required
to provide a breakdown of the non-federal funding for the application.
The sum of the amounts entered here must add up to the applicant share.
In the local field indicate the amount of funds
or in-kind items that come from local government.
In the state field indicate the amount of funds
or in-kind items that come from state government.
In the other field indicate any non-government funds or in-kind items
that are part of the applicant share.
The income section is used to indicate any program income.
Finally in this section you will enter your total number of unduplicated volunteers.
Under the "Review" and "Authorize and Submit" sections,
you should review each section of your application.
We strongly encourage you to print out your application prior to final submission
to ensure is it not over the 25-page limit.
This limit does not include the budget and performance measures.
Now that you have reviewed and made any necessary changes to your application,
you are now ready to authorize and submit your application.
The person who submits the application must be the applicant's authorized representative.
The authorized representative must be using e-Grants under their own account
in order to submit the application.
Once the application has been submitted, e-Grants will display a pop up box indicating
that the application was successfully submitted.
The status of the application will change from 'grantee initial entry' to 'submitted to CNCS.'
After you have been awarded your new RSVP grant,
a continuation must be submitted in e-Grants each year.
Your CNCS State Office will provide you with a specific timeframe
for continuation application submission.
Continuations are non-competitive requests to enter into year 2
or year 3 of your multi-year grant.
To submit your continuation request in e-Grants, use the following steps:
* From your e-Grants home page, click Continuation/Renewal.
A list of applications for your organization will be displayed.
* Click Continue next to the application that you plan to update
and submit for your continuation.
Be sure to select the correct application.
* Next you will see a list of NOFA options.
Your CNCS State Office will provide you with the appropriate NOFA to select.
* After the NOFA is selected, e-Grants creates the continuation application,
which will include a copy of all information from your previously awarded application.
Edit your continuation application as directed
in the continuation request instructions in the application instructions.
* When you have completed your edits, your Authorized Representative should login
with their e-Grants account and click the SUBMIT button.
If you have questions about the content of your continuation,
please contact your CNCS State Office.
When you prepare to submit your Continuation request,
various sections of the application will need to be updated.
In the Applicant Info, Application Info and Funding/Demographics sections,
updates should only be made if there have been significant changes
at your project or organization.
In the project narratives, the Executive Summary should be reviewed and updated to ensure
that the outcomes reflect any changes made in the Work Plans.
All other narratives should only be updated if the information is no longer accurate due
to project or sponsor organization changes.
If the other narrative information is still accurate,
leave it unchanged in the continuation application.
The Work Plans will require the majority of updates in your continuation.
Information will copy from your previously awarded application
into your continuation application.
Work Plans are designed to align with the 12-month performance period.
Update the Work Plans as needed to reflect the upcoming performance period
for the continuation.
For the Documents section, refer to the Continuation column
in the application instructions and send the required documents to your CNCS State Office
or the FFMC as indicated in the instructions.
The budget will need to be updated for the upcoming year.
Incorporate any changes such as new sources of non-federal funds,
adjustments to recognition, or personnel changes.
The non-federal share must increase to 20% in year 2 and 30% in year 3 and subsequent years.
If you have any questions about the RSVP application,
there are a number of resources to help you.
If you are submitting an application as part of the 2013 RSVP re-competition,
a list of frequently asked questions is posted at seniorcorps.gov
with the Notice under 'new grant opportunities'.
If you cannot find an answer to your question in the FAQs, you can send an email
to 2013RSVP@cns.gov or call 202-606-3225 and leave a voicemail.
Individual responses will not be issued for questions left on this voicemail or email.
Instead, review updates to the FAQs to find your answer.
If you have a question about continuations or renewals, please contact your CNCS state office.
Thank you very much for listening to the RSVP Senior Corps application session.
Best of luck with your application writing!
Voice Over Script for "Virtual Conference_Senior Corps Application"