VISTA Project Progress Report

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Project Progress Report (PPR)
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

CONTENTS
How do I use this document? .............................................................................................................3
What is the purpose of this document? .........................................................................................3
Who completes the project progress report? ...............................................................................3
When is the annual PPR due?..........................................................................................................3
Completing the Project Progress Report...........................................................................................4
General Info ......................................................................................................................................6
Status .............................................................................................................................................6
Member Development ....................................................................................................................7
Sponsor Note Box ........................................................................................................................8
Demographics ..................................................................................................................................8
Sponsor Note Box ........................................................................................................................9
Narratives ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Challenges ................................................................................................................................. 11
Sustainability .............................................................................................................................. 11
Partnership/Collaboration Development................................................................................ 11
Resource Development ............................................................................................................ 11
Recruitment and Support ......................................................................................................... 12
Training/Technical Assistance Needs ...................................................................................... 12
Multi-Service Location/Intermediary Project Management and Performance .................... 12
Other Accomplishments ........................................................................................................... 13
Stories ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Attachments and Links .............................................................................................................. 13

Sponsor Note Box ..................................................................................................................... 13
Performance Measures ................................................................................................................. 14
Sponsor Note Box ..................................................................................................................... 15
Summary/Staff Review Tab ........................................................................................................... 16
Overall Sponsor Note Box ........................................................................................................ 16
Reviewing Feedback and Responding to Clarification Items in the PPR..................................... 17
Reviewed Status ......................................................................................................................... 17

HOW DO I USE THIS DOCUMENT?
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT?
The Project Progress Report (PPR) describes your project’s advancement toward achieving the
performance targets that you identified in your approved application. The PPR helps
AmeriCorps determine whether your project aligns with your awarded application, VISTA
policies and regulations, and whether you are making adequate progress on your project’s
goals. Reporting on the performance measures you selected in your application is required.
If your project is approved, AmeriCorps provides these PPR instructions. You are required to
follow these instructions to submit a completed PPR to AmeriCorps at the end of each annual
project reporting period.

WHO COMPLETES THE PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT?
The Project Director and/or Project Supervisor are responsible for completing and submitting
the report. If delegated to another person, that person must be staff of your organization. They
cannot be a VISTA, Leader, or Summer Associate; however, you should gather input from your
VISTA Volunteers to develop your responses to the questions asked in the PPR.

WHEN IS THE ANNUAL PPR DUE?
The annual PPR is due 90 days after the project end date which is captured in your
Memorandum of Agreement (MA) or an MA extension (if applicable). Your project period
dates generally do not match your VISTA Volunteer service dates. The PPR form will appear in
eGrants 90 days prior to their due date.
If this is your FINAL PPR and your project is closing, you have 120 days after the project
end date to submit. Contact your AmeriCorps regional office if you have any questions
about the dates.
If you cannot meet the submission deadline for the progress report, you must request an
extension from your AmeriCorps regional office. Requests for extensions may be granted
when:
1. The report cannot be finished in a timely manner for reasons legitimately beyond the
control of the partner, and
2. AmeriCorps receives a request explaining the need for an extension before the due
date of the report.
Open application amendments during the same project year as the PPR may interfere with
data entry in the PPR. If you have amendment(s) currently in process that fit this description,
please work with your AmeriCorps regional office to get the amendment(s) awarded or
withdrawn before you start entering data into the PPR.

COMPLETING THE PROJECT PROGRESS
REPORT
1. To begin, login to your eGrants account
2. When you are on the eGrants home page, access the PPR under the “Reporting to CNCS”
section by clicking on, “Progress Report.”

Figure 1 Screen shot of eGrants home page with “Progress Report” button circled.

3. All of your current and previous AmeriCorps awards will be listed. Click on your current
VISTA project grant number to see the reports available for that award.

Figure 2 Screen shot of eGrants. Example of list of “Progress reports for existing grants” screen.

4. After you click on your current grant number, the reports available for that award will
appear. A status of “Progress Report Initial Entry” indicates that the PPR has not been
submitted to AmeriCorps and is available for you to enter information. Review the project
“reporting date” and “due date” columns to help select the correct report. Click “Edit” to
begin working on the PPR.

Figure 3 Screen shot of eGrants. Example “Project Report Initial Entry” with the “edit” button circled.

GENERAL INFO
The PPR uses tabs that contain different information for you to review or complete. The first
tab is “General Info.” On this tab, review the information (e.g. reporting period dates and
grant number) to ensure you selected the correct PPR.
Click “Begin” to move to the next screen and start inputting information for the PPR.
If the information on the “General Info” tab does not indicate it is the correct PPR, click
“Cancel” to return to the previous eGrants screen.

Figure 4 Screen shot of eGrants Progress Report’s “General Info” tab.

Projects awarded under special Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) or programming
initiatives may be required to submit PPRs more frequently. If you have questions, consult with
your regional office.
Status
On the “General Info” tab you will see a status indicator for the PPR. The “Status” line
indicates the status of the PPR you are currently working on:
•

“Progress Report Initial Entry” means that the PPR has not yet been submitted to
AmeriCorps.

•

“Progress Report Submitted” means that the PPR has been submitted to
AmeriCorps but has not yet been reviewed.

•

“Progress Report Reviewed” means that the PPR has been reviewed by
AmeriCorps and now includes feedback.

•

“Progress Report Returned for Rework” means that the PPR has been
returned to you for changes that are described in the PPR feedback from
an AmeriCorps regional staff member.
Tip: At the bottom of the General Info tab, you can see a list of all PPRs that have
previously been submitted for this project. You can click on any PPR in the list to go
directly to a PDF of that report.

Figure 5 Screen shot of list of previously submitted PPRs in eGrants.

MEMBER DEVELOPMENT
In the Member Development tab, you will report on how your organization supported the
professional development of your VISTA Volunteers, Leaders and Summer Associates
assigned to your project.
You will enter the estimated number of hours in various professional development areas that
you provided to each of your VISTA Volunteers, Leaders, and Summer Associates during the
reporting period. Development opportunities may be formal, such as a conference, a
workshop, a course, or an online course. Or they may be informal, such as coaching,
mentoring, and shadowing. Events may be group-based and individually focused, and faceto-face, as well as virtual.
Report the number of hours for the development opportunities you provided. The
categories are listed below.
•
•
•
•
•

On-Site Orientation (for new VISTA Volunteers)
Community Volunteer Generation/Recruitment (including community volunteer
management)
Resource Development/Fundraising (including grant writing)
Training on your project’s specific focus area(s), (e.g. food insecurity, financial literacy,
homelessness, development of educational curriculum, etc.)
Other (e.g. organizational development, artificial intelligence, etc.)

For example, if a VISTA Volunteer attended a one-hour grant writing workshop in the first six
months of the reporting period,and the same Volunteer plus a new Volunteer attended a
two-hour grant writing workshop in the second six months of the reporting period, you would
enter “5” in the field for “Resource Development/Fundraising” to reflect the total of five hours
(1 hour x 1 VISTA Volunteer + 2 hours x 2 VISTA Volunteers) provided during a twelve month
reporting period.

Sponsor Note Box
Use the “Sponsor Note” box to describe the trainings you provided for your VISTA
Volunteers. You should include the name of the training, its purpose, number of VISTA
Volunteer attendees, and any other relevant information. If no training was offered, explain
why training was not offered during the reporting period. If you have any professional
development data for the “Other” category, you should specify the subject matter in the
“Sponsor Note” box.
To expand the note box, click on the right side and drag.
Once you have entered all additional relevant information,
check the box “Done with this Section”.Click “Next” to move
to the next tab.

Figure 6 Screen shot of “Sponsor Note”
box

DEMOGRAPHICS
The Demographics tab is used to collect certain performance information from all VISTA
partners. Some of the questions may not be relevant for your project. If your project is not
engaged in the activity, enter “0” for that field. DO NOT LEAVE BLANK.
Note: When entering numbers on this screen, use whole numbers (no decimal
places) with no commas.

•

On line 1, enter the total number of community volunteers recruited and/or managed
because of the project and VISTA Volunteer activities during the reporting period. Do not
count VISTA Volunteers in your total.
Note: Community volunteers are defined as unpaid citizens from the local
community that are recruited and/or managed because of the project and
VISTA Volunteer activities. VISTA Volunteers are not considered community
volunteers.

•

On line 2, enter the number of service hours performed during the reporting period by
the community volunteers identified in line 1.

•

On line 3, enter the dollar value of cash and in-kind (non-cash) resources developed
because of the VISTA project activities during the reporting period.

•

On line 4, enter the number of organizations that report your VISTA Volunteers’ capacity
building activities helped them improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness and/or
program reach.

•

On line 5, enter the number of youth who received services provided by VISTA-supported
partners and service locations in all focus areas.

•

On line 6, enter the number of veterans and military family members who received
services provided by VISTA-supported partners and service locations in all focus areas.

•

On line 7, tell us if your VISTA Volunteers built organizational capacity to deliver antipoverty programming by your organization and partners. Enter 1 for yes and 0 for no.
Note: AmeriCorps VISTA defines “capacity building” as:
Creating or expanding the scale, impact, and resource-leveraging ability of
specific anti-poverty initiatives. VISTA Volunteers create systems that
remain long after their term of service ends. Volunteers strengthening
partners’ efforts to expand community partnerships, securing cash and inkind resources, recruiting and managing community volunteers, and
addressing specific local needs. All activities must focus on creating
pathways out of poverty for individuals and communities. The primary
pathways include:
•
•
•
•

Increased effectiveness: Partners have improved their abilities to
achieve better success rates or better quality of outcomes.
Increased efficiency: Partners have improved outcomes with the
same level of resources or with fewer resources.
Increased scale/reach: Partners have increased the scope of a
program’s or expanded services by serving to new people, new
populations.
Increased resources: Partners have leveraged resources such as
funding, community volunteers, in-kind support, and partnerships.

Sponsor Note Box
Use the “Sponsor Note” box to provide context to demographic data provided in lines
1,2,4,5,6, & 7. You should include any relevant information to help the reviewer better
understand the data being reported.
Data provided in line 3, is to be described in the “Resource
Development” section of the Narratives tab.
To expand the note box, click on the right side and drag.

Figure 7 Screen shot of “Sponsor Note”
box

Once you have entered all additional relevant information,
check the box “Done with this Section.” Click “Next” to move to the next tab.

NARRATIVES
In the Narratives tab, complete each narrative with information about your project activities
during the reporting period. Your responses must address the topics that are included for
each narrative. The purpose of this section is to give you an opportunity to explain your
project’s progress, accomplishments, and challenges qualitatively.
eGrants Instructions:
•
•

Click on each narrative heading, a text field will display allowing you to enter narrative
information.
Once any text has been entered in that section, the orange arrow next to the heading
will change to a green check mark.

Figure 8 Screen shot of eGrants Progress Report’s “Narratives” tab.

Challenges
Describe the challenges you encountered with your project during this reporting period.
Include whether challenges have been resolved. If challenges remain unresolved, note your
plans to address them during your next project year.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a key indicator of project success for the VISTA program. As outlined in our
project framework, it is important to assess whether your organization has established
sufficient resources, secured adequate funding, and developed strong partnerships to
maintain the core components of the project once VISTA support concludes.
Describe the project’s sustainability strategy, specifically regarding your capacity to operate
independently without AmeriCorps VISTA resources.
If the VISTA activities in your most recent continuation application remained essentially the
same as the prior year's application, explain why.
Describe how your organization’s staff, local community VISTA Volunteers and project
beneficiaries are involved in the implementation of the project.
Describe how many more years you will need VISTA resources for your VISTA project to
become sustainable. For example, are there enough resources, funding, or partnerships in
place to make sure the main parts of the project can continue?
If this is the final progress report for the entire project, was your VISTA project able to make a
meaningful difference in addressing the original community needs or problems identified in
your first application? If so, how? If not, why?
Partnership/Collaboration Development
List the other organizations with which your VISTA project is partnering or collaborating that
are intended to further the activities and goals of the VISTA project. Please state if any of your
partners also receive AmeriCorps funding. Describe the nature of the partnership or
collaboration and how they relate to the project goals. Include notable activities and results.
For intermediary projects, focus on the partnerships you are establishing with external
organizations to further the goals of the project. Include 3-5 examples of partnerships being
developed by your service locations.
Resource Development
Describe the resources that you recorded on the Demographics tab of this PPR. Include the
source and the use of the cash or in-kind resources (non-cash) generated by the VISTA
Volunteers. Identify the VISTA Volunteer(s) responsible for securing the resources.

If your project is an intermediary, you do not have to report on every site, but instead may
highlight your most successful service locations.
Recruitment and Support
Describe efforts being made toward the recruitment, retention, and support of your VISTA
Volunteers, leaders, and if applicable, summer associates.
Include any strategies
implemented, best practices developed, or specific challenges faced. Describe your plan to
ensure a smooth transition between outgoing and incoming VISTA Volunteers.
Do not report on the recruitment of community volunteers in this section.
Training/Technical Assistance Needs
Describe the type of assistance that you would like from AmeriCorps during the near
performance period. Please note if you have already contacted your AmeriCorps regional office for
this assistance.
Multi-Service Location/Intermediary Project Management and Performance
Note: Definitions for multi-service location and intermediary project model
 Multi-Service Location Project Model
Projects that plan to have VISTA Volunteers serve at different locations under
their organization (meaning all service locations are under the same
Employee Identification Number (EIN)) would be considered multi-service
location projects. Multi-service location projects do not need to complete this
narrative section and can write “Not Applicable” in this narrative field.
 Intermediary Project Model
An intermediary partner (“intermediary”) is a partner that operates a project
and provides AmeriCorps resources to other eligible entities that are also
part of the project. Intermediary partners are the legal entities that apply for
and receive the federal / VISTA resources. Intermediary partners are
responsible for ensuring full compliance with applicable rules and
regulations of the VISTA program.
The intermediary partner is often, but not always, a large organization that
has the capacity to develop and support service locations across a wide
geographic area or among a group of organizations that address a common
need. The intermediary provides administrative services, technical support,
training, and oversight to organizations where VISTA Volunteers are
assigned, referred to as service locations. The eligible entities or service
locations that participate in an intermediary project are often small
organizations that otherwise might not have access to such resources. The
intermediary may operate a service location with assigned VISTA Volunteer(s)
in addition to providing support to external service locations.

If you have VISTA Volunteers placed at multiple service locations, either as a multi-service
location project or an intermediary project, describe how you are managing and monitoring
project performance at the service locations during the reporting period. List the service
locations you have monitored during the reporting period. Include activities during the
reporting period for orienting and training service location supervisors. Identify any
challenges you have with service location performance and management, and technical
assistance you plan to provide to service locations. Describe your process for ensuring
service locations report any unscheduled VISTA Volunteer departures or terminations.
Other Accomplishments
Describe in detail any additional project or VISTA Volunteer accomplishments that are not
reported within the performance measures (next tab).
Stories
Provide stories that communicate to the public the value of VISTA Volunteers to your
organization and community. Where possible, incorporate numerical results and sustainable
solutions with your narrative.
Attachments and Links
List any additional documents you sent to your AmeriCorps regional office as part of this
submission. Examples include copies of press, flyers, letters, or other documents that relate
to the project or VISTA Volunteers’ activities and accomplishments. You can also enter links to
external websites where articles or information are posted.
Note: eGrants does not have an upload or attach feature so you are simply
listing the additional documents you will or have already sent to the AmeriCorps
regional office to supplement this report.

Sponsor Note Box
Use the “Sponsor Note” box to provide any additional relevant information related to the
narrative sections.
To expand the note box, click on the right side and drag.
Once you have entered all additional relevant information,
check the box “Done with this Section”. Click “Next” to
move to the nextscreen.

Figure 9 Screen shot of “Sponsor Note”
box

PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The Performance Measures tab is where you enter your progress on achieving the
Performance Measure targets identified in your approved application. You will use this
screen to enter actual outputs and outcomes.
Click on the small arrows to open that performance measure and report on your progress.

Figure 10 Screen shot of eGrants Progress Report’s “Performance Measures” tab.

When the performance measure set is open, you will see several columns. Moving your
cursor over the items in the Measure # column will show the description of the measure.
In the ‘Actual’ column, you enter numbers for the reporting period. You must enter whole
numbers, not percentages. The numbers you report should reflect your accomplishments
during this reporting period. You are required to report “Actuals” for Capacity Building
Measures including outputs and outcomes. You are also required to report “Actuals” for AntiPoverty outputs, but not outcomes.
Reporting “Actuals” for Anti-Poverty Measures – both outputs and outcomes - is required for
Summer Associates doing direct service.

Figure 11 Screen shot of eGrants Progress Report’s performance measure actuals.

In the “# of Full time VISTAS” field, enter the total number of VISTA Volunteers and/or Leaders
that were assigned to work on this particular performance measure set during the project
year, regardless of the amount of time spent on the activity.
The “Actual” column calculates information based on the numbers you enter. The “Progress”
column shows your progress towards achieving the target you identified for a particular
measure.
This section will populate if you enter a number and then click
“Calculate Progress” button.
Sponsor Note Box

Figure 12 Screen shot of
“Calculate Progress” button in
the “Performance Measure” tab.

Use the “Sponsor Note” box to provide any additional information for a performance
measure set. If targets are not on track to be achieved, provide an explanation.
To expand the note box, click on the right side and drag.
When all information has been entered for the performance
measure set, check the “Done with Section” box. The PPR
cannot be submitted until all “Done with Section” boxes
have been checked.

Figure 13 Screen shot of “Sponsor
Note” box

When information has been entered for all service locations, click “Next” to move to the next
screen.

SUMMARY/STAFF REVIEW TAB
The Summary/Staff Review tab provides a summary of your PPR. From this screen, you can
print your PPR Summary, review your project’s progress, enter notes to AmeriCorps regional
staff, and review comments that AmeriCorps regional staff provided to you in their review of
your PPR.
By clicking “Print Complete Note History” you can print all notes you entered in the Progress
Report tab. By clicking “Print PPR Summary” you can print the PPR for all performance
measures sets. By selecting a service location in the dropdown menu and clicking “Print PPR
by Service location”, you can print performance measures for individual service locations,
which may be helpful if you are a multi-service location partner working with individual
service locations.

Figure 14 Screen shot of buttons for printing options in the “Summary/Staff Review” tab

Overall Sponsor Note Box
Use the “Overall Sponsor Note” box located in the “Summary” section, to provide additional
relevant information related to your overall progress of your VISTA project and your ability
to meet the goals and objectives of your project set forth in your application.
To expand the note box, click on the right side and drag.

Figure 15 Screen shot of “Overall Sponsor Note” box.

Once you have entered all required data and information, click “Submit to AmeriCorps” to
submit the PPR.

REVIEWING FEEDBACK AND RESPONDING
TO CLARIFICATION ITEMS IN THE PPR
For each tab where data is entered, AmeriCorps regional staff reviews the data and
determines whether clarification is necessary. If clarification is required, AmeriCorps regional
staff will return the PPR for rework to allow you to make necessary corrections.
The feedback and clarification items are found in the staff notes for each section and in the
overall staff notes.
After responding to all clarification items, you return the report to AmeriCorps by clicking the
“Grantee – Submit to AmeriCorps” button on the Summary tab.
Reviewed Status
If the progress report does not require clarification or all clarification items have been
satisfactorily addressed, AmeriCorps regional staff will set the PPR status to “Reviewed.” You
will receive email notification and will be able to review all feedback provided in the progress
report when the report is in “Reviewed” status.