Grant Writing Services & Guides

Salaries and Wages: The time and effort of all personnel should be included in your budget. Proposed salaries must be in accordance with University rates and expressed in terms of percentage of effort or hourly rate. For faculty, that institutional base salary rate is the amount approved for the eight-month academic year per the Faculty Contract. SP will assist you in determining faculty release time during the AY and supplemental summer salary.

Fringe Benefits include such items as health insurance, retirement benefits, life insurance, disability and social security. The current rate is 39% of base salary is an average used to estimate fringe benefits costs.  Actual costs could vary depending on the actual benefits selected by the employee.

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, approved contractual rates, and contract templates to use.

Equipment critical to carrying out the project must be included in the budget with a catalog price or quote 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. 

Materials and Supplies are defined as expendable items less than $5,000/item. Each item should be listed and carefully justified in terms of need to support goal/objectives.

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

Subcontract agreement between SVSU and an external organization is appropriate when a significant portion of the research/project will be performed at another institution. Contact SP for guidance in including subcontract costs in proposed budgets and assessing for risk and monitoring responsibilities as required by 2CFR 200.

Other: Additional items may include but are not limited to: publication costs, equipment maintenance, human subject fees, postage, and material reproduction, evaluation.

Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs are costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives. These costs cannot be identified readily and specifically with a sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity.

F&A cost rates can be expressed as a percentage of total direct costs, a percentage of salaries and fringe benefits, or a predetermined rate required by a sponsor. The F&A cost components are classified under two major cost categories: (1) Facilities and (2) Administration. Facilities costs include depreciation, interest on debt associated with certain buildings, equipment and capital improvements, operations and maintenance (physical plant) expenses, and library expenses. Administration costs include the costs associated with general University administration and expenses, departmental administration, sponsored projects administration, student administration and services, and all other types of expenditures not listed specifically under Facilities.

The F&A cost proposal is prepared by the Controller’s office and is negotiated with and approved by the University’s cognizant Federal agency, currently Department of the Navy.  Consult with SP for the current indirect cost rate for your project and to understand how this cost will be included in your budget. As of July 1, 2018, the F&A cost rate applicable is 40% of salary and benefits, and if allowed is a mandatory expense that will not be waived. 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; SP will determine how this rate should be included within a proposal.  Indirect costs are charged on all projects - grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, fixed price agreements.

“Matching” is generally used to refer to a statutorily specified percentage of program or project costs that must be contributed by a grantee in order to be eligible for Federal funding.  This requirement may either be stated as a specified or minimum non-Federal percentage of total allowable costs or a maximum Federal percentage of participation in such costs.

“Cost Sharing” is used to refer to any situation in which the grantee shares in the costs of a project other than as statutorily required “matching.”  Both require non-Federal participation in the costs of grant supported activities.  Specific program legislation may require grantees to share in the cost of the project.  Program guidelines will usually specify whether fixed amounts or percentages or matching are established on a program wide basis.

“Third-party” in-kind contributions means property or services which benefit a grant supported project or program and which are contributed by non-Federal parties without charge to the grantee, the subgrantee, or a cost-type contractor under the grant.

It is the University’s practice not to propose/offer cost-sharing unless the sponsor requires it and further, not to cost-share more than 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, SP will obtain written authorization and the University account number to be charged for cost sharing before submitting a proposal. 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 there is an unexpended balance at the end of a fixed price agreement, the project director needs to provide evidence in writing that all of the deliverables have been provided and accepted by the funder before unexpended funds are released to a departmental account for the project director to use.  Indirect costs are charged to the unexpended fund total before the transfer is completed.