What should I expect from private funding proposals/applications?

Every funder is unique and has its own guidelines and process. The information and narrative requested by funders can vary greatly and reflects their individual mission and focus. Many foundations require pre-proposals or letters of inquiry (LOI) as a pre-requisite to an invitation to submit a full proposal. These pre-proposals generally do not include full budgets, timelines, supporting letters or curricula vitae.  

 

Each funder has its own set of allowable and unallowable budget items, so you need to be aware of what their requirements are when preparing the budget. Generally, these budgets do not carry the federally negotiated indirect rate, but you will find that many of the items counted as indirect costs in a government proposal are direct costs in a grant proposal.  Examples of these items might include supplies, computers, facility use, and administrative support. It is important to know what costs are allowed in a budget – often “overhead” costs are impermissible. Similar to federal proposals, most foundation and corporation budgets require line-item justifications.