Developing Your Budget

ORSP will assist you in developing your grant budget. The information below is intended to help you better understand the budget process and consider your project's budgetary needs.

Purpose of the Grant Budget

Grant budgets are designed to accurately reflect the costs of the project. There are a number of misperceptions and myths surrounding grant budgets. Keep in mind that

• Funding agencies review the grant budget to make sure that the project is feasible given the budget request. They do not look more favorably on projects that promise "more for less." Instead, funding agencies favor projects that demonstrate that the Principal Investigator has paid careful attention to the time and effort required on the project and is fully aware of how much this time and effort ACTUALLY COSTS.

• Most government funding agencies recognize that externally-funded projects have other costs that are not easily identifiable within a project. These costs are known as "Facilities and Administrative" (F & A) costs for the host institution. For example, if a project coordinator is hired for a grant, Human Resources must spend time and effort processing new hire paperwork. If copies are to be made, Document Services must first set up a copy code. If work is to take place in a campus space, there will be costs associated with lighting, maintenance, etc. Rather than account for each of these items individually within a grant budget, most funding agencies allow us to request F & A costs based on a negotiated rate. Requesting F & A costs does not impact whether the proposal receives funding or the amount of Direct Costs available for the project.

• Funding agencies sometimes require a "Cost Share," meaning that the college covers some of the costs for the project. Many corporate and foundation funding agencies will not accept requests for F & A rates, but will consider these costs as part of the St. Kate's Cost Share. It is sometimes helpful to outline St, Kate's contributions, whether or not a Cost Share is required, on corporate or foundation funding requests. If a government agency does not require a cost share, then none should be listed in the budget.