eLINK Cookbook - Managing Grant Activities

Adding New Activities
      Adding a New Activity
      Adding an Activity from an existing grant (linking)
      Remove an Activity from an existing grant (unlinking)
Adding Activity Budgets
      Editing and Deleting Activity Budgets
Submitting a Work Plan
Adding Activity Details
      Adding Activity Detail attributes
      Mapping Activity Details
      Adding Activity Detail indicators

Adding New Activities     

The first step in completing the work plan development or grant reporting requirements in eLINK is to create Activities. Grant Activities contain detailed descriptions of the various Activities proposed to be completed under the project and budget attributes. Once the grant agreement is executed and work has begun under the grant, the Grant Activities section is where detailed reporting of grant results, expenditures, and indicator reporting will occur. Before getting started, please see your grant's Grant Profile, or the eLINK Guidance Document: eLINK Reporting at a Glance for specific requirements for each grant.

Begin by navigating to Grants >Grants in the left menu. This will bring you to the list of your active grants.  

Click the Edit button adjacent to the grant you wish to edit, and the Grant Activities page will open. Click on the “Add a New Activity” button. This will open the “Add New Activity” page.

To begin, you will need to indicate if this is a New Activity, or an Activity from an Existing Grant.

Add a New Activity

To add a New Activity, you will need to complete the following fields:

1. New Activity Name
2. Activity Category
3. Activity Description
4. [For Clean Water Fund grants] Indicate if staff time will be billed to the grant. If so, enter the estimated number of staff hours to be billed under the activity.
5. If applicable, select the comprehensive watershed management plan that the Activity addresses
6. Some grants may have allocation-specific questions; complete these required fields, if applicable
7. Click Save. A successfully saved confirmation appears.

Example of a CWF grant activity, with Staff Time entered:

Add an Activity from an Existing Grant (sometimes known as "linking"):

1. Select Grant: Select the grant under which the activity you are funding originated. Only your own grants will be shown. Your Board Conservationist may be able to assist if you are funding an activity that originated under a partner organization's grant, or you may submit a ticket through the Support link in eLINK.
2. Select Existing Activity: Activities from the grant you selected above will be shown; select the applicable activity.
3. Update additional fields as necessary.
4. Click Save.

Be aware that you will have limited options for editing Activity attributes for activities that originated from another grant, in order to protect the integrity of any associated work plans.

Remove an Activity from an Existing Grant

To remove a linked activity, click Remove Activity from Current Grant. This will not delete the activity, but will remove the association with the active grant.
 

Adding Activity Budgets

To add an Activity Budget to the Activity, click on the Add New Activity Budget button. In the popup screen, the active grant title will be shown. Enter:

• Budgeted Amount
• Source Type:
  • Current State Grant
  • Federal Funds
  • Landowner Fund
  • Local Fund
  • Other State Funds Not in eLINK
• Source Description: If "Current State Grant" was selected, this field will be automatically populated with the grant title. Otherwise, enter a clear, concise description with enough specificity so that you can differentiate between source types.
• Match: Indicate if this Activity Budget is part of the active grant's match. Current State Grant and Other State Funds are not eligible as match.
• Click Add. You will be returned to the Activity screen, and the new Activity Budget row will appear in the Activity Budget grid.
• Repeat these steps as many times as necessary to add all state grant, matching and other funds.
   

Editing and Deleting Activity Budgets

To edit an Activity Budget, click the "Edit" action icon. This will open the Activity Budget.

Note that if your grant has a work plan requirement, and the work plan is in Submitted or Approved status, this may not be editable; however, you can click the View action icon to view the details. Activities budgets are locked by BWSR when a workplan is required for a grant and the workplan has been approved. Changing these budgeted amounts requires a work plan modification or amendment. Please work with your Board Conservationist for assistance.

Within the Update Activity Budget window, the delete button Activity Budget Row icon can be used to remove an Activity Budget. This deletes the budget row for an individual funding source but does not delete the activity. Be aware that once Activity Budget information is deleted it cannot be restored. This function is not available when the workplan is locked.

Submitting a Work Plan

For grants that have a work plan requirement, the grant must be fully budgeted, including match, in order to submit the work plan. Remember, work may not begin on the grant until the work plan has been approved and you have an executed grant agreement.

To submit the work plan, go to the Grant Activities tab. Once the Total Grant Budgeted equals the Awarded Amount, and the Total Match Budgeted meets the Total Match Required, you can submit your work plan by clicking the "Submit Work Plan" button.

Adding Activity Details

Activity Details should be completed after the practice is installed or completed.

Near the bottom of the Add/Manage Activity screen, click the Add New Activity Detail icon to enter details about on-the-ground practices; this will take you to a new screen. Activity details are a subset of individual elements or practices that make up an activity as a whole.

This step is not required for all activities. Activity Details are only needed when there are on-the-ground practices. For example, activity categories Administration and Project Development--activities categories that typically reflect staff time--don’t have Activity Details. See the eLINK Guidance Document: Chart of Practices by Activity Category to help determine if Activity Details are applicable for a given activity category.

Adding Activity Detail attributes

Within the Add New Activity Detail screen, enter or select:

1. Activity Detail Name (avoid using landowner names when possible)
2. Practice type
3. Local Activity # (optional)
4. Select Activity Lifespan
5. Description
6. Count of practices installed
7. Proposed Size
8. Actual Size
9. Units
10. Installed Date
11. Technical Assistance Provider
12. Save Activity Detail; you will see a Successfully Saved confirmation.

Mapping Activity Details

Next, you will need to map your project(s). Within the map interface, use the "+" and "-" to zoom in and out. Once you have identified your project location, select the point tool to activate the mapping tool, then click on the map to indicate the project location. Use Ctrl+Click to deselect a previously mapped point, or use the "garbage" icon to remove all points.

Once you have completed all mapping under this Activity Detail, be sure to save the map using the "Save Map" button inside the map interface.

Entering Activity Detail Indicators

The final step of entering Activity Detail information is to enter Indicator information, also known as Pollution Reduction Estimates. For more information about calculating these estimates, visit Water Quality Tools and Models and eLINK Guidance: Choosing the Best Estimator.

After you have calculated the estimates/indicators, enter that information here, including:

• Indicator Category
• Indicator Name and Units
• Indicator Value
• Impacted Waterbody
• Calc Tool
• and any Comments,
• then click Add Indicator to save and return to the Activity Details screen.

Repeat the steps above to continue adding any remaining indicators.

After you have finished entering the practice attributes, mapping, and indicators and Saved all information, click Go Back to return to the Activity screen.

If you have an eLINK question, please email elinksupport@state.mn.us or if you encounter an eLINK error message please submit an elinksupport ticket via the Support form in eLINK.