Making Contacts with a Private Source

If the proposal is to a private foundation or corporation, initial contact must be made by the Development Office. Exceptions are these:

a foundation whose funding is narrowly technical, e.g. in biomedical engineering, or

where the essential contact is between peer professionals, e.g. a chemistry professor with an industrial chemist for a possible research contract.

When in doubt, check with our office (4-1326) or Denise Vanderburgh

Usual steps in private source fundseeking are:

Brainstorm with staff (usually Paul Hamill to start).

Draw up a one-page concept paper and short list of keywords.

Development staff research possible sources.

Development staff contact the source (except technical proposals).

Development staff send a letter of inquiry to source.

A proposal is developed (faculty aided by staff).

The proposal is submitted, with cover letter from the President.

Making Contacts with a Public Source

Many public agencies will speak with a college officer, but usually prefer to talk with the future project director or principle investigator.

Steps in pre-award contact:

Obtain and read the guidelines.

Talk to the program officer (confirm available funding, ask a technical question.

Schedule grant development and internal review with our office (Academic Funding).

Identify similar, recently funded projects and contact the recipients.

Obtain sample grants (new writers).

Consult (share drafts) with grant-experienced peers.

Re-consult program officer.

Contents of a Proposal

Research Proposal Format

Use the standard method of your discipline.

Background and discussion should be more complete and speculative than in most scientific journals, which limit space.

Use the order of items indicated in the guidelines.

Address every issue that the guidelines require, in the order requested.

A possible order of contents:

1. Problem Statement. What will you study or test?

2. Background. Include recent literature, theoretic issues, principle investigators pilot or specifically related work, and foresee and meet criticisms.

3. Method. Include recent literature, theoretic issues, principle investigators pilot or specifically related work, and foresee and meet criticisms.

4. Time and Logistics.

5. Research Setting. Include team members, undergraduate/graduate students, and equipment.

NOTE: Significance in scientific research is measured by potential advancement of the field, in factual information and/or theory, and often in use of new methods as well.

Program Proposal Format

A program proposal is structured with great redundancy, that is, some global need (such as sexuality education for teenagers in a specific community) is broken down into specifically addressable needs (such as needs for physiological information, personal counseling, and clinical referrals).

The usual elements are:

a need, broken into one to four aspects;

one to four objectives that exactly match the enumerated needs;

an activity designed to meet each objective;

a concrete measurable result or outcome for each activity;

assessment of each outcome as relieving a specific aspect of the listed need.

To design a program proposal the writer should:

1. Plan as above, giving each specific need an ativity and outcome.
2. Budget for each activity.
3. In writing, always list the needs, objectives, activities in the same order and in the same language. Do not worry about repetitiveness.
4. Never introduce a need that is not addressed by an activity.
5. State your objective in such a way that the effect of your action can be assessed.
6. Do not introduce a goal or objective that cannot be addressed by a specific activity and results measured.
7. Make the activities very specific (who, what, when).
8. Make sure each activity has an observable result, even if it seems trivial and repetitive ("each of 300 teens will receive a pamphlet....").
9. Assess both the success of your specific activities and effects on specific (not global) needs.

Building a Budget

Grant budgets pay for faculty/staff time (i.e. salary) to conduct specific activities; and then for:

equipment
supplies
necessary services
travel, overhead (energy, accounting, etc.)

STEP 1. Construct a specific, detailed timeline of activities, listing project stages. For example of a timeline for a workshop:

Project Stage 1
recruit four student assistants
confirm dorm and conference spaces
brochure printing mailing

STEP 2. For each project stage note who must act for what portion of his/her time. Do not neglect secretarial and technical staff used.

STEP 3. For the same periods, not the necessary supplies, services, and other non-salary costs.

STEP 4. Are all the major activities and needed resources listed?

STEP 5. For each phase, attach an estimated cost to each item: faculty/staff time, travel, supplies, etc. [see below on calculating personnel cost].

STEP 6. Break out the costs (side by side)into two or three columns:

STEP 7. Arrange the columns in this order:

Personnel salaries
Fringe benefits
Services (consultants, etc.)
Stipends for teachers or students
Supplies
Travel
Equipment
Other (license fees, dormitory costs, etc.)

35.75% for faculty in academic year
31% for staff
8.75% for students and for faculty during the summer

STEP 10. If the grant is a federal grant that allows "indirect costs" or "administrative costs," calculate the indirects at 64.8% of the total of personnel costs the Agency column minus student cost. (See routing form for current indirect cost rate.)

Examples for Budget Construction

Calculating Personnel Costs

A grant buys the services of a faculty or staff member from the College. The grant should pay the College for the value of that time. To calculate the monthly salary base and take the proper percentage of that, and multiply by the number of months.

Example: Professor Jones is paid $45,000 for the academic year. His monthly base pay is $45,000 divided by 9 which equals $5,000 per month. If the grant pays for 1/4 of one semester's work (i.e. one course reassigned time), the value is $5,000 per month times 4.5 months times 25%, which equals $5,625.

If Professor Jones works one month full time in summer, his work is worth $5,000.

Grants do not pay at a rate above monthly base pay!

Replacement Costs versus Actual Value

Sometimes the personnel budget is based on replacement cost. For example, if Professor Jones is to be replaced by a part-time adjunct professor (at $2,100 per course), or by part of the efforts of a full-time temporary professor (at $3,500 per course); those figures may be used, with permission from Academic Funding.

Actual cost budgeting is preferred.

Development staff will assist in budget development at any stage. Matching costs are not casually contributed, and early discussion is recommended.

Maintained by Denise Vanderburgh (dvanderburgh@ithaca.edu)
Office of Academic Funding and Sponsored Programs

Last updated 1 May 2007