1. Preliminary Steps
2. Drafting the Proposal
3. Grant Databases and Boilerplate Information
4. General Rules of Thumb about Attachments and Appendices
5. Human and Animal Subjects, Conflict of Interest and Other Policies
6. Budget Preparation
7. Facilities and Administrative Costs (Indirect Costs)
8. In-kind Contributions and Cash Matching Requirements
9. Assurances and Disclosures
10. Proposal Clearance and Submission
11. Why Are Some Proposals Funded While Others Are Unsuccessful?
12. Proposal Preparation, Routing, Approval and Submission (Flowchart)

A.  Preliminary Steps

Communicating with KSC administration: When a faculty or staff member has plans to develop a research, curriculum development or service project requiring external funding, she or he should discuss the project with the appropriate dean or principal administrator and the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects. Delays can be prevented by seeking, in the early stages, advice on sources of support, proposal and budget preparation, and internal procedures. The Dean and PA's endorsements will be necessary to approve the use of any divisional space, funds, or reassigned time.

Contacting the sponsor: Preliminary contacts and discussions with a potential sponsor are usually helpful before preparing a proposal. Since the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects is in contact with some sponsors, direction can usually be provided on productive avenues of inquiry. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will provide assistance in establishing contacts with the grantor.

Reviewing proposal and project guidelines (RFPs): Many larger corporate and private foundations and all government funding sources will provide, on request, guidelines for proposals. Some private foundations offer only simple content requirements as guidance. Follow closely the instructions that are provided. State and Federal programs publish Requests for Proposal (RFPs) which are often very detailed in their requirements. It is critical to follow these guidelines. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will assist you in obtaining and interpreting current guidelines from private, state, and federal sources and share proposals that have been funded in that initiative or by that sponsoring organization.

B.  Drafting the Proposal

Potential grantors may review hundreds, or even thousands of proposals each year. The quality of the proposal is critically important to ensure a fair review and decision. It is always to consider the background of the reader, be clear and concise, avoid repetition and jargon, and be as specific as possible. The most common mistake is spending too much time on a general introduction or the Need section at the expense of detail in later sections.

Elements of a proposal: Federal and state proposals often follow a precise format that is outlined in the RFP. Review criteria are assigned to each section and a specific number of points are generated for each criterion. Make each review criteria listed identifiable in your narrative. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will assist in interpreting guidelines and organizing proposals for federal or state grants.

1. Proposal Summary (90% of funding decisions from private donors and foundations will be made after the summary is read!)
   1. This is often limited to one page
   2. Identify the organization/person making the request
   3. State your project purpose
   4. Briefly state how the project will be implemented
   5. State the expected results
   6. Include the total budget amount
2. Introduction to the organization/person
   1. Brief History of the organization or background of the person
   2. General purpose/role of the organization
   3. Goals and objectives of the organization - their role as they relate to the project
   4. Accomplishments - as they relate to the project
   5. Similar projects and programs with outcomes
   6. Service area and populations served
3. Statement of problem/need
   1. Use a "funnel approach" - start with the generalized problem as it occurs in the community
   2. Move to the conditions which make this a problem
   3. Outline current resources that respond to the problem and identify the gaps
   4. Identify how this proposal/project will fill those gaps
4. Goals and objectives
   1. What specific goals are you trying to achieve?
   2. What measurable milestones will you reach?
   3. How will you and the sponsor know you are making progress toward your goals?
   4. Who will benefit from the effort?
   5. How many people will be touched by this project or the results of the project (what is the project "coverage"?
5. Methods and timeline
   1. What actions will you take to achieve your goals?
   2. What steps are required?
   3. Who will do what?
   4. When will these actions take place?
6. Evaluation
   1. How will you know whether you are achieving your goals?
   2. What will you measure to evaluate your progress?
   3. What will you measure to evaluate your success?
   4. How will you measure these and when?
   5. What will you do with the results?
7. The budget
   1. How much will this cost?
   2. What matching requirements exist and how will you achieve this?
   3. General suggestions
      • The more detail the better
      • Don't round numbers
      • Be specific
      • Don't pad your budget
      • Include all sources of support (e.g., volunteer time, donated space and equipment. Etc.)
      • Identify who will manage the money and report back to the funding source

If the RFP from the sponsor details what they would like to see in the proposal - follow the lead closely. If little specific lead is offered, use a model proposal outline such as the one above or those available through organizations such as the Foundation Center (www.fdncenter.org ).

C.  Grant Databases and Boilerplate Information

Copies of proposals that have been funded (and those that were not successful) are available in the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. Beginning in 2002, all proposals that have been submitted will be available in electronic form as well. In addition to the proposals themselves, the reviewer's comments will be available so the reader will be able to identify why each proposal was funded or was not successful.

Boilerplate information about Keene State College and frequently required data points for proposal preparation will be available on-line during the Fall term, 2002. These two sources of data will allow grant seekers to use models and minimize the original work required to write proposals.

D.  General Rules of Thumb about Attachments and Appendices to Grant Applications

Attachments are used for materials which support the proposal and provide information about the Principal Investigator, Project Director, collaborators, and the College. Some funding agencies will not allow appendices or will not allow certain types of appended material, such as brochures. Follow the RFP guidelines. Commonly appended materials are course descriptions, resumes, timelines, and documentation of the College's non-profit status. When preparing attachments, remember the reader:

• Do not make the reviewer wade through unnecessary materials.
• Do not use attachments as a substitute for a carefully prepared proposal.
• Include all materials requested by the funding agency, such as an audited financial statement, an IRS letter, a list of USNH trustees.

The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will assist you in assembling required and helpful institutional documents.

E.  Human and Animal Subjects, Conflict of Interest and Other Policies

Research involving human or animal subjects must be reviewed according to College policy and federal regulations to ensure the protection of the subjects. The College has standing committees to ensure the review and protection of human, and animal research subjects (see Section VI of this manual.)

The College has a Conflict of Interest Policy and Disclosure Form (see Section VI) which complies with federal regulations. Any employee of Keene State College who has a potential financial conflict of interest in proposed research for which they are applying must disclose this conflict. In addition, specific guidelines exist with regard to Intellectual Property, Copyrights and Patents.

F.  Budget Preparation

Funding sources require varying degrees of detail in the budget portion of the proposal. Most governmental funding sources require a great degree of detail and usually provide budget forms and instructions for their completion. Contact the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects for assistance. Foundations and corporations are less structured in their requirements, but well planned and complete budgets are critical to funding and to the smooth operation of the project. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will work in coordination with the KSC Business Office to help with the development of all budgets, but for general guidance, see the sample budget below.

Determine what the project will cost: You should begin by developing a budget strategy. List the elements of the project which will bear costs, such as personnel, materials, equipment, facilities costs, supplies, evaluation, and travel. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will work with you to assign specific costs to your list of needs. Most proposal reviewers are skilled at recognizing when budgets and project goals are out of balance. While you should never "pad" a budget with unnecessary or unspecified items, you should always be as thorough as possible in anticipating the real costs of your project and have a contingency plan if you receive less than you requested. Both inadequate and padded budgets will hurt your chances for funding. Inadequate budgets will hurt the project's chance of success.

Create a Detailed, Accurate and Complete Budget: Be specific and detailed in your budget. If you plan to purchase a piece of equipment, contact the distributor of the product to determine cost. Be certain to include shipping and installation charges in your equipment budget and consider the cost of maintenance agreements. If your project involves printing a brochure, contact College Relations for a preliminary estimate of the work. If you must hire staff, be sure you are using the correct wage and benefit scale (see Director of Research and Sponsored Projects).

If there will be a time lapse between the application and the project or if the project is multi-year, include a 5% salary increase for each year of the project. The quality of thought that you give to the budget preparation will not only produce a better program; it will also increase your chances of obtaining the grant.

There should be no surprises in the budget for the reviewers; all cost in the budget should be tied to specific programmatic elements in the narrative. Again, most federal and state guidelines contain specific budget categories and forms, and you should always work with the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects in developing your budget.

Budget Example: A simple budget example on the next page contains three cost categories, the total project cost, the KSC or other source match, and the amount requested from the funding agency. Some budgets will require only the amount requested.

Budget Example

Elements of a Budget: When preparing a project budget, it is important to anticipate all project costs both those to be charged to the grant and those contributed by the College. Unanticipated costs create significant difficulties and can threaten the success of the project/research. Work with the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects on budget development.

Personnel: Be sure to remember fringe benefits in developing your budget. Contact the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects and the KSC Business Office to get current wage and benefit rates for all personnel (faculty, professional and operating staff, and hourly) involved in your project.

If you intend to hire individuals not currently on the payroll at KSC, the rate at which you pay them will need to be in accordance with system job classifications and compensation levels. Human Resources can provide a range of salary for proposed employees when provided with a brief description of the position; work through the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects.

Travel: Be specific in your budget. Where does the project require that you travel? How far is that destination if you are requesting mileage? Will you require meals and lodging? Get quotes from Buckman Travel for air transportation, and use the actual USNH reimbursement rate for mileage and official per diem rates. Contact the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects with questions.

Equipment Purchases: If equipment is allowed by the grant, be certain to consider shipping, installation and maintenance costs. Use an accurate cost estimate from a potential vendor.

Be aware that the university system requires bids for all purchases greater than $1500. If there is only one vendor for the equipment you require - as is often the case for scientific equipment - you will need to document this to be exempt from the bid process. Contact the KSC Purchasing Agent with questions.

Policy requires computer equipment and software acquisitions over $1000 to be approved by the Director of the Computer Center, with additional approvals by the USNH Executive Director of Management Information Systems for purchases exceeding $40,000. The KSC Computer Center is available for consultation in determining computing needs and costs.

Library Resources: If the research/program will involve significant (more than $100) use of the Mason Library's resources, then the budget should accurately reflect these charges and must be approved by the Library Director. Contact the Library's Electronic Research Coordinator, the Director of the Curriculum Materials Library, or the Library Director to discuss your research/program and your proposal budget. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects can help with this process.

G.  Facilities and Administrative Costs (formerly Indirect Costs)

To support the activities of faculty and staff in the application for and administration of projects supported by external sources of funding, the Keene State College provides services and facilities that are maintained entirely from facilities and administrative costs generated from these funded projects. Indirect costs are reflected the maintenance and development of College infrastructure required to carry out the activities supported by grant dollars. Examples of these costs include: 1) buildings and equipment; 2) accounting, human resources, computing, and purchasing services; 3) mail, printing, duplication and all other central services; 4) library services and resources; and 5) administration. Indirect cost recovery through grant dollars is, therefore, an important component of the College's support of grant writing. The following policies apply to the "Indirect Cost Rate" - the percentage of salaries plus fringe benefits applied to externally funded projects.

• The federally negotiated indirect cost rates will be applied to all projects with federal agencies or funded with federal dollars (including federal dollars passed through other agencies), with the exception of those programs where a lower rate is specified and published in the program announcement. In this latter case, the indirect cost rate required by the agency or in the specific program may be used, pending KSC administrative approval.
• The federally negotiated indirect cost rate will be applied to all projects with private foundations, unless the foundation declines to reimburse any administrative costs as a matter of established and documented policy, or unless the foundation specifies a lower rate.
• Since the College encourages the pursuit of external funding, all proposals will be given serious consideration for submission regardless of the sponsor's policy on indirect costs.
• In those instances when a sponsor has a restrictive policy on indirect costs, every effort should be made to account for as many indirect-types of expenses as direct costs and included in the budget.

Faculty and staff should be aware of the above policy when discussing projects with potential funding sources. Project budgets containing less than the allowable indirect cost rate will be questioned during the approval process. Sound justification for exceptions will be required.

H.  Cost-Sharing: In-Kind Contributions and Cash Matching Requirements

Keene State College encourages, supports and values the efforts of faculty and staff to obtain external funding for research, curriculum development and service projects. It is essential, however, that the use of cost-sharing to increase a proposal's competitiveness be kept to a reasonable level so as not to overburden departmental and institutional resources. Therefore, the following guidelines have been developed to help faculty and staff properly propose cost-sharing and matching funds.

In the past, some sponsors required the grantee to reflect a commitment to the project by sharing in its cost. Most sponsors have discontinued the requirement of cost-sharing. It is therefore no longer necessary or desirable to engage in cost-sharing, except:

• When mandated by the sponsor,
• When needed to accurately reflect the level of effort required to conduct the project, and
• When intended to otherwise make the proposal competitive.

When considering cost-sharing, the following points should be considered:

1. Contributed effort should be no more than 10% of an individual's time devoted to the project
2. Cost-sharing must be verifiable through effort reports or accounts established for this purpose
3. Cost-sharing cannot include contributions designated for other projects
4. Cost-sharing must be allowable under the sponsor's policy (i.e., costs not allowed as direct costs cannot be considered for cost-sharing)
5. Cost-sharing cannot be paid from other federal funds unless specifically authorized

If a project does not recover full indirect costs, the unrecovered indirect costs can be shown in detail as part of the cost-sharing budget. Unrecovered indirect costs are the difference between the indirect costs for the project, calculated at the College's approved rate, and the actual amount that is recovered.

In-kind Contributions: In-kind contributions represent the value of non-cash contributions provided by the College to the externally funded project. In-kind contributions include the value of donated goods and services. For example, you may decide not to charge a grant for copying costs; these costs are then charged to your department and contributed by the College to the project as an in-kind cost. It is important to remember that these are real cost's which will come from some College budget. The budget which will cover the costs will need to be identified in the proposal clearance process, and the appropriate budget administrator must sign-off on the proposal. If the proposal is funded, all in-kind contributions must be documented (see Project Management below).

Cash Match: When a grant program requires that the College match grant funds with cash, the College must actually transfer funds from a department account or from the Cash Match Account into the restricted grant account. All commitments of cash to a grant project must be in the original grant budget, approved by the appropriate administrators. Work with the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects and the appropriate Dean or Primary Administrator when developing a budget, which includes cash match.

I.  Assurances and Disclosures
Proposals to federal funding agencies require that assurances and disclosure statements such as the following be signed by the College President:

1. Assurance of compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Department of Health, Education and Welfare regulations (non-discrimination on the basis of sex).
2. Assurance of compliance with the Department of Health and Human Services regulation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
3. Department of Health and Human Services assurance of compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (non-discrimination on the basis of physical or mental handicap).
4. Assurance of compliance with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988.
5. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.

The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will answer questions regarding assurances and disclosures and will get the appropriate signature during the Proposal Clearance process.

J.  Proposal Clearance and Submission
All funding agency deadlines must be honored. It is important to note if the deadline is a "postmark" or a "receipt" deadline. Most federal agencies require U.S. Postal Service metered postmarks for receipt deadlines. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will be responsible for mailing all outgoing grant applications.

Routing and Signatures: All proposals to external funding sources must go through an internal routing process. The proposal, budget, and the KSC proposal clearance form (the "Green Sheet") must be routed and signed by the Project Director, the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects, and the Vice President of Academic Affairs and filed in the Grant Administration Office before the proposal is sent to the funding source. This required process applies to continuation grants as well. The purpose of the process and form is to ensure that all parties are informed about the project and approve any cost sharing and commitment of College resources. If you involve the Director of Research and Sponsored Projects and the appropriate Dean and Vice President in the development of the proposal, this process should be perfunctory.

To facilitate the KSC proposal clearance process, please allow a minimum of five working days for processing the final draft. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects will route the grant through the appropriate administrative offices. The Director of Research and Sponsored Projects is responsible for transmitting all proposals for external support to potential funding agencies or foundations, including yearly budgets of multi-year proposals and continuation grants.

Keene State College Grant Proposal Clearance Form

K.  Why Are Some Proposals Funded While Others Are Unsuccessful?

Some last thoughts on proposal development

• Follow directions
• Don't forget (or stretch) deadlines
• Choose a meaningful, inoffensive and concise title
• Keep language simple and direct
• Keep proposal as short as possible (while ensuring completeness)
• Make certain the budget is detailed and justified
• Show how the project will be evaluated
• Read everything through to ensure good flow
• Emphasize the reader's values/criteria whenever possible
• Illustrate how you will be a good steward of the funds and a good representative of the sponsor
• Sell yourself and your idea

L.  Proposal Preparation, Routing, Approval and Submission

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