Northeast SARE Professional Development Program Grants

Annual Report Instructions - 2016

Follow the steps in the Instructions for Using the MySARE Reporting System document to navigate and enter content into the online reporting system.

Follow the instructions in this document to prepare the content for your annual report.

The annual report is a progress report due at the end of each calendar year for every year your project is active but not yet complete.

This report describes all accomplishments made towards the milestones from your approved proposal since your last report or, if your project is new, since the project began. Sometimes in the later stages of projects there may be outcomes for the performance target to report, but reporting on performance target outcomes is not a requirement for annual reports.

Annual reports are due on or before December 31 of the reporting year.

Writing the report

You can write your report directly in the MySARE text editor or cut and paste text from a word processor into the report.

  • If you cut and paste from other programs you may lose or modify some formatting.
  • Use the buttons in the text editor to format the text.
  • Use the special characters feature in the editor to add special characters. Most special characters can also be cut and paste into the report.

Graphic elements

You may upload graphic element such as tables, figures, graphs, photos, audio, and video files into the report. Images added to the body of your report will display inline with the text. Figures and graphs must be converted to images and saved as a JPEG, GIF or PNGs file to display as images in the report.

Further guidance about using the MySARE text editor and uploading images, graphics and files in MySARE is found in the Text Editor Guidance section of the Instructions for Using the MySARE Reporting Systemdocument.

Report content

There arefour sections in the online reporting template for annual reports:

  1. Summary
  2. Objective/performance targets
  3. Accomplishments/milestones
  4. Impacts and contributions/outcomes.

1. Summary—in this section cut and paste the abstract from your proposal to give the reader a brief overview of the reason for the project, the intended benefits to service providers and key project components. The abstract should briefly describe the problem being addressed, the educational approach, intended participant involvement and the intended performance target outcomes. If your abstract does not provide this information, please edit the abstract to include this information.

2. Objectives/Performance Targets—copy and paste, verbatim, the performance target from your approved application. This is the only content required in this section.

3. Accomplishments/Milestones—this section is the core of the annual report.

Cut and paste the milestones from your approved application into the report document. Below each milestone, describe accomplishments related to this milestone. Include information about what activity was completed for each milestone, the number and types of participants (NRCS, Extension, consultants, farmers, etc.), and a summary statement of key learning that was verified and/or key progress that beneficiaries made.

If applicable, describe any adjustments to the milestones – something you may have changed based on feedback from the project team or participants, or unforeseen circumstances. You may also share unexpected beneficiary responses or progress, and interesting or significant events or developments. You can also report lessons learned, incidental findings, and other information that has come to light as the project progressed.

Complete theCumulative Milestone Accomplishment table located at the end of these instructions and upload the form as an attachment in this reporting section. If you uploaded a table last year, you may update last year’s table and upload it. Complete the verification of learning section in the table only if you collected this type of data.

Northeast SARE is requesting this table in addition to the narrative to enable easier aggregation of data about participation and educational activities accomplished by projects across the Professional Development program portfolio.

Save the table in your files so you can update it each year as additional milestones are accomplished.

Other attachments you may want to upload into this section include: flyers or other promotional materials, workshop or meeting agendas, slide presentations, photos, copies of questionnaires and/or pre-and post-tests, and expanded data from verifications of milestones.

4. Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes—describe any outcomes related to the performance target that have been measured or recorded to date and the verification methods used to obtain the data. Most projects will not have outcomes to report in this section until the later years of the project or the final report. You do not need to put any text into this section unless you have outcomes related to the performance target to report.

Annual reports are submitted online only. The administrator for your grant program (Janet McAllister) will review the report. If she has questions, or thinks there are content gaps or other concerns with an annual report, she will ask you to correct them by going back to the report template to add to or clarify your initial submission.

Questions about report content should be sent to Janet McAllister () at Northeast SARE; questions or problems associated with using or navigating through the report template should be sent to John Dorner at .

Cumulative Milestone Accomplishment Table

Project Number: ______

Project Title: ______

Project Leader: ______

Type of educational activity or learning experience conducted by the project / Enter the Total Number of each type of educational activity conducted
Workshop/Field Day
On-farm Demonstration
Tour
Webinar/Talk/Presentation
Other online Training
Individual Consultation (an estimate is acceptable)
Other (list)
Categories of Beneficiaries
(by affiliation) / Enter Total Number of Individuals from Each Category Who Participated in Project Activities (estimate if necessary; count each individual only once; if you do not have data about the types of service providers list a total number)
Extension
NRCS
Other Agency
Non-Profit
Industry/Consultant
Total Number of Service Providers
Farmers
Milestone Learning Accomplishments / Enter Total Number of Service Providers for Whom You Verified Learning Accomplishments
(count each individual only once) / Enter Total Number of Farmers for Whom You Verified Learning Accomplishments (optional)
(count each individual only once)
Increased knowledge and skills in one or more project content areas
Increased knowledge and skills to teach/advise farmers
Increased intention to act or make changes in work with farmers

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