Lessons

Mandatory Cost Sharing is required as a condition of the award. If not included – sponsor will not fund the project. Voluntary Cost Sharing is offered when there is no sponsor requirement. Often done to make the proposal look more “competitive.” Cost sharing is the portion of the total project cost borne by the Institution. […]

Read the RFA carefully. Agencies may stipulate that there is a maximum award – that includes direct and indirect costs. $100,000 total costs may break down to $38,400 indirect costs and $61,600 direct costs – OR $100,000 total direct costs would include $38,400 of indirect costs for a total request of $138,400. READ THE RFA

Always include a breakdown of the budget. Each item listed in the budget should be justified or explained. The only exception are materials and supplies where a complete breakdown to the nearest dollar is not necessary. Every item should be explained. The RFA often indicates what level of detail is to be included. Unallowable Costs

Subcontracts to other agencies or institutions Include personnel, other costs separate Most grants require a letter of commitment and a scope of services. Consultants – tasks related Contracted Services – such as maintenance contracts for equipment, per-sample or per unit analysis – diagnostic or statistical analysis; photo analysis, GIS services, etc. Other Direct Costs  Printing/Publication

The first principle of writing budgets is that you must ask for what you need to accomplish the objectives of the proposal. There are two main categories in budgets: Direct Costs: specific costs identified with the project or that can be directly assigned to the activities. Indirect Costs: costs incurred for common or joint activities

There are different ways to include a budget narrative in a project proposal. You can just add some commentary to your budget if bullet points are enough to explain the numbers. Another way is to write a narrative text that is added underneath the budget. Whichever format you use, make sure that you use plain

Budget narratives are normally included in a project proposal when the donor specifically requires them in their guidelines. You can also include it when you deem them necessary. Always ask yourself if all the items in your budget are self-explanatory or if a text would be necessary for additional information. You should include a budget

Sometimes the donors request an addition to the plain budget made out of numbers, something called the budget narrative. Even if the donor does not specifically request it, it can make sense to include it anyways. It is always necessary when the plain budget might not be clear enough. A budget narrative is an accompanying text to

Contingency costs refer to the cost that you expect that will occur, but about which you are not 100% sure. These could be rising prices for materials, changes in the exchange rate of your currency, etc. Some donors advise you to include a blanket rate of a specific percentage in your budget, but others do

Own contribution/co-funding/co-payments are payments that the donor requests from the organization side. They can be from the applicant organization directly from the beneficiaries. The donors do this to make sure the applicant is completely invested in the project and also does it’s part. Furthermore, it is a way to make the money last longer. Sometimes