The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. In fiscal year (FY) 2010, the Corporation’s funding priorities are projects that address compelling, unmet needs in these five national service priority areas: Education, Healthy Futures, Economic Opportunities, Clean Energy/Environment and Veterans. On December 1, 2009, the Corporation released national performance measures within these priority areas in order to aggregate the results of similar programs and demonstrate the impact of AmeriCorps in these areas. FY 2010 is the first pilot year for these national measures.

Below are links to detailed background information and Frequently Asked Questions on the national performance measures:

Detailed Background Information on National Performance Measures

FAQs on National Performance Measures

Tutorial: Introducing National Performance Measures

Instructions for Entering Performance Measures in eGrants
Follow these instructions (the same information is provided in different formats) to enter your performance measures in eGrants (national performance measures and applicant-determined performance measures):

• View the PDF Instructions for eGrants Performance Measure Screens (PDF); or
• View the PowerPoint Instructions for eGrants (PPS); or
• View and listen to the Webinar Instructions for eGrants Webinar (33 minutes).

National Performance Measure Instrument Packets

If you are participating in the pilot, you are required to measure the indicator that is stated in the Detailed Background Information. You are encouraged to review the following instrument packets. They include important information about the kinds of data you should be collecting to appropriately track and report on the measures. Some packets provide sample instruments you can modify for your use, while others have instruments or techniques you are required to use. Some packets include instruments for an aligned national output measure and national outcome measure; other packets include national output measures only and require you to identify your outcome. Each packet can provide information for one indicator to as many as seven indicators. Below are links to the instrument packets for the national performance measures, by priority area:

Education Priority Area
The Education Priority Area refers to unmet educational needs within communities, especially those that help disadvantaged children and youth to achieve success in school and prevent them from dropping out.

Healthy Futures Priority Area
The Healthy Futures Priority Area refers to unmet health needs within communities including access to health care, disease prevention and health promotion initiatives, and health literacy.

Economic Opportunity Priority Area
The Economic Opportunity Priority Area refers to unmet needs relating to economic opportunities for economically disadvantaged individuals including financial literacy, housing assistance, job training, and nutritional assistance. This priority area also includes indicators relating to creating greater opportunities for AmeriCorps members.

Clean Energy/Environment Priority Area
The Clean Energy/Environment Priority Area refers to unmet energy-efficiency and environmental needs within communities.

Veterans Priority Area
Veterans Priority Area refers to unmet needs of veterans, members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty, those that are honorably discharged, and family members of deployed military personnel.

NOTE: You are required to measure an aligned output and outcome. Most of the national measures are outputs. A few of the national measures include an output and outcome. In cases where there is only a national output measure, you will be required to identify and measure an outcome indicator specific for your program’s service activity. The instrument packets can help you think about how to create an appropriate set of aligned performance measures.