14a, 15a, & 16a. FY21 FDR - Additional Guidance

How to Prepare Your Final Reports
FY 21 Awards
1.22.21

Introduction
Required final reports are due 120 days after your period of performance (award period) ends. The
complete final report package includes the following:
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Final Descriptive Report (FDR). Narrative and statistical data about your award activities.
Federal Financial Report (FFR). Final accounting of allowable project expenditures including
required cost share/match.
Geographic Location of Project Activity Report (GEO). List of addresses where significant
project activity took place.
Payment Request (if funds remain)
Work Product (if required)

FY 21 final reports and payment requests must be submitted through REACH. Once submitted, you will
be able to track their status through approval. Arts Endowment staff reviews reports in the order in
which they were received and will contact you if questions arise during review. Messages will be sent
through REACH messaging and will automatically go out to all individuals associated with this grant. All
questions must be resolved within 30 days.
There are significant consequences for overdue reports. Organizations with overdue reports are
ineligible for new awards and no payments will be made on existing awards. Pending Arts Endowment
application(s) will be rejected if the overdue reports are not received. Any funds remaining on an award
will be de-obligated by the Arts Endowment and no longer available to you if reports are more than 30
days overdue (a total of 150 days after the grant ended). If you drew down funds but failed to submit
acceptable final reports, your organization will be ineligible to receive Arts Endowment funding for five
years following the final report due date of the award(s) or until the delinquent final reports are
submitted.
General questions about final reporting should be directed to [email protected].
Reminders
Supported award activities must be consistent with those approved for funding by the Arts Endowment.
If you did not carry out the project as intended, believe a time or scope amendment is necessary, or if
you need an extension to your final report due date, send the request with a justification through
REACH. See Section 4 “Making Changes to Your Project” in the How to Manage Your NEA Award &
eGMS REACH Handbook for more information.

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Do not include activities supported by unallowable costs in your final report documents. Familiarize
yourself with unallowable costs by reviewing Section 12 “Cost Principles” of the General Terms &
Conditions for your award.
An active SAM (System for Award Management) registration is required to receive federal funds and
must be maintained throughout the life of the award. If you will be submitting a payment request with
your final report, go to www.sam.gov to confirm that your organization’s SAM registration is current.
(You can also access SAM information through your award in REACH.) Begin the renewal process
immediately if the registration has expired or will be expiring soon.
Financial records, supporting documents, and all records pertinent to your award must be retained for
three years from the date of submission of the Federal Financial Report. Your award may be selected
for audit by the Arts Endowment’s Inspector General within that time period.
Verify that your email will accept messages from the arts.gov domain name so your REACH message
notifications do not end up in your spam folder.
Ensure Consistent Reporting
All components of the final report work in tandem to present a complete picture of the grantee’s Arts
Endowment-supported project. Therefore, if activity is mentioned in the Final Descriptive Report, it’s
expected that the cost is included on your Federal Financial Report, and that all locations of significant
project activity are listed in your Geographic Location of Project Activity (GEO) report.
You must report solely on the Arts Endowment project, which is restricted to those activities the Arts
Endowment has reviewed and approved. The Arts Endowment project may be just a portion of a larger
effort. Report only on activity supported by the approved project budget.
To ensure that your final report is consistent with the approved project, review the following documents
before you begin. (Look under the Documents tab for the award in REACH.)
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Application narrative and any approved scope amendments. You will be reporting on these
activities, key artists, and partners.

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The most recent Project Budget approved by the Arts Endowment. This will be the revised
budget submitted to the Arts Endowment before your award was made or might have been part
of an amendment request made during the period of performance. You will be reporting on the
actual final cost of these line items.



Official Notice of Action. This document includes basic grant information including the official
project description, award period (period of performance), award amount, matching (cost
share) requirements, and original REACH account usernames. Your project must be consistent
with these parameters.

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

Terms & Conditions. This document was part of your award package and includes any terms
that are specific to your grant, such as the need for additional documentation with payment
requests. It also includes notes from the Arts Endowment about your approved project budget,
including costs that were rejected during review. You are responsible for adhering to these
terms.



Your accounting records for this award. You will need these records to calculate the final
project cost for your Federal Financial Report, which is based on the documented (by receipts,
payroll, etc.) final cost of each approved line item on your Project Budget Form.

Web Links to Bookmark
REACH - https://grants.arts.gov/eGMS-Reach/Login.aspx. The Arts Endowment’s online awards
management system. Designated individuals at the grantee organization receive REACH access
instructions with the offer and/or award notifications.
Manage Your Award - https://www.arts.gov/grants/manage-your-award/awards-after-oct1-2017. Find
the documents you need to understand the terms of your award and reporting requirements.
How to Manage Your NEA Award & eGMS REACH Handbook - How to Manage Your NEA Award &
eGMS REACH Handbook. Helpful information about Arts Endowment award administration and
common challenges.

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COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING YOUR FINAL REPORTS
Final Descriptive Report (FDR)
FDR Form: The FY21 FDR is a web form accessible directly through REACH.
Grantees with FY21 awards (the award number ends with -21) must submit their FDR through REACH
using the web form. Earlier versions of the FDR will not be accepted.
Access the FDR web form by logging into your REACH account and selecting the correct award. Go to the
Forms & Reports tab to view the assigned FDR. Click on the black pen next to the Final Descriptive
Report to open up the form. Follow the instructions for completing and submitting the report.
The FDR form includes instructions throughout, but see additional guidance below.
Saving and Submitting the FDR
The FDR web form is organized into multiple tabbed pages. Click “Save and Continue” at the bottom of
each page to progress to the next tab of the FDR. Certain questions require a response before the form
will let you move on; you will receive a validation error if you leave a required question unanswered or if
the text you paste for a narrative question exceeds the allowed character limit. You must resolve these
issues to save the data and move on.
You can expand the appearance of text boxes by clicking on the lower right corner of the text box and
dragging downwards.
You do not need to complete your FDR in one sitting. After clicking “Save” at the bottom of the page,
you can close your FDR and return to it later. Re-enter the FDR-in-progress by clicking on the black pen
next to the report name on the Forms & Reports tab.
Submit your FDR by clicking the “Submit” button on the last tabbed page of the form. Once you’ve done
this, you can view the document by clicking the paper icon next to the report name on the Forms &
Reports tab. You will still be able to make edits to the FDR until Arts Endowment staff change the status
of the report to “Under Review.”
FDR Tips
 Part I: Project Strategies (APPLICABLE ONLY TO “OUR TOWN” FDR)
Select yes for all the strategies that were actually used in your project and no for those not utilized.
Please discuss these strategies in the narrative section. Select all that apply.
 Part I: Project Narrative
The project narrative must give us a full sense of the activities and accomplishments of the Arts
Endowment project. An Arts Endowment project may be just a portion of a larger effort; do not
report on activity that is not supported by the approved project budget.
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Even if you have previously submitted a progress report with a payment request, the FDR must
account for the entire period of performance.
DO:
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Include dates when describing major project activities.
Use numbered lists to organize information.
Be aware of the character limits for narrative responses. If you cut and paste text from
another document, the text may get shortened when pasting and/or you may get
validation errors when trying to save the document.

DON’T:
• Report on activities that took place before or after your period of performance.
• Tell us about activity that was not paid through the approved project budget or reported
on the FFR.
• Mention receptions, galas, general fundraising efforts, special donor events or similar
activities. These activities are ALWAYS unallowable under the terms of your grant and
cannot be paid by Arts Endowment or matching (cost share) funds.
Question #4: Table of Key Partners, Funders and Artists
• Click “Save” at the end of the row for each entry.
• Clicking “Save” at the end of a row also opens a new blank row. When you have
nothing left to enter, just leave the last row blank and move on to the next question
of the FDR.
• If entering a federal government agency, please note that funding from other
federal government agencies CANNOT be counted as match (cost share).
 Part IB: Project Type (APPLICABLE ONLY TO “ARTS EDUCATION” FDR)
For the Arts Education FDR, select from the dropdown the project type that best fits your Arts

Education award and answer the questions for that project type. Complete a Collective Impact
narrative only if your award documents specifically mentioned collective impact. (See the Project

Description in your Notice of Action.)

Tip:

The number of students “engaged in the project as learners” must always be equal
to or greater than the number of students “who demonstrated learning.” The
number of professionals who “engaged in professional development activities” must
always be equal to or greater than the number of professionals who are “reporting a
change in practice.”

 Part IIA: Project Activity Data
Be sure that what you report in these sections is completely consistent with the information in your
narrative.
A response to each project activity data question is required. Enter 0 (zero) in any activity fields that
are not applicable or for which actual figures/supportable estimates do not exist.
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 Part IIB: Individuals Benefited
Individuals Compensated from the Project Budget:
• Count only individuals who are compensated, in whole or in part, with project funds
reported on the FFR.
• Count only individuals paid directly by your organization.
• Do not count individuals working for another organization contracted for services.
For the question about how many were hired by your organization as employees:
• Count all employees hired as a result of this award, including temporary, part-time,
and full-time employees. (For this purpose, employees are defined as staff who
receive a W-2 tax form from your organization.)
• Do not count contractors or individuals who would receive an IRS Form 1099.
Virtual Arts Experiences:
You can select more than one answer if applicable. Click on the dropdown and
select one. Then click again on the dropdown to make additional selection(s).
 Part IIC: Population Descriptors
For each group, you can select more than one answer if applicable. Click on the drop
down and select one. Then click again on the dropdown to make additional selection(s).
If your project served the general public without a specific focus on reaching distinct
populations, select the "No Specific Group" options.

Federal Financial Report (FFR)
FFR Form: The FFR is a web form accessible through REACH.
FFR Instructions
Access the FFR web form by logging into your REACH account and selecting the correct award. Go to the
Forms & Reports tab and click on the black pen next to Federal Financial Report to open up the web
form. Follow the instructions for completing and submitting the report.
Be sure to closely review the FFR Instructions. This document tells you not only how to complete the
form but also includes guidance on the expenditures that should be included and provides examples of
how the FFR should look for the most common reporting scenarios. Most final report errors are made
on the FFR.

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Geographic Location of Project Activity (GEO)
GEO Instructions
GEO FAQs
GEO Spreadsheet
GEO submission for FY21 grants has two parts:
1. The GEO is submitted through the Venues tab in REACH. Submit your data by clicking Edit Venues
and then making an entry in the spreadsheet for each location.
2. Confirmation: In REACH, at the Forms & Reports tab, you will click on the black pen next to the GEO
and confirm you have submitted your GEO data through the Venues tab. Your GEO will not be
marked as received until both steps have been completed.
Payment Requests If Funds Remain
Payment Request Form: The payment request is a web form accessible through REACH.
Payment Request Instructions
Access the Payment Request Form by logging into your REACH account and selecting the correct award.
Go to the Payments tab and click the Add Payment Request button. Follow the instructions for
completing and submitting the payment request.
Tips:

Confirm that your SAM.gov registration is current and that you have no delinquent federal debt
(called “Debt Subject to Offset”) at www.sam.gov before submitting a payment request. Both
requirements must be met for payment. You can also access SAM information through your

award in REACH.

Verify that SAM has your organization’s current banking information. Arts Endowment
payments will be made to this bank account. If the bank information changes, you must update
it in SAM before requesting payment.
When requesting funds after the period of performance has ended, your payment request and
FFR must show the same final project cost. The Recipient Share of project costs shown on line
6d of the Payment Request must equal the Recipient Share on line 10j of the FFR.
You can track the status of your payment request through the Payments tab in REACH. Funds will be in
your account generally within a few weeks after the payment request status changes to Approved.

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Work Product, if Required
To find out if you have a work product due, log in to your REACH account and select the correct award.
Go to the Forms & Reports tab to view the required reports. Any required work products will be listed
there.
To submit an electronic work product, click on the black pen next to Work Product in the Forms &
Reports tab. Follow the instructions for uploading your work product. Note: Only one work product
will upload through the Forms & Reports tab. If you have multiple required products to submit, go to
the Messages tab for that award and send additional products as PDF message attachments. Indicate
“work product” in the message subject line.
Follow this naming convention for work products submitted through REACH: "Work Product" followed
by the award number and your organization's name. For example: Work Product, 1234567-89-20, ABC
Art Museum.
Hard-copy work products must be sent directly to the Office of Grants Management. We accept
deliveries at:
Office of Grants Management
National Endowment for the Arts
400 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20506
Arts Endowment staff will log your hard-copy work product in to REACH upon receipt.
Important: First-class and Priority mail sent to federal agencies may be irradiated to protect against
biological contamination. Products (e.g., CDs, DVDs, publications) put through this process suffer
irreversible damage. Use an alternative delivery service if you are sending these kinds of materials.
Final Reports Package Checklist
Your final report package is complete if you have done the following:

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Submitted the FDR web form through the Forms & Reports tab in REACH

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Submitted a Payment Request web form through the Payments tab in REACH (if needed)

Submitted the FFR web form through the Forms & Reports tab in REACH
Submitted your GEO data through the Venues tab in REACH
Submitted your GEO submission confirmation through the Forms & Reports tab in
REACH
Submitted a work product through the Forms & Reports tab in REACH, or shipped it to
the Arts Endowment (if a product is required for your award)

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