Writing the Grant:

Creating a Project Budget

Other than perfecting the technical approach to proposal writing, budgeting is the most important factor in obtaining the grants you seek.  Budgeting answers the question, how much will it cost for your team to do the work?   If you underestimate the cost to do the work and your organization may have to spend its own valuable resources to finish the project. On the other hand, however, if you overestimate the cost you might not be awarded the contract because your level of effort simply costs too much.  

Budgeting underscores the need for the use of a matrix because it is extremely important for the proposal manager to understand exactly what is being asked, and what the likely costs will be to complete the work.   Additionally, the proposal manager must ascertain to what extent team partners will share costs, and make sure each team member has correctly estimated what it will take for the work to be completed.

Example:   Using the internal logic stated in the previous section an estimated work/cost share is as follows: $1,000,000 is considered to be the maximum level of funding per grant. ABC University - 40% Smith and Associates - 5% Opportunity Shelter - 15% New Days Justice Center - 10% Right Way Christian Center - 10% Chicano Collaboration Project - 10% New Town Police Department - 10%         The costs noted above are the total monies each partner can expect to receive.   In effect, they represent what each partner thinks it will cost to complete their part of the work.   These costs include labor, overhead, general and administrative fee charges as well as costs associated with travel, consultants (if required), computers, office space, paper, copying and other charges.  These indirect charges are important to monitor because they can quickly escalate, and adversely affect the overall cost of the work. For most grants, the costs associated with the completion of the contract are fixed , meaning that partners will not receive any additional funding to do the work.   Each partner is expected to complete their contract for the costs delineated in the contract.   This point is extremely important for both the proposal manager and the subcontractor to agree on.   Making sure that the agreement is firm and accepted will ensure that the management of the contract when awarded, will be smooth and non-problematic.