Grant Writing Terms that You Should Be Familiar With

Whether you are hiring a grant writer or you are doing the grant writing yourself, it is necessary that you are familiar with the terms used in grant writing. Using words that are common in grant writing will allow you to effectively present your grant proposal to the grant reviewers because you speak the same language in grant writing. It will also assist you in including information that is necessary to the grant application. Now, what are these grant writing terms? Check the list below (in alphabetical order):

Allowable Costs:
These are the expenditures authorized by law or regulation.

Budget Period:
A space of time, where the project period is separated according to the budgetary use.

CFDA Number:
A distinctive number made in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) database.

Collaborator:
An individual who works in partnership with the organization.

Concept Paper:
A preliminary application, a lot shorter than a proposal. This is normally less than 10 pages.

Consortium:
Two or more associations that work on a similar project.

Cost Matching:
The process in which the organization awarded with funds needs to match a certain percentage of the total budget requirement.

Cost Sharing:
A part of the project cost that is not shouldered by the funding agency.

Deadline:
The publication date or the time the grant application is mailed, postmarked, or electronically submitted to the agency.

Direct Costs:
Specific costs that are directly related to the project.

DUNS Number:
The Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System number is composed of a nine-digit numeral provided to the applicant to serve as identification. This is a requirement for federal grant applications.

Grantee:
An individual or organization receiving the grant.

Grant Maker:
The organization, agency, or foundation providing the grant.

Grant Seeker:
An individual or organization applying for the grant.

Indirect Costs:
A budget classification that comprises the general administrative costs, such as maintenance, office rental, travel, and others.

In-Kind:
Contributions or resources, excluding cash.

Letter of Inquiry:
Majority of foundations require this before any applicant is invited to submit a full proposal.

Letter of Support:
A letter from a credible organization that expresses support to the applicant.

Leverage:
Leverage is the use of a portion of funds secured by the organization to attract more funding or raise other types of funds.

Operational Support:
A donation given to assist the daily and ongoing expenses of an organization.

Peer Review:
A critical review or judgment of the competency of a proposal by professionals or experts in the related field.

Performance Measure:
A measurement that can be utilized to evaluate the performance of a project or program. For example, the number of jobs created, the number of students enrolled.

Performance Report:
A report of the particular activities performed by the grantee throughout the project period. This is a requirement of the grantor or grant maker.

Principal Investigator:
The principal applicant, usually the project director of an organization.

Progress Report:
Scheduled reports that summarize the project progress, as required by the funding agency.

RFA:
It is a request for grant application, usually shorter than an RFP.

RFP:
It is a request for proposal, discussing grant guidelines in details.

Seed Money:
Also called startup funds, this is the cash that is necessary to initiate a new project.

Target Population:
They are the direct beneficiaries of the project.

Tax Exempt:
A legal status conferred by the IRS. This refers to organizations that have sufficiently established their education, charitable, scientific, and religious character.

Unsolicited Proposal:
A proposal submitted without the official request from the funding agency.

Familiarity with terms will allow you to specifically address the requirements of the funding organizations. Moreover, it will also allow you to effectively write or understand a grant proposal. So, the next time you write a proposal (or read a proposal written by a grant writer), you are now fully aware of how you can use them.