This Power Point Presentation is Designed to:

• Learn/Review To learn how to create/complete and submit an eGrants VISTA Grants Application based on the approved Concept Paper.

Kapila WewegamaeGrants Coaching Unit

JBS International/Aguirre Division1-888-333-8272

To begin your eGrants application completion process, logon to CNCS homepage at www.cns.gov

Please click on “eGrants” link to open the eGrants Welcome Page.

Please use this link to log on to your eGrants account.

Log into eGrants system by entering your user name and password.

If you disable the pictures, it will speed up screen refreshes.

When you login to your account home page you will see “Concept Paper Accepted,” if your concept paper has been approved by your state office.

If your Concept Paper is accepted, your VISTA Grant Application will be listed under “View all application/grants” and “Grantee Initial Entry” templates. To locate your VISTA Grant Application, please click on “View all application/grants” or “Grantee Initial Entry” link.

You will notice your VISTA Grant Application created and listed as “VISTA State” under ‘Programs’ column and identified, as “Grantee Initial Entry” under Status column.

To work in your VISTA Grant Application, please click on “view/edit.”

You grant application will look like this. Initially, there will be 7 sections in the grant application:

1.Applicant Info

2.Application info

3.Narratives

4.Project Plan

5.Documents

6.Review

7.Authorize and Submit

Once you choose a “Program Type” in the Application Information section, it will add budget sections (I) & (II).

Please write down the ID number, in case if you need it in the future.

Authorized Representative information will be populated here from the Concept Paper.

Project Information will be populated from the Concept paper.

Information from your Concept Paper will be populated here.

Choose a VISTA Program Type. When you choose a “Program Type” the Budget sections will be created and added to this grant application.

Check this box to indicate, if cost sharing.

Once you enter data into a text field and save, a green check mark will appear next to that text filed indicating that you have entered data. Data needs to be entered into all the text fields. Otherwise, you will not be able to submit your application.

Executive Summary, Strengthening Communities, Program Management and Organizational Capacity narrative fields will have data populated from your Concept paper, and therefore, will be indicated with a green check mark.

According to the application instructions you should try to keep your response for each section heading to no more than one page (250-400 words). Please verify this with your state program specialist.

Whenever you enter text into eGrants text fields, we strongly encourage you to create that information on a word document. Then you can copy the data from your word document and paste it in the eGrants text field by having your cursor in the text field and right clicking your mouse.

Three Good Reasons to do your text on a word document:

1. You will have a back up record.2. You can do a character count to find out the size of your text.3. You can spell check your work.

Don’t forget: eGrants cannot take formatted text.

To create Goal Statement and Performance Measure, please click on this link. It will open up a Goal Statement and Performance Measure worksheet in a secondary text window.

Choose an “Issue Area” from the drop down list that relates to the service category you plan to create.

Select a service category that relates to your project plan.

Additional “Goals” and “Service Activities” text fields will appear for data input.

Choose a result type measure from the drop down list.

If you don’t check the “Performance Measure” box, two additional text fields (Results and Planned Period of Accomplishment) will appear.

However, if you check the “Performance Measure” box, more additional text fields related to performance measure elements will appear to input data.

You are required to identify a total of 3-5 results within your project plan as Performance Measures. Within those Performance Measures, you are required to include at least:

One out put;

One intermediate outcome; and

One end outcome

When you identify a target for a output, it has to always be a number (#). Out comes can be a number (#) or percentage (%)

All the Goal Statements/Performance Measures you create will get populated here. You can edit those work plans by clicking on “view/edit” link located next to the Goal Statement information summary. You can also delete any Goal Statement by using the “delete” link.

You cannot have “Not Sent” for any of these documents. If you have “Not Sent” chosen, you will not be able to verify and submit your application.

To add a budget item click on this link. It will open up a secondary window worksheet for data input.

When you input numbers, please don’t use commas to separate thousands and don’t use decimal points.

Click this link to validate your budget.

If there are no errors, you will receive this message. If there are errors, it will show you what the errors are.

Once you validate your budget, this link will appear in green with a check mark. If you happen to change data in your budget, you can use this link again, as many times you like, prior to submitting your application to validate your budget.

Review section/screen will show a summary of the data you have entered into the application. Whenever you login and open your grant application, it will always open this “Review” section.

If you click on “view/print report,” it will pull up a PDF document that will have data from your application in relation to the type of report you choose. You can print it for proof reading purposes or save the PDF document for your own use. In order to use this feature, you should have acrobat software installed in your computer.

Here’s a sample PDF document that gets created when you click on “view/print report.”

The staff who is responsible for completing the “authorization,” “Assurances” and “certifications” should have an eGrants account to logon to this page to complete this part. When he/she click “I agree”, it will populate their name and date by “I Agree” button.

In order to complete the “Assurances” and “Certifications” the view/print certification link needs to be clicked. It will open up a PDF document that needs to be viewed and closed, then the “I agree” feature/button will be active for clicking.

When you click on “Verify this Grant Application” it will check whether there are any errors. If there are any errors, it will pull up an errors list. On the errors list, it will indicate the specific error that you need to fix.

Once you are able to verify your application, you can click on submit link to submit your application. When it get submitted, you will receive a message indicating your application was submitted successfully and the status of your application will change from “initial entry” to “submitted.” Once you submit your application, you will not be able to edit it again until it is open by the cncs for rework.

For Guidance in regard to Application Guidelines and Policies, please contact your CNCS State Office

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For eGrants related Technical Issue and Problems, please contact:

eGrants Help Desk: 1-888-677-7849 (Ext. 533)

email: eGrantshelp@cns.gov

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For assistance in Developing your Performance Measurements, Contact:

Project Star: 1-800-548-3656Projectstar.org

Kapila WewegamaeGrants Coaching UnitAguirre International

1-888-333-8272

Hope you enjoyed the presentation