Authorized signature - The signature of the person who is legally responsible for your organization.

 

Challenge grant - A grant that is paid only if the donee organization is able to raise additional funds from other sources. Challenge grants are often used to stimulate giving from other donors. See also matching grant.

 

Cost-sharing - A method of "matching money" in which the grantee agrees to invest a certain sum or percentage of "in-kind" dollars into the project.

 

Demonstration grant - A grant made to establish an innovative project or program that, if successful, will serve as a model and may be duplicated by others.

 

Direct costs - The total dollar amount necessary to fund your project. Includes cash money only, not indirect costs.

 

Disallowed costs - Any charges to the approved grant that the sponsor or grantmaker has determined to be beyond the scope of the purpose of a grant, excessive or otherwise unallowable.

 

Eligibility - The criteria an applicant must meet in order to apply for the program. Eligibility is generally determined by organization type (e.g. healthcare organization, K-12 schools, law enforcement agency). Regional location, population or previous awards may also affect one's eligibility.

 

Entitlement grant - A grant in which funds are provided to specific grantees on the basis of a formula, prescribed in legislation or regulation, rather than on the basis of an individual project. The formula is usually based on such factors as population, enrollment, per-capita income, or a specific need. Applicants do not compete for these funds.

 

Fellowship - An award made directly to an individual in support of specific educational pursuits; recipients may be subject to service and/or payback requirements after the fellowship terminates.

 

Fiscal agent - An organization, acting on behalf of an individual artist or organization lacking legal status to be an applicant. The Fiscal Agent acts as its legal applicant and agrees to submit and sign a grant application on the applicant's behalf and to pass on such grant. Please note that in such cases the Fiscal Agent remains legally responsible for the use of grant funds. Auditors generally will not provide an "unqualified" financial audit statement for a fiscal agent for an applicant unless the applicant's financial records and related activities are also audited.

 

Fiscal agent fee - A charge for administrative services by the organization acting as the fiscal agent. Fiscal agent fees are intended to offset the cost of personnel, time, and supplies used in the administration of the applicant's grant only.

 

Letter of support - A simple letter attached as an addendum to your proposal. This letter should be from an "expert" or supporter of your project who tells why he/she believes that your project should be funded.

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Matching funds/grant - Refers to a dollar amount that the grantee or other outside party agrees to contribute to the project. See also challenge grant; employee matching gift.

 

Multi-year budget - Budget representing the cost of a project of more than one year's duration; a separate budget is prepared for each year, with a budget summary presented preferably at the beginning of the budget pages; See also Multi-Year Funding.

 

Narrative - The written portion of your grant proposal. The story of who, what, where, when, why and how. Every grant has at least 2 parts: a narrative and a budget. Often the grant guidelines will specify that your narrative may not exceed a certain page length. Always adhere to these instructions.

 

Need statement - The part of the grant in which you explain, using both qualitative and quantitative data, why you shoud be funded. Remember to outline your problems and give data to verify the problem areas. (Also called justification)

 

Peer Review - Process of evaluating proposals for funding; usually involves experts representing the same general fields or disciplines as the proposal topics.

 

Project/Program grant - Funding for a specific initiative or new endeavor, not general purpose.

 

Project Director - Individual responsible for activities involved in the grant, including the evaluation and follow-up (also called "Coordinator").

 

Proposal - A written application, often accompanied by supporting documents, submitted to a foundation or corporate giving program in requesting a grant. Most foundations and corporations do not use printed application forms but instead require written proposals; others prefer preliminary letters of inquiry prior to a formal proposal. Consult published guidelines.

 

 

 

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This glossary is adapted from: Glossary of Commonly Used Grant Terms, GrantSelect.  

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