Introduction to Peace Corps Grants Online PCGO for

Introduction to Peace Corps Grants Online (PCGO) for Peace Corps Volunteers If you have any problems, questions, comments, or requests related to PCGO, please contact your Small Grants Coordinator

What is PCGO? • Peace Corps Grants Online is a two-sided system that Peace Corps uses to manage grants. – Volunteers use the web-based “portal” to create and edit their grants and submit their application as well as their completion report. – Licensed staff at post and HQ use the CRM database to view grant information. All information entered by the PCV through the portal appears instantly in CRM. Staff can also make edits to applications/projects through the CRM, view and add attachments, and download all the same forms that PCVs can.

How to get started in PCGO • The PCLive Small Grants Page has all of the necessary resources for PCVs: – Small Grants Handbook – contains all policies and procedures related to small grants programs – PCGO Step-by-Step Guide – follow these instructions closely to register in PCGO and fill out a grant application. – Working Offline Section – contains instructions for submitting all or any part of the grant application or completion report in an offline format. – Frequently asked questions and answers *Please note that you may experience compatibility issues if you are working in the PCGO portal on your mobile device or an older (pre-2010) browser version.

Part 1 of the application • Part 1 opens in a new window or tab when you click “New” to start a new application. • Once your project has been saved, you can open Part 1 from the main page by clicking the Edit icon next to your project. • Your Grant Status must be “Draft” in order for you to edit the application (parts 1 and 2). • You will find any Draft application by clicking on the “Draft” section on the left side

General Information and Narrative • Part 1 contains all of the general information about the grant and the PCV(s) who will be working on it. All required fields are marked with a red asterisk *. • Part 1 also includes the Project Narrative sections – remember that what you write in these sections will be read by PC HQ staff in Washington. It may even be shared with the press to showcase the story of your project, so please write clearly and descriptively. *Note that you can click in the corners of the narrative fields and drag them down and to the right if you need more space to see what you are writing.

Part 2 of the application • Part 2 is at the bottom of the main PCGO “Home” page. To edit part 2, you must click on the grant you are working on to highlight it in green, then scroll to the bottom of the page and select the tabs to enter information. Part 2 includes Monitoring & Evaluation, Classification & Indicators, Timeline, Budget, Referrals (PCPP and LGL Only), and Documents & Printouts.

Goals and Objectives and Timeline • When you are entering Goals, Objectives and Indicators, each box must be filled out on each line. To allow the goals to sort in a logical order, it is a good practice to number them in some format like : 1. Goal 1 , 1. 1 Objective 1 under Goal 1 1. Goal 1, 1. 2 Objective 2 under Goal 1 • Also for the timeline, you can sort activities in the order you want if they are numbered.

Indicators • There are four different sections of indicators. PCPP grants do not have program -specific indicators, but all other grant types do. • A numeric value has to be entered for each indicator, even if it is 0. • Sometimes the programspecific indicators will appear across multiple pages. Click the arrows in the bottom right to move to the next page.

The Budget (probably the trickiest part) This video describes the budget tools in detail as well as common errors PCV have. • Each line must be entered and saved. A common error is when a budget line will not save because the Total Cost does not equal the sum of the grant amount + Community Contribution + Third-Party contribution. – In the picture below, Ax. B=C and C must Equal D+E+F+G+H (you may have to scroll right). • The fields will accept number values only – if you enter a dollar sign, letter or symbol you get an error: • If you have 20+ budget lines, they will appear across multiple pages. In the bottom right corner, you can change the records viewed per page to up to 40 or click the arrow to go to the next page.

Referrals (PCPP projects Only) • The Referrals section of PCGO is where Volunteers can list, friends, family, or professional contacts who may wish to support their Peace Corps Partnership Program project. • If referrals have an email address listed, they will be automatically sent an email when the project is posted online for fundraising informing them of how they can find the project on the website and support it. • Once the project is in “Project Posted” status, the donors who consent to having their information shared will be uploaded on a weekly basis to the Referrals section, where they will be listed with the title of Donor.

Documents • This section is a place to upload documents related to the project (scanned and signed signature forms, press authorization form, photos, etc…). – Remember that photos are a great way to share the success of your project and they may be shared with the press if you sign the press authorization form. • • Please give these documents descriptive names so they can easily be identified. PCVs cannot delete documents once they are attached in the portal, but staff members can through the CRM.

Printouts • This section is where you can download forms related to your grant. – Please note that in order for the project to be funded, you must sign the signature form pages. • You can also download the full Grant Application and Completion Report in Word format to share it with your Program Manager, counterparts, or other PCVs.

Completing the application offline • Go to the PCLive Small Grants Page and read the PDF instructions found under the “Working Offline” section. If you are submitting the entire application in offline format, be sure to download and complete BOTH the Offline Application and Offline Indicators Worksheets. • Fill out each purple tab of the application spreadsheet and in the indicators spreadsheet, select your country, grant type, and program element (if applicable) and then fill out your initial indicator values. • Email both completed spreadsheets to your Grant Coordinator for grants committee review. • Remember that you are welcome to submit just the budget part of the application in Excel format and fill out the rest of it in the portal.

Completion Report • Once the project has been completed, PCVs are required to fill out and submit the completion report. Follow the steps in pages 23 -29 in the step-by-step guide. • The project must be in “Project Active” status in order for the PCV to edit the completion report. • The completion report appears under “Approved Grants” on the left side of the page

Common issues with Completion Report • Volunteers experience some of the same common issues with the final budget as they do with the initial budget; the same rules apply as on slide 8. • If you notice that your budget total amounts are incorrect or show discrepancies between the detailed lines and summary amounts or printout and portal, contact your Grant Coordinator. • If they are not able to resolve the problem, your Grant Coordinator should submit a ticket in the Peace Corps Self Service Center with Type = PCGO. • Like the initial indicators, the final indicators must all have a value, even if 0.

Doing the Completion Report offline • You may use the same spreadsheets as you used for the application to fill out the completion report sections. • Remember you can fill out just the final project log in Excel and complete the rest of the report in the portal. • If you don’t have Excel: – Download your grant form in Word format from the PCGO portal from the Documents/Printouts section. • Fill out the Completion Report sections: – – Goals & Objectives section: Results (required) and Comments (optional) Grant Performance Indicators: Final Indicators column Final Budget Project Log Completion Report Narrative: all fields in this section • Once you have completed all completion report sections, email it to your grant coordinator.

Flags something for revision or holds the application until funds are available. Project status must be changed back to Draft for PCV to edit. *Note that withdrawn applications can be marked for deletion, while cancelled must be kept in system with record of returned funds.

Status What it means Draft The grant application is still being worked on. The grant MUST be in Draft status to edit the initial application. Project Withdrawn The application was started, but never submitted and the PCV informs the Grant Coordinator they will not continue that application. (May be deleted from the system by adding “DELETE” to the title). Submitted The grant application has been submitted by the PCV for review by the grant committee at post. The Grant Coordinator will get an email to inform them that the application has been submitted. Status Project The PCPP project has been posted to the website for Posted fundraising. Six hours after this status change, any (PCPP Only) referrals that you have included in your application in PCGO will be sent an email telling them how they can support the project. Project Active Post The grant application has been approved by the Project Approved grant committee, has been assigned a number, and Cancelled is awaiting the CD’s approval. Post Hold Grant committee has noted something needing Completion revision, or a decision pends on fund availability. Report Submitted PC/Washi- HQ program specialists have noted something that ngton Hold requires the PCV’s revision. Rejected Grant application has been rejected by post grant Project committee. Contact your Grant Coordinator for Closed by additional information. Post CD Approved What it means When placed in project active status, funds have been disbursed and should appear in the PCV’s bank account in a few days. After receiving funds, PCV may begin working on the project. The status will remain “Project Active” until you submit the completion report. The grant must be in Project Active status to edit the completion report. The grant has received funds and was later cancelled for any reason (early termination, medical separation). Notes and financial documentation are required! The PCV submitted the completion report. The grant coordinator will get an email informing them it is ready for review. The Grant Coordinator has reviewed your completion report and verified that all sections are complete and required documents are attached. The Country Director has signed off approving the Project The HQ program specialist has reviewed the grant and grant, signature forms have been attached to Completed confirmed that the project is complete. Volunteer documents and the grant is ready for PC HQ program specialists to review.

PCGO Support • If you have questions or problems with PCGO that cannot be resolved by following the stepby-step guide: – Check the guidance available on PCLive. – Contact your post grant coordinator – If your post grant coordinator is unable to answer the question or solve the problem, they should submit a ticket in the Peace Corps Self Service Center with Type = PCGO and include a detailed description.