Grant Proposals
A grant is an award of financial assistance to an eligible recipient in support of a proposed project. The term grant is commonly used to describe many awards of extramural support for projects submitted by faculty or staff. In a legal sense, a grant is a validly binding agreement in which the grantor provides funds to a grantee on the basis of a review and approval of a written proposal prepared by the applicant. The grantor offers a grant award via a Notice of Grant Award or other document.
The requirements associated with a grant award vary widely from sponsor to sponsor. Generally, however, awards are made for a particular period of time, with definite start and end dates. Awards usually include restrictions on the use of funds and on the reallocation of funds from one budget category to another. Most sponsors require progress or annual technical reports, an annual financial report, as well as final technical and financial reports at the end of a project.
Grants are made in response to solicited and unsolicited proposals, but the most frequent types of grants are for unsolicited proposals. If an agency wishes to award grants for research, training, or public service in a particular area it will announce the availability of funds and invite interested parties to submit proposals. The following terminology describes different kinds of grant proposals:
-
New Proposal: A new proposal is one submitted for funding a project that has not previously been funded. In almost every instance, new proposals are subject to competitive review. Proposals will be evaluated and ranked according to criteria established by the funding agency.
-
Continuation Proposal: Many agencies award grants for a specified project period (usually one, three, or five years). Regardless of project length, however, the grantor generally makes funds available for only one year at a time. In order to obtain funds for additional periods of time within the grant period, a continuation application must be submitted. Continuation applications usually are not subject to competitive review.
-
Renewal Proposal: In a renewal proposal the PI requests support beyond the initially approved project period. Generally, a proposal for renewal is submitted at some time prior (usually six months) to the conclusion of the last continuation year of an approved project period. In most cases, renewal proposals are subject to the same competitive review as new proposals.
-
Supplemental Proposal: Seeking additional funds for a project during an already funded project period requires the submission of a supplemental proposal. Depending on the nature of the additional funding required and on the policies of the particular agency to which the supplemental proposal is submitted, the proposal may or may not be subject to competitive review.
Contract Proposals
A contract is a project that is conceived by the sponsor in order to acquire the services of an outside entity or person. Contract agreements are signed by each party and stipulate that the sponsor will provide funding in support of a specific set of activities in return for which the recipient will furnish a particular product, service(s), analysis, report(s) or other materials. Some federal agencies use contracts to fund research, development, training, and public service programs. Most state awards are made in the form of contracts. The same is true for agreements between Sacramento State and many private companies.
There are many different types of contracts. For Sponsored projects, however, contracts are usually of two types, either fixed-price or cost- reimbursement. Under a fixed-price contract, the parties agree in advance on the price to be paid for a particular product or service. Once the agreement has been executed, the awardee is obligated to perform the work set forth in the contract and to deliver any and all products or deliverables specified in the contract. This requirement must be fulfilled, regardless of the cost to the awardee. If the cost of performing the contract is less than the amount set forth in the contract, Sacramento State may retain the excess funds.
Under a cost-reimbursement contract, the sponsoring agency and Sacramento State (officially University Enterprises, Inc.) agree on the work to be performed and on an estimate of the total cost for performing the work. The sponsoring agency is obliged to reimburse UEI for costs (up to the contract total) incurred during the performance of the work specified in the contract.
Cooperative Agreements/Cooperative Research and Demonstration Agreements
Cooperative Agreements and Cooperative Research and Demonstration Agreements involve the active participation and collaboration of the sponsor in all aspects of the project. In these types of agreements, the sponsor participates to some defined extent in all decisions about the work to be done, when it is to be done and who is to do it. The sponsor is a true and genuine partner in the project.
