FY 2026 Community Solutions Program

This document outlines the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) template for applicants of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) federal programs. Utilizing the Monitoring Data for ECA (MODE) Framework, the PMP establishes standardized performance indicators, survey questions, and data collection protocols to measure program outputs and outcomes consistently. Applicants must customize this document by identifying relevant indicators from the solicitation, deleting non-applicable rows, establishing targets, and optionally adding limited custom indicators. The PMP tracks demographic data (such as country of origin, age, sex, and race) alongside indicators aligned with specific ECA objectives. These core objectives focus on advancing cross-cultural competence, enhancing opinions of the United States, fostering civic engagement through volunteerism, strengthening personal and professional networks, and building language, technical, and leadership skills. The document details specific calculations, target populations, and disaggregation requirements for each indicator. Award recipients are responsible for collecting participant data during the active performance period, typically through post-program surveys administered within six weeks of completion. This administrative and survey data must meet a minimum response rate target of 60% to ensure high-quality reporting and to help the ECA evaluate long-term exchange impacts.

This document outlines the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) template for applicants of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) federal funding opportunities. Utilizing the Monitoring Data for ECA (MODE) Framework, the PMP establishes a standardized set of objectives, indicators, and survey questions to systematically measure and evaluate the outputs and outcomes of exchange programs. Applicants must customize the provided template by aligning it with the specific indicators requested in their solicitation, setting feasible targets, and deleting irrelevant rows. The plan spans across key ECA objectives, including: - **Objective 1**: Advancing cross-cultural competence and global perspectives (e.g., measuring favorability toward the U.S. government and people, and understanding host country values). - **Objective 2**: Increasing participant and alumni community impact through volunteerism and civic engagement. - **Objective 3**: Strengthening professional and personal networks, and connecting participants to Department of State-managed platforms. - **Objective 4**: Enhancing personal, professional, technical, and language skills, alongside administrative tracking of participant cohorts, fellowships, and placements. Data collection relies on mandatory post-program participant surveys and administrative records. Award recipients are responsible for gathering this data during the performance period, maintaining a target survey response rate of 60%, and coordinating with the ECA to ensure long-term impact monitoring.

This document outlines the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) template and instructions for applicants of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) federal funding opportunities. Utilizing the Monitoring Data for ECA (MODE) Framework, the plan establishes standardized indicators and survey questions to ensure consistent performance measurement across all ECA-funded exchange programs. Applicants must customize the PMP by cross-referencing their specific solicitation, retaining relevant MODE indicators, and deleting non-applicable rows. The template allows for a limited number of custom, program-specific indicators based on reporting capacity. For each retained indicator, applicants are required to define feasible performance targets. The framework categorizes indicators into core objectives, including promoting cross-cultural competence, increasing community impact, strengthening alumni engagement, and enhancing personal and professional skills. It provides comprehensive definitions, demographic disaggregation categories, required survey questions (such as feedback on democratic values, language acquisition, and technical skills), and data collection timelines. While award recipients are responsible for gathering participant output and outcome data during the program's period of performance—typically via post-program surveys administered within six weeks of completion—the ECA Bureau conducts long-term impact evaluations at one, three, five, and ten-year intervals. Additionally, the plan defines key terms like "virtual exchange" and "host community," and sets a standard participant survey response rate target of 60%.