| Contact
Us | Application and Form
| Policies and Procedures | Boilerplate
| Proposal Development | Links | FAQs |
| FAQs
Who
establishes
priorities for fundraising and grant requests at the University? What
are some of the most important things for me to know?
|
|
Who
establishes
priorities for fundraising and grant requests at the University? Priorities
for funding requests are set by the Provost, the Deans and the CFO.
University Development does not establish priorities for obtaining funds. What
does the Office of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations do? The Office of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations (CF&G Relations), an office within University Development, is responsible for the planning, organization and implementation of a program to raise support to meet the University’s pressing capital projects, program needs and University initiatives. To this end, the CF&G Relations office works to cultivate favorable relationships with local, regional and national corporations and foundations and also with government agencies. The Office provides three major services for faculty members, deans, program directors and administrators: Guidance
in finding, selecting and approaching corporations and foundations for
funding Assistance
in developing proposals and related materials
Maintenance
of a tracking system to coordinate requests throughout the University
No.
The University’s internal review process makes sure that other
faculty or staff members are not already seeking a grant from the same
agency and that RWU matching funds (if any) are planned for, that indirect
costs are calculated properly, etc. Also,
the CF&G Relations office works to maintain consistency and integrity
of approach through on-going relationships with funders.
It is likely that the University has approached this funder before
and/or will approach this funder again in the future; therefore, it is
very important that all grant proposals are sent through the CF&G
Relations office. First, remember that the grant application is related to priorities within your academic or administrative unit and by the University at large. Second, the grant-seeking process—from initial idea to being awarded a grant—ordinarily takes an extensive period of time. Be sure to consider whether you have the time available to spend on writing and revising your project proposal and budget and actually coordinating the project once funds have been secured. Finally, determine what you are going to do when grant money ends. You have a better chance of securing a grant if you have a good long-range plan for supporting your activity after the grant period is over. A
very common error is proposing to do too much with limited dollars and
time. You ordinarily cannot
be expected to solve a major social or educational problem with a grant of
say $5,000 or $10,000. However,
funding to help meet challenges and respond to opportunities may be
appropriate. A related error
is lack of specificity. Exactly
what limited things do you plan to accomplish?
How? When?
Why (is it important)? How
will you evaluate whether you accomplished what you set out to do? In short, be realistic and specific. What
is the difference between a grant, a gift and a contract? A
gift is exactly that – an outright donation to the University.
It may be a general gift to be used at the University’s
discretion or it may be for a specific purpose (i.e.: scholarship, library
books, sports team, etc.). A
grant is given in order to attain specified project objectives that have
been proposed by the University and agreed to by the University and the
grantor. A contract is an
agreement between the University and an external funding source; whereby,
certain provisions of services or products are “contracted” to be
delivered by the University to the grantor. How
do I locate external funding sources? Once you have
clarified what your program entails, including funding needs, it is time
to start looking for organizations that will provide support. Many federal
programs will have nearly a year's lead time from submission to funding --
with private sources the time is sometimes
less. Many federal and
private programs have only one yearly deadline. Thus it is imperative to
start your funding search as soon as possible in order to have the funds
ready when you need them. Information regarding
potential funders comes from many sources:
directly from the CF&G Relations office, from a colleague, or
from the Internet. Links to
funding agencies are provided on the Grants web page.
There are also resources available for use in the University
library. Once your
project has been approved through the Internal Approval Form, the CF&G Relations office
may help to perform a search to match your
research or project with funding sources. It helps to provide the
office with a brief,
one-page description of your project. Include key words to help us target
specific interests and a basic budget - estimating costs for
personnel, travel, supplies, equipment, and other necessary items. |