VISTA Support Budget

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Support Grant Budget Guidance and
Instructions
AmeriCorps VISTA
Published 2027

OMB Control #: 3045-0038
Expiration Date: xx/xx/2031

Produced and published at US taxpayer expense.

250 E Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20525
202-606-5000/ 800-942-2677

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................1
Support Grant Overview .....................................................................................................................2
What is a support grant? .................................................................................................................2
What are the eligibility requirements? ..........................................................................................2
Allowable Expenses ........................................................................................................................2
Unallowable Expenses ....................................................................................................................3
Match Requirement .........................................................................................................................3
Financial Requirements...................................................................................................................3
Tips for Completing the Budget ........................................................................................................5
Budget Section 1. Program Operating Costs ...................................................................................6
Project Personnel Expenses ............................................................................................................6
Personnel Fringe Benefits: ..............................................................................................................7
Local Travel .......................................................................................................................................7
Long Distance Travel .......................................................................................................................8
Audits ................................................................................................................................................9
Other Program Operating Costs ...................................................................................................9

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SUPPORT GRANT OVERVIEW
WHAT IS A SUPPORT GRANT?
AmeriCorps VISTA provides limited resources in the form of grant funds to qualifying
organizations, these grants are called support grants. Support grants provide financial
resources to help our partners effectively manage their VISTA project and are primarily used
to support supervision, training, and transportation costs associated with project oversight
and activities. Support grants have a very limited scope of use, and these instructions
provide information regarding allowable and unallowable expenses.

WHAT ARE THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?
To receive any VISTA resources, including a support grant, your organization must meet the
requirements outlined in the Project Application Instructions found on our website under
‘Guidance and Instructions.’
To be eligible to receive a support grant, your project application and budget must show:
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The expenditure is necessary and appropriate to ensure that a VISTA Volunteer,
Leader, or Summer Associate has available support to carry out the purpose of the
VISTA program and to effectively perform the service to which VISTA Volunteer,
Leader, or Summer Associate is assigned.
The need for support cannot be met within your organization’s own structure and
resources.

ALLOWABLE EXPENSES
Support grants have a very limited scope of use. Additionally, some line items may only be
funded in the second year of the project and beyond. Support grants can be used to assist
your organization with funding one or more of the following items in your VISTA project:
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Full or partial salary and fringe benefit costs of staff who directly supervise VISTA
Volunteers, Leaders, and if applicable, Summer Associates
Costs related to criminal history checks for staff paid from the support grant funds
Monitoring-related transportation or travel expenses for supervisors as well as
travel costs for supervisors to attend AmeriCorps sponsored or sanctioned events
Audit-related costs (if partner meets eligibility criteria)
Service-related transportation expenses of VISTA Volunteers, Leaders, and
Summer Associates for projects in their second year and beyond

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In rare instance and with additional approval, costs for implementing training
events for VISTA Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates for projects in
their second year and beyond

Support grant projects are responsible for local operating and logistical costs that may go
beyond the scope of allowable expenses for support grant funds. Recipients of support
grants design, operate, and direct the project and are also awarded a certain number of
VISTA Volunteer positions.
First year projects may receive support grants for costs associated with supervision, benefits,
Criminal History Check expenses, and supervisor travel for site visits. No funds may be used
in the first year to make payments or reimbursements to VISTA Volunteers.

UNALLOWABLE EXPENSES
Expenses that are not allowable costs for VISTA support grants include:
• Equipment or supplies, including computers, software, or office supplies
• Contractual services, unless used specifically for background checks
• Communication expenses, printing and logistics, including advertising cost
associated with recruitment or project promotion
• Funding for indirect costs
• Daily Commuting Expenses
• Housing or Meal Plans
• Office space or related costs

MATCH REQUIREMENT
AmeriCorps VISTA support grants do not have a minimum match requirement.
Support grant projects are still responsible for local operating and logistical costs that may
go beyond the scope of allowable expenses for support grants funds. This support should be
reflected in your project application under the Budget/Cost Effectiveness narrative and
should not be described in the Budget section itself.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
You should refer to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit
Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR §200) as guiding regulations.
As a partner, your organization must comply with all applicable federal laws, regulations, and
OMB requirements for grant management, allowable costs, and audits, including providing
audits to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse if they expend over $1,000,000 in federal funds, as
required in OMB’s Uniform Guidance.

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Resources you will need to effectively manage your grant are found on the AmeriCorps
Mange Your Grant webpage.
AmeriCorps uses the Health and Human Services (HHS) “Payment Management System
(PMS)” for the disbursement of awarded grant funds. HHS requires that all grantees and
potential grantees complete account set-up forms to be ready for entry in the “Payment
Management System.” You are encouraged to prepare and submit the forms listed below in
conjunction with your application. However, submission of these forms does not guarantee
that your application will be approved for funding, nor do they impact the review of your
application.
Current partners already using the PMS system do not need to re-submit the HHS/PMS forms.
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HHS/PMS Access Form
Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form (SF-1199A)
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Copies of the SF-1199A form and instructions for completing this form can be
obtained by visiting: “Add/Update Banking Information”

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Recipient Contact Form can be obtained by visiting Manage Your Grant webpage
under “Pre-Award Resources”.

Upon award, support grants will be required to take the following on demand trainings
provide via the agency’s training platform Litmos. The trainings can be viewed by visiting
Manage Your Grant webpage under “Pre-Award Resources”:
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Key Concepts of Financial Grants Management eCourse
Funds Management Training for AmeriCorps Grantees
National Service Criminal History Check eCourse

Applicant Operational and Financial Management Survey (OFMS)
All new support grant partners must complete an Applicant Operational and Financial
Management Survey (OFMS) with the submission of your application.
The OFMS form can be found on the Manage Your Grant webpage under “Pre-Award
Resources.”
SAM.Gov Registration
All resources recipients must register for Unique Entity ID (UEI) from the federal System for
Award Management (SAM.gov).and be registered at SAM.gov. This registration is free. If your
organization already has a UEI, use this information for your SAM.gov registration.
Confirm the information you entered in SAM.gov exactly matches the information you input
into eGrants.

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SUPPORT GRANT BUDGET
INSTRUCTIONS IN EGRANTS
To apply for support grant resources, you must designate your application as a “support
grant” in eGrants. In the “Application Information Section” of your application in eGrants,
select the “Support Grant” program type. This must be selected for the system to populate
the budget components of the application.
All budget periods are to be proposed for a 12-months.
In eGrants, the “Budget / Budget Narrative” has one section you are required to complete.
The line items you enter are based on whether you are a new or continuing project receiving
a support grant:
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Budget Section 1. Program Operating Costs
o Includes costs associated with VISTA Volunteer support expenses incurred by
the project, such as project personnel, fringe benefits, staff travel, and other
VISTA Volunteer support costs.

TIPS FOR COMPLETING THE BUDGET
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Your project application narratives must provide supporting explanation of the
proposed costs.
You must include the requested purpose and the basis of your calculation in the
Budget Narrative. (e.g. Salary for Program Coordinator: $45,000 at 30% time for
VISTA Project Director Role = $13,500.)
Use only whole dollars, rounding up to the nearest dollar if necessary.
Your budget entries should reflect a twelve-month project period.
All grantee requested expenses to be paid with support grant funds are to be entered
under the “CNCS Share”.
Once you have entered your budget information in eGrants, you will be asked to
validate your budget, and eGrants will check your submission for errors that must be
fixed prior to submission.

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BUDGET SECTION 1. PROGRAM OPERATING
COSTS
PROJECT PERSONNEL EXPENSES
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Complete this line item to apply for grant funds for the salary costs of supervising VISTA
Volunteers, Leaders and if applicable, Summer Associates assigned to your project.
Funds to support supervision can be directed to more than one staff member of your
organization or its service locations, but all listed personnel must directly supervise
VISTA Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates. Costs to cover the supervision of
the VISTA project supervisor are not allowable.
o Direct supervision includes but not limited to:
 recruitment and selection of VISTA Volunteers, preparation of individual
VISTA assignment descriptions,
 orientation to the project,
 day-to-day oversight,
 preparation of service verification documents, and/or
 preparation of project progress reports.
o Funds may not be used to pay staff salaries to prepare the concept paper,
project application, or continuation applications.
o Staff other than the project supervisor(s) may not be reimbursed with VISTA
grant dollars.
o All staff listed in the budget must adhere to AmeriCorps’ National Service
Criminal History Check requirements.
o Information about each supervisor should be listed along with a position title,
salary amount, and the percentage of time devoted to VISTA Volunteer
supervision.
o Organizations with multiple supervisors with different salaries, titles or other
differing characteristics should create separate line items for each position.

ACTION STEP: Click “add a new budget item” and complete the requested information to
apply for funds to support supervision:
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For “Position/Title” enter the current or intended title of the individual(s) devoted to
supervision.
For “Qty” enter the number of individuals who match this exact title, salary and who will
spend the same percentage of time devoted to supervision. You should complete new
line items for each individual’s position.
For “Annual Salary” enter the annual salary for one individual.

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For “% Time” enter the percentage of time that each person listed above will spend on
supervision. The percentage listed should not exceed the percentage of actual time
devoted to supervision by each individual.
Click into the box called “CNCS Share.” Refer to the “Total Amount” calculated by eGrants
and enter the portion of the amount that you are requesting from AmeriCorps.

PERSONNEL FRINGE BENEFITS:
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Complete this line to apply for grant funds for the costs of personnel fringe benefits for
the individuals who will be supervising VISTA Volunteers, Leaders and/or Summer
Associates.
Fringe benefits are allowable support grant line items only for individuals listed above
in “Project Personnel Expenses” and who are receiving salary support from AmeriCorps.
Allowable fringe benefits include FICA, Health Insurance, Retirement, and Life
Insurance.
The percentage of fringe benefits paid must be less than or equal to the percentage of
salary support being requested. See the ACTION STEP example below for an
illustration of this requirement.
Information about each fringe benefit request should be listed along with a description;
total fringe benefit annual amount; the percentage of time devoted to VISTA
supervision; and the percentage of the overall fringe benefit costs being requested
from AmeriCorps.

ACTION STEP: Click “add a new budget item” and complete the requested information to
apply for fringe benefit support funds.
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Example: An individual will spend 20% of their time devoted to VISTA supervision and
the applicant organization is requesting grant funds from AmeriCorps for 50% of the
costs of salary support for that time. In total, this applicant is requesting VISTA support
grant funds to pay 10% (0.20 * 0.50 = 0.10) of the supervisor’s annual salary. Thus, they
may only request “CNCS Share” to cover up to 10% of total annual fringe benefits.

LOCAL TRAVEL
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Complete this line item to apply for grant funds for the costs of travel incurred for local
service location monitoring by the individuals who will be supervising VISTA Volunteers,
Leader and/or Summer Associates.
Local travel support funds may be requested by your organization for full or partial
funding to cover travel expenses incurred for local service location monitoring, but only in
those cases where such support is necessary for compliance and for the effective
functioning of the VISTA Volunteers, Leaders, or Summer Associates on the project and

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where such support for project staff travel cannot be met within the your organization’s
own structure and resources.
Funds to support project staff travel are in the amount of the costs of public transportation
or, where public transportation is not adequate, in the amount of the Privately Owned
Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rate. The POV mileage reimbursement rate
should be at least the rate applied to all travel within your organization and no greater
than the federal mileage rate. If there is no standard rate within your organization, then
the federal mileage rate should be applied. (Current federal mileage rates can be found
at: www.gsa.gov/mileage )
Your organization will be responsible for any expenses incurred for such travel over the
agreed amount.

ACTION STEP: Click “add a new budget item” and complete the requested information to
apply for local travel support funds for project staff:
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For “Purpose” enter information about the purpose of local travel, including position title
of project staff. (e.g. Project Supervisor travel to monitor local sites A, B and C.)
For “Calculation” enter a description in the form of an equation. (e.g., 1 Supervisor
traveling @ $25/trip for 2 trips = $50. Include costs for transportation and/or other related
expenses, such as bus passes to local sites, mileage rates, etc.)
Enter information into the “CNCS Share” box for resources you are requesting from
CNCS.

LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL
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Complete this line item to apply for grant funds for the costs of travel incurred for long
distance service location monitoring by the individuals who will be supervising VISTA
Volunteers, Leaders and if applicable, or Summer Associates.
Long distance travel support funds may be requested by your organization for full or
partial funding to cover travel expenses incurred for subrecipient monitoring, but only in
those cases where such support is necessary for compliance and for the effective
functioning of the VISTA Volunteers, Leader, or Summer Associates on the project and
where such support for project staff travel cannot be met within your organization’s own
structure and resources.
Funds to support project staff travel are in the amount of the costs of public transportation
or, where public transportation is not adequate, in the amount of the Privately Owned
Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates. The POV mileage reimbursement rate
should be at least the rate applied to all travel within your organization and no greater
than the federal mileage rate. If there is no standard rate within your organization, then
the federal mileage rate should be applied.
Your organization will be responsible for any expenses incurred for such travel over the
agreed amount.

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ACTION STEP: Click “add a new budget item” and complete the requested information to
apply for project staff travel support funds:
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For “Purpose” enter information about the purpose of project staff travel, including
position title. (e.g. Project Supervisor travel to monitor sites A and B)
For “Calculation” enter a description in the form of an equation. (e.g., 1 Supervisor
traveling at $250/trip for 2 trips = $500. Include costs for transportation and other related
expenses, such as bus passes, mileage rates, hotel expenses, etc.)
Enter information into the “CNCS Share” box for resources you are requesting from
CNCS.

AUDITS
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Complete this line item to request grant funds for the costs of required audits.
Audits are allowable costs if your organization meets OMB threshold requirements. The
current requirement sets forth that a single or program-specific audit is required if a nonfederal entity expends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards during the non-federal
entity’s fiscal year.
If an audit is required because your organization meets the threshold, VISTA grant funds
may be utilized on a pro-rated charge that is determined among the federal programs
involved. You may forecast the amount of audit costs based on your funding history.

ACTION STEP: Click “Add a New Budget item” to enter audit information.
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For “Item” enter information about the audit, including the total amount and the portions
of funding that your organization receives from various federal agencies.
Example: If an organization received 50% of their federal funding from Health and
Human Services, 40% of federal funding from the Department of Education, and 10% of
federal funding from AmeriCorps, then a reasonable allocation of costs might be to
charge the audit according to the percentage of federal funds received (10% for
AmeriCorps in this example). This applicant might request AmeriCorps to cover up to
10% of total annual audit amount.

OTHER PROGRAM OPERATING COSTS
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Complete this section to request grant funds for expenses related to:
o Service-related transportation expenses of VISTA Volunteers, Leaders, and
Summer Associates and/or
o In limited instances and with additional approval, costs for implementing training
events for VISTA Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates.
Individual line items will need to be created for noted expenses.

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Travel
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Complete this line item to request grant funds for service-related transportation for VISTA
Volunteers, Leader, and Summer Associates serving on the project. Service-related
transportation is transportation related to fulfilling the VISTA Volunteer's day-to-day
service duties at the project site.
Do not list daily commute, AmeriCorps invitational training travel, or relocation travel
costs in this section.
Your organization is responsible for the costs of service-related transportation for VISTA
Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates.
Support grant funds may be requested by your organization for full or partial funding for
service-related transportation of VISTA Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates.
o To receive funding, service-related transportation must be necessary and appropriate.
Your application must show that service-related transportation is necessary for VISTA
Volunteers to effectively perform their work and carry out the purpose of the VISTA
program. You must also explain why your organization cannot provide service-related
transportation with existing resources.
Grants for service-related transportation are in the amount of the costs of public
transportation or, where public transportation is not adequate, in the amount of Privately
Owned Vehicle (POV) Mileage Reimbursement Rates. The POV mileage reimbursement
rate should be at least the rate applied to all travel within your organization, up to the
federal mileage rate. If there is no standard rate within your organization, then use the
federal mileage rate.
You will be responsible for any expenses incurred for service-related transportation over
the agreed amount.
Support grant funds for service-related transportation may not be used to:
o Cover relocation costs of a VISTA Volunteer, Leader or Summer Associate, since those
costs are provided directly by AmeriCorps
o Cover the costs of VISTA Volunteers, Leaders, or Summer Associates traveling from
their residence to and from their service site (i.e., daily commuting costs)
o Cover costs of providing direct services to the beneficiaries of the VISTA project (e.g.,
delivering meals)
o Cover travel costs for training

ACTION STEP: Click “add a new budget item” and complete the requested information to
apply for service-related transportation support grant funds.
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For “Item/Description” enter a description of the purpose of the service-related
transportation.
For “Calculation” provide a description in the form of an equation that includes costs for
transportation and other related expenses for VISTA Volunteers to travel outside their
service location or between sites, such as bus passes to local sites, mileage

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reimbursement for use of car, etc. For example: 3 VISTAs traveling at $2.50/bus trip for 10
trips = $75.
For “Total Amount” enter the total cost for service-related transportation for the VISTA
project. For “CNCS Share” enter the portion of the “Total Amount” that you are requesting
from CNCS.

Training
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Complete this line item to request grant funds to be used for pre-approved costs for
implementing training events for VISTA Volunteers, Leader, and/or Summer Associates.
Please read through the rest of the instructions before completing this section in eGrants.
In rare instances, AmeriCorps may determine that a partner may be eligible to receive
grant funds to offset costs associated with providing additional professional development
and ongoing training and support.
Resources cannot be provided for required Volunteer trainings. Funds may not be
requested for the trainings AmeriCorps VISTA provides (such as VISTA Service
Orientation (VSO), etc.) or your On-Site Orientation and Training (OSOT).
To be eligible to receive grant funds to implement VISTA Volunteer training, AmeriCorps
must decide that:
o Your organization is in good standing with the agency
o It is in the interests of the VISTA program.
o The training is applicable and necessary.
 Your organization can develop a curriculum and manage logistics that aligns
with the project.
 The training is necessary for the VISTA Volunteers to effectively perform their
duties and carry out the purpose of the VISTA program.
If you are interested in holding additional training than what is provided by AmeriCorps
VISTA, please contact your AmeriCorps regional office BEFORE submitting your budget
request.
If the VISTA program determines that your application for grant funds for VISTA Volunteer
training is warranted, you can request funds by clicking “add a new budget item” and
completing the requested information. You should:
o Describe the purpose of the training
o Identify the number of individuals that will be trained, along with an estimated cost per
individual
o Describe any training-related travel needs, such as costs for transportation, lodging,
per diem, and other travel related expenses multiplied by the number of
trips/participants
o AmeriCorps determines the amount of the grant for VISTA Volunteer training based
on the actual costs of the training and available funds.

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