Grant writing glossary

Common Grant Writing Terms
by Felicia Write

     Grant writing requires excellent word skills.  As a grant writer, it is as important for you to have a strong knowledge of grant writing terms as it is for you to have an impeccable vocabulary and excellent writing skills. The following list contains common words and phrases used by various Federal agencies, corporations, and foundations that will help you "talk the talk" as your write your grant.

501(c)(3): IRS tax code that determines tax-exempt status for a non-profit organization.

a.

academic grant: financial support based on academic achievement or other criteria that may include financial need. A grant recipient is selected based on specific criteria, which is typically set by the federal or state governments or the institution. Generally, the proceeds of the grant are used to offset the cost of the student's education for an upcoming or current academic year for performance or criteria met during the previous academic year.


allowable costs: expenditures authorized by law or regulation.

annually funded: An account that has no endowment to support it. May be non-recurring.

assets: The amount of capital or principal—money, stocks, bonds, real estate, or other resources—controlled by a foundation or corporate giving program. Generally, assets are invested and the resulting income is used to make grants.

audit: official examination, correction, and compliance aspects of a project or agency.


award abstract: a summary that describes the research and names of principal investigators and their institutions.


b.

beneficiary: receiver of benefits; institution, organization, etc., that receives financial funding from grantor.

budget: The budget for your proposal may be as simple as a one-page statement of projected revenue and expenses. Or your proposal may require a more complex presentation, perhaps including a page on projected support and notes explaining various items of expense or of revenue.

budget narrative: portion of the budget that is used to explain any unusual line items in the budget and is not always needed. If costs are straightforward and the numbers tell the story clearly, explanations are redundant.

c.

capital support: funds provided for endowments, buildings, construction, or equipment.

CCR: Central Contractor Registration. The primary registrant database for the U.S. Federal Government. CCR collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data in support of agency acquisition missions, including Federal agency contract and assistance awards.

CFDA: Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance; a government-wide compendium of federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance. Programs listed therein are given a CFDA Number.

challenge grant: a grant that is awarded only if the organization can raise matching funds. This type of grant is meant to stimulate donor support.  Also known as a matching grant.

competition: term used for individuals, organizations, and institutions that are competing for grants.


conference grant: a grant whose purpose is to support activities related to the conduct of a conference(s) or defined set of conference-related activities.

closing date: date by which applications must be postmarked to be accepted for review.

contingent-pay: practice of giving financial rewards to grant writing professionals contingent upon the achievement of fixed money goals.

continuing grant: A type of grant that agrees to provide a specific level of support for an initial, specified period of time, with a statement of intent to provide additional support of the project for additional periods, provided funds are available and the results achieved warrant further support.

cooperating collections: free funding information centers in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit resource centers that provide a core collection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers. For more information visit: foundationcenter.org/collections.

current dollars: actual dollars awarded, without adjustment for inflation.

d.

description: This section of your proposal (called the Project Description) should have five subsections: objectives, methods, staffing/administration, evaluation, and sustainability (see definition of each section below). Objectives and methods dictate staffing and administrative requirements. They then become the focus of the evaluation to assess the results of the project. The project's sustainability flows directly from its success, hence its ability to attract other support. Taken together, the five subsections present an interlocking picture of the total project.

discretionary grant application packages: application packages available for grant competitions that are currently open.

DUNS: a nine-digit number established and assigned by Dun and Bradstreet to uniquely identify a corporation.


 e.


ED: short for Department of Education. 

Ed.gov: U.S. Department of Education web site.  This site contains information vital to those seeking education grant assistance.

e-grants.ed.gov: ED's online application system. This site provides application packages for the competitions that it hosts.

ED Pubs: list of downloadable application packages for a number of ED grant competitions.

EDGAR: Education Department General Administration Regulations; provides guidelines and criteria for grantwriting. For more information, copy and paste this link in your web browser: http://www.ed.gov/fund/grants-apply.html

evaluative measures: The effectiveness of the method proposed to monitor and evaluate the project results. Evaluative measures must be able to assess 1) to what extent the program objectives have been met and 2) to what extent these can be attributed to the project.

expense budget: Your list of budget items and the calculations you have done to arrive at a dollar figure for each item should be summarized on worksheets. For most projects, costs should be grouped into subcategories, selected to reflect the critical areas of expense. All significant costs should be broken out within the subcategories, but small ones can be combined on one line.

f.

Federal Register Notice: Most ED competitions are announced in Federal Register Notices which provide information on rules, deadlines, and how to apply.

FOA:  Funding Opportunity Announcement. A publicly available document by which a Federal agency makes known its intentions to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually as a result of competition for funds. Funding opportunity announcements may be known as program announcements, requests for applications, notices of funding availability, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program.

FON: Funding Opportunity Number


formula grants: grants based on specific formulas determined by Congress.

Foundation Center: maintains detailed information and comprehensive database on U.S. and global grantmakers and their grants.  Visit foundationcenter.org for more information.

FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid


funding preferences: Funding preferences, priorities, and special considerations may come from legislation, regulations, or HRSA program leadership decisions. They are not the same as review criteria.  Funding preferences are any objective factors that would be used to place a grant application ahead of others without the preference on a list of applicants recommended for funding by a review committee. Some programs give preference to organizations that have specific capabilities such as telemedicine networking, or have established relationships with managed care organizations.

funding priorities: Funding priorities are factors that cause a grant application to receive a fixed amount of extra rating points - which may similarly affect the order of applicants on a funding list. Special considerations are other factors considered in making funding decisions that are neither review criteria, preferences, nor priorities, e.g., ensuring that there is an equitable geographic distribution of grant recipients, or meeting requirements for urban and rural proportions.

g.


General Policy Notices: dated notices that include updates and other changes that pertains to grantor.


GPG: Grant Proposal Guide

grant: Different than a scholarship or government aid, a grant is a contribution, gift, or subsidy bestowed by a government or other organization (called the grantor). Grants are usually conditional upon certain qualifications as to the use, maintenance of specified standards, or a proportional contribution by the grantee or other grantor(s).

Grants.gov: designated by the Office of Management and Budget as the single access point for all grant programs offered by 26 Federal grant-making agencies. It provides a single interface for agencies to announce their grant opportunities and for all applicants to find and apply for those opportunities.

grassroots fundraising: Efforts to raise money from individuals or groups from the local community on a broad basis. Usually an organization's own constituents — people who live in the neighborhood served or clients of the agency's services — are the sources of these funds. Grassroots fundraising activities include membership drives, raffles, auctions, benefits, and a range of other activities.

GWN: Grant Writer's Network provides professional development to Houston grant writers including networking, brainstorming, etc.. Visit grantwritershouston.org for more details. Brown bag meetings are held at United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive from Noon til 1:00.

h.

HBCU: Historically Black College or University

HHS: Department of Health and Human Services

HRSA: The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the HHS, is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable.

i.

IES:  Institute for Education Science, a business entity.

IES funding opportunities: provides information on research funding opportunities run by the Institute for Education Sciences, including funding for unsolicited grants.

in-kind donations: donations or contributions that are not money, but have monetary value, e.g., free services, food, furniture, or office space.  

impact: The extent and effectiveness of plans for dissemination of project results, and/or the extent to which project results may be national in scope and/or the degree to which a community is impacted by delivery of health services, and/or the degree to which the project activities are replicable, and/or the sustainability of the program beyond Federal funding.


Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant: A student whose parent or guardian was a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and died as a result of service performed in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 may be eligible to receive the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant.

l.

loan: Financial support which must be repaid, usually with interest.

LOI: Letter of Intent. A short summary or the proposed project or service and needed funds to complete the project that is sent to a potential funder for preliminary review prior to submitting a complete proposal. 

m.

matching grant: A grant that is awarded only if the organization can raise matching funds. This type of grant is meant to stimulate donor support. Also known as a challenge grant.


matching requirements: Many organizations require an awardee to provide matching funds or share in the costs of a project based on the program's authorizing statute or program regulations. The requirement and the specific percentage or amount of matching or cost-sharing are set forth in the program announcement and application materials.

methods: The methods section enables the reader to visualize the implementation of the project. It should convince the reader that your agency knows what it is doing, thereby establishing its credibility. This section describes the specific activities that will take place to achieve the objectives. The following questions should be answered in the methods section:

• What will occur from the time the project begins until it is completed? How will you achieve your goals? Your methods should match the previously stated objectives.
• What is your timeline? When will operations and tasks be done? The methods section should present the order and timing for the tasks. It might make sense to provide a timetable so that the grants decision-maker does not have to map out the sequencing on his or her own. The timetable tells the reader when and provides another summary of the project that supports the rest of the methods section.
• Why have you adopted certain methods? You may need to defend your chosen methods, especially if they are new or unorthodox.  
• Why will the planned work most effectively lead to the outcomes you anticipate? You can answer this question in a number of ways, including using expert testimony and examples of other projects that work. 

MTA: Material Transfer Agreement. A legal document defining the conditions under which research or other materials can be transferred and used among research laboratories.

n.

need: The extent to which the application describes the problem and associated contributing factors to the problem.


non-profit grants: visit USA.gov for Nonprofits for more information.


NSF: National Science Foundation; an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…"

o.


objectives: measurable outcomes of the program. They define your methods. Your objectives must be tangible, specific, concrete, measurable, and achievable in a specified time period. NOTE:  Grantseekers often confuse objectives with goals, which are conceptual and more abstract.

operating support grant: A grant to cover the regular personnel, administrative, and miscellaneous expenses of an existing program or project. See also general/operating support.

operational support: funding given to support an organization's daily operations.


p.

parent announcement: used by applicants who wish to submit what were formerly termed “unsolicited” applications.

payout requirement: the minimum amount that private foundations are required to expend for charitable purposes.

Federal Pell Grant: Pell Grants are awarded usually only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or a professional degree.

PPoP: Primary Place of Performance


private foundation: A nongovernmental, nonprofit organization with funds (usually from a single source, such as an individual, family, or corporation) and program managed by its own trustees or directors. Private foundations are established to maintain or aid social, educational, religious, or other charitable activities serving the common welfare, primarily through the making of grants

prize: Recognition based on competition or other criteria. A grant is not a prize.


project: the plan or venture for which grant monies are being requested.

Program Announcement Code: a unique identifier for each program funded by HRSA.

Program Announcement Number: A unique program announcement (HRSA) number is located at the beginning of each program announcement in the HRSA Preview, Mini-Preview and Federal Register notices and includes the fiscal year and sequence number for announcement; for example, HRSA 06-001. This number is used with the program title and program announcement code to order application materials.

program income: Gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the award.

project period: The project period is the total time for which support of a discretionary project has been programmatically approved. The project period usually consists of a series of budget periods of one-year duration. Once approved through initial review, continuation of each successive budget period is subject to satisfactory performance, availability of funds, and program priorities.

r.

RAG: Regional Association of Grantmakers

recipient: An organization receiving financial assistance directly from an awarding agency to carry out a project or program.

real property: Land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances thereto, but excludes movable machinery and equipment.

researcher: person who writes, prepares, and/or searches for grant applications on their behalf, or on behalf of a company, organization, institution, or government, but does not plan to sign the grant application or its associated certifications and assurances.

response: The extent to which the proposed project responds to the "Purpose" included in the program description. The clarity of the proposed goals and objectives and their relationship to the identified project. The extent to which the activities (scientific or other) described in the application are capable of addressing the problem and attaining the project objectives.

Review Criteria: General review criteria for all HRSA programs include:

resources and capabilities: The extent to which project personnel are qualified by training and/or experience to implement and carry out the project. The capabilities of the applicant organization, and quality and availability of facilities and personnel to fulfill the needs and requirements of the proposed project. For competing continuations, past performance will also be considered.

research and development: All research activities, both basic and applied, and all development activities that are supported at universities, colleges, hospitals, other nonprofit institutions, and commercial organizations.

• Research is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of the subject studied.
• Development is the systematic use of knowledge and understanding gained from research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods, including design and development of prototypes and processes.
• The term research also includes activities involving training of individuals in research techniques where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function.
• the nature of the project and how it will be conducted
• the timetable for the project
• the anticipated outcomes and how best to evaluate the results
• staffing and volunteer needs, including deployment of existing staff and new hires.

RFA: Request for Application. Call for grant applications.

RFP:  Request for Proposal. Solicits contract proposals. An RFP usually has one receipt date, as specified in RFP solicitation.

role manager: The person listed as the point of contact for a specific grantor agency or sub-agency. This person will receive any email notifications about application submissions, depending on the option selected in the agency's profile.

s.

secret question: Question created during registration, used to reset username and password information, if username and/or password is forgotten or requested.

seed money: a grant or donation used to start a new project; covers basic start-up expenses such as salaries and operating costs necessary to begin the project; also knows as start-up money.

SIC: Being replaced by the NAIC code, a code that was used to classify business establishments.

specific program criteria: Additional specific program criteria, if any, are included in the program description and in the individual guidance material provided with the application kit. The specific review criteria used to review and rank applications are included in the individual guidance material provided with the application kits. Applicants should pay strict attention to addressing these criteria, as they are the basis upon which the reviewers will judge their applications.
 
Standard Form 424 (SF-424) Series Forms: Standard government-wide grant application forms including:

• SF-424 Application for federal Assistance cover page
• SF-424A Budget Information Non-construction Programs
• SF-424B  Assurances Non-construction Programs
• SF-424C Budget Information Construction Programs
• SF-424D Assurances Construction Programs
• Plus named attachments including Project Narrative and Budget Narrative.

stipend: payment(s) made to an individual under a fellowship or training grant in accordance with pre-established levels to provide for the individual's living expenses during the period of training. A stipend is not considered compensation for the services expected of an employee.

sub-award: An award of financial assistance in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, made under an award by a recipient to an eligible subrecipient or by a subrecipient to a lower tier subrecipient. The term includes financial assistance when provided by any legal agreement, even if the agreement is called a contract, but does not include procurement of goods and services nor does it include any form of assistance which is excluded from the definition of award.

support and revenue statement: For the typical project, no support and revenue statement is necessary. The expense budget represents the amount of grant support required. But if grant support has already been awarded to the project, or if you expect project activities to generate income, a support and revenue statement is the place to provide this information.

supplemental priorities: topics that ED would like to focus on; establishing the list makes it easier for ED to assign the priorities to individual competitions. The application notices for each individual competition will still specify which priorities, if any, are in place for that competition.

support requested: The reasonableness of the proposed budget in relation to the objectives, the complexity of the activities, and the anticipated results.

supporting documents: attachments and appendices included in the grant proposal, such as letters of support from partners, IRS 501(c)(3) documentation, annual reports, brochures, and/or statistical charts.

synopsis of funding opportunity: summary information extracted from or based on the funding opportunity announcement that is electronically posted at the government-wide website known as Grants.gov/Find. The posting at Grants.gov/FIND includes a direct link to the funding opportunity announcement or includes an uploaded copy of the funding opportunity announcement.

suspension: post-award action by the awarding agency that temporarily withdraws the agency’s financial assistance sponsorship under an award, pending corrective action by the recipient or pending a decision to terminate the award.

sustainability: A clear message from grantmakers today is that grantseekers will be expected to demonstrate in very concrete ways the long-term financial viability of the project to be funded and of the nonprofit organization itself.

t.

TEACH Grant: Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant Program that provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.

third-party contributions: The value of non-cash contributions provided by non-federal third parties. Third party in-kind contributions may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the project or program.

termination: the cancellation of awarding agency sponsorship, in whole or in part, under an agreement at any time prior to the date of completion.

translational research: includes two areas of translation. One is the process of applying discoveries generated during research in the laboratory, and in preclinical studies, to the development of trials and studies in humans.

TRASI: database for approaches to impact assessment, guidelines for creating and conducting an assessment, and ready-to-use tools for measuring social change. TRASI is a project of the Foundation Center, developed in partnership with McKinsey & Co. and with input from experts in the field, to address the growing interest in measuring impact.

u.

unliquidated obgligation: for reports prepared on a cash basis, the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient that has not been paid; or for reports prepared on an accrued expenditure basis, the amount of obligations incurred by the recipient for which an outlay has not been recorded. 

unobgliated balance: The portion of the funds authorized by an awarding agency that has not been obligated by the recipient and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the cumulative funds authorized.

USA.gov: The official web portal of the United States Government created to improve U.S. Government interactions with the public; by offering links to every federal agency to help website visitors quickly find information to the services they seek. USA.gov features links to every federal, state, local, and tribal government agency.

w.

warning: Warnings are notices that alert an applicant to pay particular attention to specific instructions in the funding opportunity announcement or the application guide. The applicant may choose whether or not they wish to correct the issue that prompted the warning; the application will move forward in the submission process even if the warning is not corrected. If the application does not comply with the instructions, the applicant may be notified of the problem

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