The Volunteer Report Form (VRF)

Instructions to Volunteers on how to complete a Volunteer Report Form

Instructions for completing your report
First, thank you for your service and for taking the time to tell us about how you are doing and how your work is going. We ask all Volunteers to complete periodic reports and submit them in a timely manner. These reports help us understand how you are doing in a number of ways, and they help us to better support you. Your report is an opportunity for you to highlight your activities and accomplishments, as well as the results your service and work may be having in your community. Your report is an opportunity for you to provide feedback to us, and to ask for and receive timely feedback from us. Your reports become a very important part of the overall story Peace orps needs to be able to articulate to our supporters in ongress and to the !merican public. "n short, your reports matter a great deal and so we encourage you to take the time to complete them thoughtfully and completely. These instructions outline how to complete your reports.

When to submit your reports

"n each report you should provide information about your service over the entire reporting period, as defined by your post. For e#ample, if your reports are due $ times per year, your schedule could look like this% &st report '(ctober & through )anuary $&*, due by February +th. ,nd report 'February & through -ay $&*, due by )une +th. $rd report ')une & through .eptember $/*, due by (ctober +th.

How to submit your reports

You can attach your completed report to an e0mail to your !P 1 or P-. "f you happen to be in the office when reports are due, you can complete your report on a Volunteer computer in the office. Your post may also have other arrangements for you to submit your reports. !sk your !P 12P- if you have any 3uestions about how to send in your report.

Saving copies of your reports

"f you have a flashdrive, save a blank copy of your report form, as well as backup copies of completed reports you have submitted, to your flashdrive. "f you have a computer at your site, please save backup copies of both a blank version of this report as well as any completed reports you submit throughout your service.

What information goes into these reports

Please provide information related to the current reporting period, however many months that may be 'e.g. (ctober &st through )anuary $&st*. 4o to each tab in this report form and do your best to provide complete and accurate information.

!ut with the ol"# in with the new

"n general, you do not need to repeat the same information from one report to the ne#t. For e#ample, if you work with the same group of students over many months 'multiple reporting periods* to improve their 5nglish language skills, and you describe that work in some detail in one of your reports, there is no need to re0write the same information in your ne#t report. "nstead, focus your ne#t report on new developments in your work with the same group of students, such as noting any

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improvements in their 5nglish language skills or noting any new students who 6oined the group. "n your reports you will have the opportunity to add to what you previously reported without having to rewrite anything. The office has a database that holds all the information in your reports and you will be able to see a cumulative record of all your activities over your entire service. 7elow you will find guidance on how to complete each section of this report. Please note the 8character limits9 assigned to each space in your report form for an idea of how much you can write. This $ sentence paragraph, for e#ample, contains ,+: characters.

$Tell %our Story& Tab

;ere is where you can let us know% ;ow well integrated you feel in your community< what you have learned in integrating into your community. 'character limit% &,+//* "f you have a 8success story9 to contribute, write it in the space provided. "f you do not have a success story to share at this time, simply note that in the space provided. The success story, ideally, will be related to your primary assignment area 'your =Peace orps 4oal (ne> work*, but if your success story is about something you did under your own initiative in another area, we9d love to hear about it? 'character limit% $,///* What kinds of challenges you are facing. 'character limit% &,+//* What lessons learned or promising practices you want to share. 'character limit% &,+//* What activities you are planning to undertake. This can be a brief summary of the kinds of primary assignment or other activities you intend to get involved with in the coming months. 'character limit% &,+//* Things you have done to support Peace orps9 4oal , and $% 4oal ,. =To help promote a better understanding of the !merican people@> 'character limit% &,+//* 4oal $. =To help Athe !merican peopleB to have a better understanding of other peoples@> 'character limit% &,+//*

$In"ivi"ual an" !rgani'ational (ontacts& Tab

Please provide information on new community partners you worked with during this reporting period. The purpose of this section is to provide us with a fuller understanding of the organiCations present in your community, to help us build a better profile of the community over time, and to help us understand who the resources are that future Volunteers might want to link with. ommunity partner9s name 'character limit% &//* ommunity partner9s title 'character limit% &//* ontact "nformation 'character limit% $//* !rea of cooperation 'character limit% $//*

$)ctivities an" !utcomes& Tab This section of your report is vital to our understanding of how we are meeting Peace orps first goal% 4oal &. =To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.> This section allows you to detail how your service is contributing to the goals and ob6ectives in your primary assignment area. "t also allows you to describe work outside of your primary assignment area. Dse this worksheet to briefly describe the ma6or activities you undertook in the reporting period. The 8activities and outcomes9 tab allows you to do three things% a"" a new activity, e"it a description of a previously reported activity< and "elete a previously reported activity. These three functions are described briefly below, followed by more detail on the steps to take to add a new activity. Add an activity The first time you report a particular activity, click the 8add activity9 button. This will take you to the 8activity editor9 screen. We are not asking you to report every small, daily task you do, but rather to use this report to enter a summary of the work you have been doing in your primary assignment area as well as outside of your primary assignment area. 7elow you will find more guidance on how to add an activity in your VEF. Edit an activity !fter your first reporting cycle using the VEF, your !P 1 or P- will send you the ne#t reporting cycle9s VEF to complete. Your second 'and $rd, and Fth, etc.* VEF will contain all of the activities that you described in previous VEFs you have submitted. The VEF, then, will be a cumulative log of all of your reported activities% this should reduce your need to keep reporting and rewriting on0going activities with the same group of people< also it will make it easier for you to report the outcomes of your service and activities 'changes in the knowledge, skills, attitudes or behaviors of people, groups or organiCations you have assisted* that often take a long time to be realiCed and observed. hoose 8edit activity9 when you want to update the record of a previously reported activity. 85dit activity9 when a new person 6oins a group you have been working with over many months and you want to include this person in the participant numbers for that activity. .elect 8edit activity9 when you have observed an outcome of a previously reported activity, and you want to update an 8outcome indicator9 accordingly. .ee below under 8.tep +% outcome indicators.9 Delete an activity !s noted above, when you open your VEF it will contain a record of all the activities you have reported on prior VEFs so far in your service. 7ut when you send in your completed VEF it is supposed to communicate to your !P 12P- 'on the 8activity and outcomes9 tab* which activities you undertook during a particular span of timeGthe reporting period. (pen the VEF, go to the 8activity and outcome9 tab and review the list of activities. "f you are no longer undertaking an activity on the list, and you have no reason to edit it 'you have observed no outcomes, for e#ample* then highlight the activity and press 81elete activity.9 The activities that remain in your VEF for that 'and any* reporting period should be only those activities that you undertook during that period

of time or those which you have edited in order to update the record of the activity for some reason. Please note: by deleting an activity in your VRF you are not permanently deleting the record o! that activity in the database that post "eeps o! all VRFs# As long as you reported the activity on a prior VRF and it was added to the database$ it remains in the database# 1eleting an activity from one VEF is simply a way to communicate that you did not do this activity, nor observe any new outcomes of it, during the reporting period. "n sum, each time you receive your new VEF, look at each activity that you have previously reported, and update it in one of three ways% *+ ,eave it alone+ You may do activities that are ongoing over several reporting periods, such as workshop series or classroom teaching. The original activity description and participant numbers you reported when you began the activity might still be accurate. "f you are still doing the activity during this reporting period and don9t wish to make any updates, simply leave it in your activity list. ,. -"it it. !s stated above, you may want to update the record of an activity or outcome you reported previously+ $. .elete it+ "f the activity is done and you have not seen any results 'outcomes* from it during the reporting period, delete it from your VEF. 7elow are detailed guidelines on the steps you can take to correctly add a new activity in your VEF. %tep &: %electing the Right Pro'ect Dsing the drop0down list ne#t to 8pro6ect,9 select the name of the pro6ect under which your activity best fits. "n most cases your activities will fall under your primary assignment areaGif you are a health volunteer you will most often report your activities under the health pro6ect. 7ut if your activity does not fit well under ob6ectives of the health pro6ect, be sure to see if it does fit under an ob6ective of a different pro6ect at your post. For e#ample, you may have helped youth in your community to improve an income0generating activity. "f your 8non0health9 activity fits under an ob6ective of the small business pro6ect at your post 'or the youth pro6ect, or the community development pro6ect, etc*, then be sure to select the right pro6ect from the 8pro6ect9 drop0down list. "f you have any 3uestions about how to report your activities, please ask your !P 1 or P-. %tep (: %electing the Right )b'ective !fter you select the right pro6ect for your activity, use the 8(b6ective9 drop0down list to choose the pro6ect ob6ective that most closely corresponds to the activity you describe. "f the abbreviations for the ob6ectives are unclear, click on the 8view pro6ect framework9 hyperlink directly to the right of the drop down list to see the full te#t of each pro6ect9s ob6ectives. %tep *: Description o! Activity 'character limit% H//* "n this blank, please write a description that summariCes the work you conducted or were involved with in the reporting period. For e#ample% =-y counterpart and " co0facilitated a half0day workshop for youth leaders to help them understand how to avoid getting ;"V and malaria.>

This description should be a summary statement of your activity and could also include additional information such as how it was done, or why the activity worked or didn9t work. "n the e#ample above, you and your counterpart probably did many tasks to prepare for this workshop< you do not need to write down all of those tasks as separate 8activities.9 This space is also your opportunity to reflect on this particular activityGwere there any lessons you learned or anything in particular that you want to share in more detail with othersI Perhaps in the process of preparing for this workshop your counterpart2co0facilitator improved his own knowledge of ;"V< perhaps he e#perienced a shift in attitude towards people living with ;"V2!"1.Gan important outcome to which your service has contributed. "n this case your description might read something like% =-y counterpart and " co0facilitated a half0day workshop for youth leaders to help them understand how to avoid getting ;"V and malaria. "n preparing our workshop it became clear to me that my counterpart, in fact, had outdated information about ;"V2!"1. and held some stigmatiCed views regarding people living with ;"V2!"1.. "n developing our workshop together, he came away with a more accurate understanding of ;"V2!"1. as well as a more open, less0stigmatiCed attitude toward people living with ;"V2!"1..> 'This e#ample is +/: characters, close to the limit of H//* "n sum, use your 6udgment to determine what have been the significant moments or activities in your service. "f it makes sense to you to report them as an 8activity9 or an 8outcome9 please do so. %tep +: ,roup -ame 'character limit% ,+* !s a device to help you and staff at post to reduce the number of pro6ect participants who get counted more than once in your reports, please make up a name for the group of participants in this activity. "f you work with this same group of people again and are reporting on a different activity that you conducted with them, please enter the same group name at that time. %tep .: )utcome Indicators !fter you have selected a pro6ect ob6ective from the ob6ective drop0down list, you will see a list of 8outcome indicators9 appear for that ob6ective. "f you have data to report on any of these outcome indicators, double click on the indicator and enter the data you have. There are two pieces of data needed per outcome indicator% &. the total number of participants 'e.g. girls, farmers, teachers@* engaged with you in activities designed to help participants achieve the outcome< and ,. the number of participants who actually have achieved the outcome. For e#ample, you have been working with two communities to help them do more to support girls9 education. (ne of these communities actually designs and carries out a community0wide campaign to go door to door and encourage each household to send their girls to school. When reporting on this activity, you will choose the most relevant outcome indicator for the girls9 education pro6ect. "n this e#ample, the following indicator would be the best fit% Jumber of communities that carry out

pro6ects to support girls9 education. You would then double click on this indicator in your report form, enter , for 8total participants in the activity,9 and enter & for 8number of participants who achieved the outcome.9 7elow we will discuss how to accurately count participants when you work with the same individuals and communities over time doing the same activity. %tep /: Activity Participants Dse the 8activity participants9 table in the bottom left0hand corner of the 8!ctivity 5ditor9 screen to record the number of individuals, service providers, organiCations and communities who participated in your activity. 7e sure you understand the definitions for 8participant9, 8individual9, 8service provider9, 8organiCation9 and 8community.9 They are provided below as well as in the 8general definitions9 section off the =main menu> tab of your VEF. De!initions to assist with reporting participant numbers Participant. ! participant is an individual, service provider, organiCation or community who participates in a VolunteerKs primary or secondary activities. "ndividuals. "ndividuals are people that Volunteers assist or reach directly, for e#ample, community members, students, farmers, or small business owners. .ervice Providers. 'LPersons TrainedL*. .ervice providers are people Volunteers assist or train who in turn provide direct services to others. .ervice providers are often teachers, health clinic workers, community leaders, or peer educators. Their work with Volunteers is primarily related to improving their ability to provide direct service to others. Volunteer activities that build capacity at this level could include teacher training workshops or health worker trainings, for e#ample. (rganiCations. (rganiCations include schools, businesses, governmental or non0 governmental organiCations 'J4(s*, community0based organiCations ' 7(s*, health clinics, informal community groups, associations, cooperatives, and others. (rganiCational capacity building activities might include assisting an organiCation with strategic planning, financial management, or strengthening organiCational policies or systems. ommunities. ommunities are groups of people living in the same geographic area, usually a village or neighborhood. ommunity capacity building activities typically have a community focus, such as raising awareness about health or environmental issues affecting a community. "f a Volunteer works with members of a community, that Volunteer can report assisting that community as well as the community members. /lease "o your best to 0eep trac0 of the number of in"ivi"uals participating in your activities throughout the year+ "f your post has deployed the activity and outcome tracking booklet to Volunteers, use this tool to help with this task. The booklet can help you to keep track of the names and number of persons with whom you have worked. "f you are not using this booklet, it will be important for you to devise a system for yourself to track the individuals, service providers, communities, and organiCations that you reach with your activities. Reporting Participant -umbers and Avoiding Double 0ounting

!s mentioned above, it is very important that you try to keep accurate numbers of the participants you have worked with during your service. Peace orps uses these participant numbers each year to tell ongress and others about the reach of the agency in terms of numbers of people assisted by Peace orps Volunteers. Peace orps also uses these numbers as part of our approach to tracking our progress in achieving the 3uantitative targets in each pro6ect, ob6ective by ob6ective. We ask Volunteers to report accurate participant numbers so that we know, ob6ective by ob6ective, how many participants have been reached and assisted in each fiscal year. We also want to know, overall for each pro6ect, how many participants have been reached and assisted in each fiscal year. The 0ey to reporting accurate numbers is to ma0e sure that wherever you are being as0e" to provi"e numbers for a particular activity# the sum total for that bo1 shoul" always reflect a running total of the number of original 2 new participants with whom you have wor0e" over time. 7ecause the counting process can be a bit confusing when activities and their related outcomes span more than one reporting period, below are a few representative e#amples that illustrate how you would count your participant numbers accurately in a variety of scenarios. -1ample *3 Reporting an ongoing activity where the total number of participants stays the same from the *st perio" to 4n" perio"# an" some of those participants achieve an outcome+ &st period% "n filling out your first VEF, you want to report working with a group of five teachers ', men, $ women* to improve their oral 5nglish skills. "n adding this activity to your VEF, you of course select the right pro6ect 'e.g. T5FM*< and the most appropriate ob6ective 'e.g. Working with Teachers*. You then describe your activity with these teachers, along these lines% =" have been working with a small group of teachers to improve their oral 5nglish abilities. We meet in my house twice per week for about , hours and discuss a different topic, in 5nglish.> &st period% "n this e#ample, the 8Working with Teachers9 ob6ective is associated with the following outcome indicator% number of service providers who have demonstrated an improvement in their 5nglish speaking abilities. You can see that this indicator relates to the work you are doing with the + teachers in your group, so you double0click on this indicator in order to type + in the space provided for =total number of participants>. 7ecause you have only 6ust started to work with these teachers, no one has yet made any measurable progress in their 5nglish skills, so you put / in the space provided for =number achieving outcome.> &st period% You also fill in the =activity participants> bo# with the appropriate demographic data ', .ervice Provider -en, $ .ervice Provider Women* and send in your report. ,nd period% You continue working with this same group of teachers. With time, some of them in fact have improved their oral 5nglish skills. Four months later you are asked to complete your ,nd report. When you go to the 8activities and outcomes9 tab, you see the record of what you reported in your first report. '=" have been working with a small group of teachers@>*. You highlight this record and select 8edit activity9. Jow you see the record of this activity that you reported F months earlier, and you can update it to include progress these teachers have made in their 5nglish skills since you filed your last report. The total number of teachers working with you on their 5nglish skills has not changed '+*, so you do not make any changes to the 8total number of participants9 in the outcome indicators section, nor do you make any changes to the demographic N

numbers in the activity participants section. "nstead, you focus on indicator number of service providers who have demonstrated an improvement in their 5nglish speaking abilities. Three of the + teachers you have been working with have made demonstrable progress in their oral 5nglish skills, so you type $ in the 8number achieving outcome9 space. -1ample 43 Reporting an ongoing activity where the total number of participants increases over time+ "n the first reporting period of the year, you work with + teachers to improve their conversational 5nglish skills. 1uring the second reporting period, two other teachers '& man, & woman* ask to 6oin your conversational 5nglish practice group. You get into the activity and outcomes tab of your VEF, then select the activity record for your work with these teachers. "n order to accurately reflect this increase for the appropriate outcome indicator, you select the indicator 'e.g. number of service providers who have demonstrated an improvement in their 5nglish speaking abilities* and add , to the =total number of participants> column. You add the two new members of your group% + 'original members*O, 'new members*PN 'total number of participants*. "t is important that you add the new participants to the last total count of participants because you are keeping a running total of each uni3ue individual that you reach with your activities over time. You also go to the activity participants table and update the demographic data to include & more male and & more female .ervice Provider. -1ample 53 Reporting an ongoing activity where the total number of participants fluctuates over time+ "n the third reporting period of the year, attendance has dropped off significantly for your 5nglish conversation classes. "n fact, for the past three months, you9ve only had F people in attendance. When it comes time to fill out your ne#t VEF, even if attendance has decreased, it is important to maintain what you have accomplished so far and simply add nothing new to it. Therefore, you would enter% + '&st period*O/ ',nd period*O, '$rd period*O/ 'Fth period*PN total participants since you began this activity. 1o not subtract the number of participants that have stopped coming to your class because your activity reached these individuals at some point in the past and they should be counted. %tep 1: P0 Initiatives !s you write up your activity, please be sure to click on the P "nitiatives tab and note whether or not your activity was focused on one or more of the agency0wide "nitiative areas% HIV6)I.S Initiative "f your activity had an ;"V2!"1. focus, press the 8.elect ;"V2!"1. Focus9 button and choose the one indicator that best represents the primary focus of your ;"V2!"1. activity. 5ven if it seems as though your activity may fall into more than one area, please choose the best one to match your activity. "n addition, please note that your post may only report on a few of the ,, indicators listed so please clarify with your !P 1 first on which indicators you should report. lick 8.ave and Eeturn9 and you should see your selection now under 8;"V2!"1. Focus.9 I(T# WI.67). an" %outh .evelopment Initiatives3 "f your activity had an " T, W"124!1 or Youth 1evelopment focus, please check the bo# ne#t to the appropriate focus area. You are not limited to choosing oneGyou may choose all that are appropriate. "f you want to describe in more detail how

your activity involved " T, W"124!1 or Youth 1evelopment, use the space provided for 81escription of !ctivity.9 %tep 2: Funding %ources "f the activity you are reporting received funding either from a source outside your country of service or from a local source, use this space to report both the source's* and the amount's* of funding received. (utside Funding .ource 'character limit% $//* (utside Funding !mount, in D. dollars 'character limit% R///,///,///* Mocal Funding .ource 'character limit% $//* Mocal Funding !mount in D. dollars 'character limit% R///,///,///* %tep 3: )ther 4uestions 'character limit% $//* Your post may have used this space to ask you 3uestions about your activities. 5ach time you add or edit an activity, please remember to click on the 8(ther Suestions9 tab and answer the 3uestions.

$8ass 8e"ia& Tab

This worksheet is for information on any activities you coordinate that reach a large audience, but that you would not describe as hands0on 8capacity0building.9 -ass media activities that reach a large audience might include radio or television broadcasts, public theater, printed materials distributed at a market, etc. Please describe each mass media activity or event and provide your best estimate of the number of individuals reached. heck the ;"V2!"1. focus bo# if your mass media event addressed ;"V2!"1. in some way. !lso note the contact information, if you have one, for conducting a similar mass media activity in the future. -ass -edia 5vent 1escription 'character limit% H//* Jumber of attendees 'character limit% ///,///,///* ontact Jame 'character limit% &//* ontact "nformation 'character limit% $//*

$/(V Fee"bac0& Tab

'character limit% &,+//* This section provides you the opportunity to share any other information or re3uests with your !P 1. This section will not be shared with your counterpart2community partners.

$!ther Information& Tab

'character limit% &,+//* Please go to this worksheet to provide additional information to your post, as defined by your post.

$Total /articipants& Tab

(omplete this wor0sheet 9ust once at the en" of the fiscal year as part of your final report on the year+ !dd up the total number of individuals, service providers, organiCations and communities you worked with in the fiscal year and enter the numbers in this table. Try not to count the same person, organiCation or community more than once. Eefer to your activity tracking booklets and add up the 8first0time9 participant numbers to arrive at these totals.

$/( Initiative )rea& Tab

(omplete this wor0sheet 9ust once at the en" of the fiscal year as part of your final report on the year+ This worksheet collects additional information on Peace rops9 four initiative areas% ;"V2!"1., "nformation and ommunication Technology, W"124!1, and Youth 1evelopment. These worksheets are self0e#planatory and should not re3uire much time to complete. The information will be consolidated for the annual ="nitiatives Eeport> which all posts submit to Peace orps2Washington on Jovember & st. HIV6)I.S Provide an e#ample of how you have integrated ;"V2!"1. messages into your work 'character limit% &,///* I(T Provide an e#ample of how you have integrated " T into your work 'character limit% &,///* WI.67). Provide an e#ample of how you have integrated gender into your work 'character limit% &,///* o "f applicable, provide an e#ample of other W"124!1 tools you have used 'character limit% H//* %outh .evelopment Provide an e#ample of how you have integrated youth development into your work 'character limit% &,///* o "f applicable, describe youth development materials you have created 'character limit% H//*

)ppen"ices an" .efinitions

!s references, the VEF includes the frameworks and indicators as well as some definitions. lick on the hyperlinks to review them.

Save your wor0# save your wor0# save your wor0:

!gain, after you have completed this report 'and as you develop it*, remember to save your work regularly to guard against having to retype everything when a computer malfunctions or an e0mail fails to send, or a flashdrive freeCes, a hurricane hits, you get stung by a bug, etc.

%ou&re the best:

Thank you for your thoughtful attention to this report. "t will help Peace orps to become a smarter, more effective development organiCation and strengthen our ability to meet the three goals. We deeply value the contributions you are making and look forward to reading your reports?

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