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Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Factors in Proposal Development

Principal Investigators or Project Directors (PI/PD) are responsible for the preparation of the proposal, or a contractual Scope of Work, that conforms to institutional and system requirements, and sponsor regulations. The Director of the ORSP is the Authorized Institutional Representative, and, in that capacity, signs and submits all proposals as the President’s designee. (TAMUS Regulation 15.01.01.4. PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS AND AGREEMENTS.)

Proposal Preparation Overview

Programmatic Narrative Preparation
        General Rules
        Sections of the Narrative
        Abstract/Introduction
        Narrative Section
        Budget

Budget Preparation
        Direct Costs
        Indirect Costs
         Cost Sharing and Matching Funds

Proposal Preparation Overview

A great proposal starts with an good idea, but a good idea isn't enough. It must be developed thoroughly and include not only how much money is needed but how that money is going to be allocated. A proposal needs to address the following questions:

Once you have found a potential sponsor, secure the program guidelines and application materials. All federal grants use grants.gov for their submissions. State and private sponsors will have their own methods for submission and their own specific guidelines. It is important to know the guidelines as you write your proposal. You should follow the guidelines rigorously. If the organization lacks guidelines for proposals, then use the this organization.

Private Foundations: Many private foundations request only a concept paper of two to three pages that takes the form of a letter. They examine the informaiton and then may request a full proposal later. As such, the concept paper should be more than just an introduction but a clear description of the project.

Technical or Programmatic Narrative Preparation

The PI/PD is responsible for the appropriate technical or programmatic content of the proposal. ORSP will provide editorial assistance if time permits, and will review content for clarity, consistency, and accuracy in references to the institution. The Office of Institutional Research provides institutional data that may be accessed on their intranet site. ORSP reviews the proposal narrative or contract scope of work for adherence to university policies and procedures, and identifies deficiencies in response to sponsor guidelines.

General Rules: A reviewer looks at many proposals competiting for a limited amount of funds. You want your proposal to stand out in a positive way. This means making it interesting to read, free from grammatical errors, and extremely clear in content. There are several ways of ensuring your proposal catches the reviewer's attention.

First of all, follow the guidelines explicitly. The funding source is usually very specific on what it wants to see and not see. Failure to provide enough information in the expected manner will cause your proposal being rejected or returned without being reviewed. As you read, notice that the guidelines have an order to them. Headings occur in a specific order. Your proposal should mimic that order and the language that is used in the guidelines. Seeing similar language reflected back helps the reviewer notice how tightly your proposal fits to their priorities. While writing the narrative, reference the guidelines often. Make sure that you are answering all the questions they are asking, even if it means being repetitive in your text.

Secondly, there are a few things to avoid too. Write your text in an active, declarative voice and avoid the passive voice. This looks more assertive and knowledgeable. Avoid using jargon even if it is commonly known in your field of expertise. The reviewer may not have your background or expertise. Jargon will make your text unclear and difficult to get through. The same is true with acronyms. If you must use an an acronym, write the full name out the first time, put the acronym in parenthesis immediately afterwards, and then use the acronym throughout. Again, this avoids confusion and frustration for the reviewer.

The link below leads to some general writing advice for all proposals but the best advice is to have someone impartial read your proposal after you write it. They can point out errors and holes in your narrative that you may miss. Advice on Creating a Proposal

 Sections of the Narrative: Although different funding agencies require different parts of a proposal, there are minimum sections required in all proposals.

  • A Needs Statement: Why is this work important or necessary? Write this statement in terms of advancing knowledge or helping the public.

  • Goals and Objectives: What do you hope to accomplish with this work? How to you hope to advance knowledge in this subject? Be specific.

  • Scope of Work: Exactly what work to you hope to perform and how will you go about it? This is the meat of your proposal.

  • Key Personnel: Including yourself, who is going to work on their project and what special knowledge or talent do they contribute? Each person must be justified as absolutely crucial to the success of the project.

  • Budget: How much is each section going to cost? Part of this section is writing a justification on why personnel might be needed or specific equipment must be purchased.

 Abstract/Introduction: This part of the proposal can be one paragraph in small proposals or one page for large proposals. It should reflect the original one-page idea you created to describe your project, not your proposal narrative. It should quickly and succinctly describe your project, and it needs to grab the reviewer's attention. If they are not interested after reading this section, they will not be interested in the proposal.

 The first sentence needs to be about the focus of the project. This can be a stating of the problem you intend to work on. The second and third sentences should describe what your solution is and what you propose to do. The last paragraph of this section should describe what you have done in the past that is a building block to this proposal. and why this work or knowledge is important.

Narrative Section: The rest of the narrative should be expanding on the ideas and statements in the Introduction. First state the problem, including any factual evidence or report that clearly indicates this problem. Next, describe your solution or proposed work. How does your idea help alleviate the problem?  Describe all the benefits that you hope to achieve. Next, state what are the funding requirements you need to do the work. Include a description of the personnel you need and their expected level of expertise. From this point, it is easy to write next on why the University is a good place to perform the work. Include any kind of extra facilities or equipment that might show a strong support base. Finally, end the narrative with a discussion of the future plans and sustainability of the project.  Funding sources want to know that the work will continue in some form after their contribution has ended. It is okay to state that you will be seeking funding from other sources as long as you show an indication of the work continuing.

Budget: There are three parts to the budget of a proposal. The first part is the numbers portion of the budget: a listing of what each part costs. The second part is the budget justification which describes how the numbers are calculated and why certain expenses are important. Both of these sections are straightforward and usually not complicated. the Third part is where most problems develop. This part of the budget is actually the discussion of money and needs in the narrative. The numbers in the budget section must clearly reflect the same information discussed in the narrative. If there is a difference, then the narrative must provide an explanation of why the difference such as some funding is provided from another sources or that a portion of the budget is considered cost share. In writing the narrative section of the budget, keep both the amount of funding needed and the time frame realistic.

Budget Preparation

Budget Details: A detailed, realistic budget must be included in proposals. It must indicate the total direct and indirect (F&A facilities and administrative) costs for the project 15.01.01.4.1. If the proposal is for multi-year funding, a breakdown of each year’s projected costs should be included. A detailed budget also includes a narrative component indicating the basis for the computations and justification for the inclusion of the cost item requested.

An explanation and listing of allowable costs may be found in the TAMUS policy 15.01.01.7.1. These allowable cost definitions are taken from the OMB Circular A-21. 

Direct Costs include the following cost categories:

Personnel: Two cost-items are included in this budget category, Salaries/Wages and Fringe Benefits. The calculation of salaries and wages must adhere to the Texas A&M University System Policy and Regulations on compensation.  (31.01.4.9). Salary information should include this information:

  • identify personnel by name (if known) and position titles

  • the percentage or portion of time and effort each will actually devote to the project

  • the rate of pay and total salary, including a three percent (3%) projected salary increase for each fiscal year.

Released Time during the Semester and Compensation for Summer Months: Released time is the reduction in a faculty member’s normal teaching load, or a percentage of time of a staff member, so that he/she may participate in an externally funded project during the academic year. In calculating costs for released time during the academic year, two steps must be taken.  First, the released time must be equated to the semester credit hour teaching load that will be reassigned to the project (released from teaching load), and secondly, that credit equivalency equated to a percentage of time for the academic year. Summer salaries and time are calculated separately and are not included as released time or faculty with 9-month contracts. The allocation of released time and summer salaries is the responsibility of the appropriate Dean and Department Chair in consultation with the faculty member. Compensation in excess of 100% of time requires advanced institutional approval and sponsor approval.

Fringe Benefits: Salaries and Wage calculations are used as the basis for determining the costs of Fringe Benefits. Fringe Benefits for employees include such items as Social Security, state retirement programs, health insurance, life insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment taxes, and disability insurance. They are part of employee  (including student) compensation, and must be charged in proportion to the salaries charged to the grant. Fringe Benefits are calculated using a percentage formula and an additional dollar amount for insurance coverage. The two calculations are then added together to determine the fringe benefit costs. Rates (%) and insurance costs for the current fiscal year are found at this link "Fringe benefit rates."

Other Direct Cost: Other allowable direct costs include travel, equipment, material and  supplies, and “other.”

 Indirect Costs (Facilities and Administrative Costs):  F&A costs are those costs associated with the conduct of research that are not easily assigned to a specific project, but are nevertheless incurred by the University as a consequence of the ongoing university support of research and sponsored programs. Such costs include libraries, physical plant operation, departmental support, administrative expenses, and depreciation or use allowance for buildings and equipment. Indirect costs rates are negotiated with a federal agency. The Department of Human and Health Services (DHHS) is the university’s “cognizant agency.” Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s negotiated rate agreement is at 15.01.01.9.01.02.  The current F&A rate is 50% of salaries and wages. Official Form

The indirect cost rate that may be requested in a proposal depends on the policy of the sponsor. (15.01.01 FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE COST RATES AND RECOVERIES 9.3. 9.3.) Only the President of Texas A&M University-Kingsville has the authority to allow deviation from the negotiated F&A rate. Contract support (such as sponsored research agreements) from private, for-profit entities, or private individuals must include the recovery of the negotiated rate or compensation that is equal to what would be received at the negotiated rate. (15.01.01 GENERAL 1.3.)

Cost Sharing and Matching Funds: “Cost sharing,” “matching,” and “cost contributions” are all terms used to refer to the share of project costs required to be borne by sources other than the sponsoring agency. In the case of federally sponsored programs, the contributions must come from nonfederal sources. There are several methods for satisfying these requirements. Some sponsors require that the university match all or a part of the sponsor’s funds with university funds which may be “in-kind.” This means that a cash contribution is not required but that if, for example, supplies purchased by the university during the grant period are used to further the activities of the grant, the value of those expenditures (in-kind) may be allowed for matching purposes if documented and tracked appropriately through a “Match Account.”

Because cost sharing obligates the university, accounts that will be used as the source of the matching funds must be identified on the institutional Cost-Sharing Form at the time of submission. An individual with signatory authority for the cost-sharing account (“Source Account”) must authorize the use of that account since monies will actually be removed from the source account and placed in a Match Account to track the expenditures for financial reporting requirements. Generally, awards are reduced proportionately when matching costs are not met. Cost Share Form

Cost Share Forms for multi-year projects that include $100,000 or more of cost share funds will require approval through the central Administration. ORSP will contact the central administration and negotiate the cost share amount for the PI through emails.

This form will help you know if your proposal is ready to be submitted: Proposal Checklist

Proposal Submission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 Copyright 2007 Texas A&M University-Kingsville ORSP