e-Grants and your 2013-14 AmeriCorps State application

Office on Volunteerism and Community ServiceMarch 22, 2013e-Grants and your 2013-14 AmeriCorps School Turnaround 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 School Turnaround AmeriCorps Commission State Competitive FY 2013You will need to select a NOFA. Select School Turnaround AmeriCorps Commission State Competitive FY 2013, and choose next.8

Choose a State:Virginia Select Prime Application ID 13AC148911Next

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

Enter Project Director info, save and close

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, (see page 12 of instructions) ; new enter N/A Amendment 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 them14Executive Summary

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.15Continue 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.

16Rationale and Approach BroadlyCrucial application element (50% of review criteria for this section)

Read Page 9, Section III.

Refer to CNCS NOFO for details of each element

Discuss Virginia priorities first in narratives, CNCS priorities secondThe 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 9 Section III. If your narrative entries do not follow the recommendations, consider revising them! You should be able to make a strong case succinctly.Be sure to discuss the Virginia Priority of Volunteer Recruitment first in the narrative, before detailing your CNCS priorities narrative.17Performance Measure in NarrativeIdentify your chosen School Turnaround Priority Measure or Measures at the beginning of the Narrative Section!

See Page 28 of the NOFO for a list of National Performance Measures

AmeriCorps member activities must clearly align with identified measuresYou will need to include a description of the Performance Measures selected in the Narratives Portion. Specifically, you will want to describe how the elements of the performance measure (entered later in application) align with the member activities listed, the needs identified, and the overall design of your program. You can find the list of National Performance Measures, of which you will need to enter at least one, on Page 28 of the NOFO.18Rationale 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)?19Organizational 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?20Cost 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.

21Evaluation 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).23