Proposal Development Guide

What is a Sponsored Project?

Sponsored projects include research, applied research, training, instruction, community service, and other projects involving funds, materials, or other compensation from outside sources. Sponsored agreements usually contain the following:

• Language binding the University to a line of scholarly or scientific inquiry or the performance of a set of activities specified in the proposal

• A line-item budget detailing expenses by activity, function, or project period

• Progress and financial reports requirement

• Language subjecting the award to external audit

• A requirement that unexpended funds must be returned to the sponsor at the conclusion of the project (The exception is when the award is specified as fixed-price)

• Provisions for the disposition of either tangible or intangible properties which may result from the activity (Tangible properties include equipment, records, technical reports, etc. Intangible properties include data, copyrights, or inventions)

All grant and contract proposals are submitted on behalf of the University and all awards are made to University Enterprises, Inc. (UEI) which serves as the fiscal agent authorized to accept and administer awards on behalf of Sacramento State.  Awards are not made to individuals.

The Principal Investigator (PI): The term Principal Investigator is used to designate the individual who has the responsibility for seeing that a sponsored project is carried out in compliance with the terms, conditions and policies of both the sponsor, the University and UEI, including the submission of all required annual and final reports. The terms Principal Investigator and Project Director are often used interchangeably. 

The Sponsor: A sponsor may be a government agency, a private foundation, a corporation, or a non-profit organization. Sponsors differ in the type of proposals solicited, the type of awards made (grant, contract, cooperative agreement, etc.), methods of payment, the terms of the award, and the types of costs they will support.

Typical differences among the federal sponsors:

• Some agencies accept either solicited or unsolicited proposals, whereas others will accept only solicited proposals for which there are explicit guidelines.  

• Some agencies subject proposals to peer review (examples are the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health as well as other federal agencies); others only conduct internal programmatic review.  

• The governing cost principles (OMB Circular A-21) are the same for each federal agency, but each agency also issues implementation guidelines with their own terms and conditions. Requirements may vary from sponsor to sponsor, although consistency of cost treatment is required.

Typical differences among Private Foundations: 

• Large foundations normally have a paid staff to answer questions about funding priorities and interests, review and evaluate proposals, and perform post-award evaluations. Small foundations are generally run by a voluntary board of trustees and provide less public accessibility.  

• Smaller foundations are frequently more interested in funding activities within their own region. Larger foundations often have funding priorities in several areas and have fewer geographic restrictions.

• In general, foundations may be less willing to reimburse the University for full F&A (indirect) costs.

Corporations fund research either through a company foundation or directly from within their organization.  Corporations also often fund only in areas where they operate or do business.

Please note that proposals to private foundations and corporations may require approval from the Office of University Development prior to submission.  University Development provides long-term, strategic planning for the University’s corporate and foundation relationships and can assist in the creation and development of mutually favorable relationships with corporations, foundations, and other philanthropic organizations.