Grant Writing Services & Guides

Budget

This section of your proposal states how much the project will cost and outlines the specific cost categories. Accuracy and detail are essential in this section. For federal grants, costs must also be allowable as defined by OMB circular, A–21. Be sure to show all costs related to the project, and specifically, how costs tie to the project's objectives and outcomes. Keep in mind that sponsors will support costs that are reasonable and justified in a budget description. Be careful to follow guidelines completely.

A draft of the budget should be provided to SP as soon as possible in your proposal preparation process.

Elements of most budgets include the following: Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, and when required, Cost Sharing at the level required for funding.

  1. Direct Costs
    1. Salaries and Wages

      The time and effort of all personnel should be included in your budget. Proposed salaries must be in accordance with University approved rates. The University neither pays nor accounts for faculty and professional time by labor hours. Budgets must, therefore, be expressed in terms of percentage of effort. For faculty, that rate is the amount approved for the nine-month academic year. Contact the manager of Grant & Cash Management for assistance in determining faculty buy-out time and summer salary.

    2. Fringe Benefits

      Fringe benefits include such items as health insurance, retirement benefits, life insurance, disability and social security. The current rate of 34% is an average used to estimate fringe benefits costs. Actual costs could be more or less, depending on the actual benefits selected by the employee and their salary.

    3. Consultants

      Consultants provide technical expertise for a limited duration necessary for the conduct of the sponsored project. Consultants are temporary arrangements with external companies or individuals. Consult SP for guidance on the use of consultants and approved contractual rates.

    4. Equipment

      Equipment critical to carrying out the project must be included in the budget with a catalog price or accurate estimate of the cost of each item listed. Equipment is defined as an item costing more than $5,000 and having a useful life of one year or more.

    5. Materials and Supplies

      Expendable equipment (less than $5,000) and supplies should be listed in this section. Each item should be listed and carefully justified in terms of need.

    6. Travel

      Travel costs include meals, lodging, airfare, and ground transportation. See the SVSU Operations Manual for reimbursement guidelines.

    7. Subcontracts

      A subcontract agreement between SVSU and an external organization is appropriate when a significant portion of the research will be performed at another institution. Contact SP for guidance in including subcontract costs in proposed budgets.

    8. Other Direct Costs

      Additional items may include publication costs, equipment maintenance, human subject fees, postage, material reproduction, and telephone.

    Note: The SVSU Operations Manual outlines policies that must be followed upon incurring the costs listed above. Principal Investigators and staff directly involved with a program's budget and purchases must be familiar with the policies. The operations manual can be found at http://www.svsu.edu/operationsmanual/.

  2. Indirect Costs (Facilities and Administrative Costs [F&A])

    These are costs that are not readily identifiable with individual projects. F&A costs must be included in all budgets when allowed. Consult with SP for the current indirect cost rate for your project and to understand how this cost should be included in your budget. If a sponsor has a written policy limiting indirect costs, the University will accept that policy in determining the level of F&A costs that are included in the budget.

  3. Cost Sharing/Matching Funds

    Some sponsors require that the University contribute a certain portion of funding to the overall cost of a project or the purchase of a piece of equipment. It is the University's practice not to propose cost-sharing unless the sponsor requires it and not to cost-share in excess of the sponsor's stated requirements. Contributions of University resources may come from in-kind (non-cash) or cash contributions and must be approved by the appropriate dean and vice president. For this reason, be sure to obtain written authorization for cost sharing before writing or submitting a proposal requiring this kind of commitment by the University.

    (Note: Whether cost sharing is required in the budget or not, it is important that the University understands its full commitment to supporting a proposed project if funded. If a project's total matching costs are not reflected in the formal proposal, the PI should submit an internal document to his/her dean or supervisor, listing the total support needed from the University to make the program successful.)

  4. Miscellaneous Proposal Information
    1. Active and Pending Grant Support

      Many sponsors request applicants to supply information on both active and pending support. Faculty should include a complete list of current sponsored projects including: (1) project titles, (2) funding sources, (3) duration of projects, and (4) total approved budgets. This information should be included in the appropriate spaces on required application forms or, in the absence of any required form, typed neatly on a separate numbered page in the appendix to the proposal.

      Faculty should also list the same information about pending applications. This is particularly important on federal programs where possible sources of support may come from different funding agencies. Private foundations often want to see where an applicant has submitted an application for support.

    2. Appendices

      Appendices in your proposal should be clearly labeled and provide supportive information that relates directly to the proposed project. The use of appendices and any restrictions on number of pages in proposals is specifically limited by most sponsors. For this reason, it is essential to consult the sponsor's proposal preparation guidelines. Be sure to note whether or not the page limitation on the overall proposal length also includes the pages in the appendices.

    3. Facilities and Equipment

      Information pertaining to resources available to the PI for the conduct of the project should be described in detail. Examples of such resources include: lab space, equipment, library resources, and University computer system.

    4. Information and Technology Support

      All sponsored project proposals with a significant information technology component are to be reviewed by Information Technology Services (ITS) early in the proposal preparation process. This review ensures that proper technical support will be planned and provided. Specifically, the review enables ITS to assist faculty and staff in:

      • identifying ways in which technology can further research aims;
      • ensuring that proposed computing uses take advantage of state-of-the-art technology;
      • ensuring that the costs of significant information technology components are identified and accurately estimated;
      • determining any permanent funding that may be required from University sources to support significant information technology components following the end of the sponsored project funding period; and
      • identifying any acquisition and/or ongoing expenses, including those related to moving, storage, space requirements, and other special conditions associated with the significant information technology components of gifts obtained by private sources in support of SVSU.

      During the ITS consultation, the Principal Investigator and the PI's dean or director are to review the significant information technology components of the sponsored projects proposal to ensure that:

      • all aspects of the significant information technology components, including their configuration, are identified;
      • the level of ITS support required during and after the sponsored project funding period is determined;
      • possible external sources of support are identified by ITS if support is unavailable on campus;
      • ITS architecture standards are met; and
      • all costs included in the proposal are identified and accurate.

      "Significant information technology components" are defined as computing hardware, software, and services that require ITS technical support services, connection to the network, or the purchase of nonstandard hardware or software.

    5. Institutional Overview

      An institutional overview is available from SP. This statement provides a brief history of the University, as well as a description of its major facilities and resources, current student profile, and current faculty profile.

The following are some PowerPoints® that may assist you as you formulate a budget.

  • How To Budget - This PowerPoint® illustrates some of the basic concepts as you put together a budget.
  • Grant Preparation - This PowerPoint® takes you through the entire grant process, with particular emphasis on avoiding red flags that arise in the budget stage.