What's in a Name?

By Barbara Stratton, Professional Grant Writer

Constructing a grant budget is no easy task. There are people to please, objectives to meet, restrictions to observe, and definitions to determine.

Definitions? What is the meaning of meaning?

Write the word “desk” into a grant budget and the funder may reject it. Turn the word desk into “computer workstation” and it receives the stamp of approval. The word desk conjures up a vision of ordinary furniture. A grant-funded program goes above and beyond routine operations, whereas a desk is a generic item found in every school (students don't work on the floor, after all…).

When you operate a grant-funded program or service inside your school, the activities are sure to consume utilities. But what activity doesn't? List gas, electric, and telephones as expenses related to your grant program and they may be slashed out of your budget. If, on the other hand, you request a percentage of the total grant award for “indirect costs” there'll be no problem.

Do you staff your grant program with employees or with consultants? There is a difference. IRS guidelines indicate that an employer/employee relationship exists if a company directs and controls the worker providing the services. An employee complies with instructions about when, where, and how to work and is furnished with tools, materials, and other equipment by the employer. A consultant or independent contractor provides services to more than one company at a time; has a significant investment in the tools or facilities he/she uses to perform services for someone else; and usually performs a specific function within a specific period of time for a flat-fee. Consultants also don't receive fringe benefits or travel reimbursements (these things are written into their fees).

Grant-makers are not that fond of consultants. When you use “outsiders” to conduct a grant-funded program, you set-up barriers to institutionalizing that program. On the other hand, when you hire people, it demonstrates a commitment to sustaining the effort.

Ah… So it isn't just semantics. Grant makers draw inferences from the manner in which a budget is constructed. Indeed they do.

Let's say you are seeking funds for an after-school program that is intended to provide youngsters with fitness opportunities beyond their weekly physical education units. A review of your grant budget demonstrates that 70% of the supply items listed are administrative in nature (copy paper, file folders, printer cartridges, etc.) and only 30% of the items are for student use. It begs the question: are you running a fitness program or stocking the office pantry? It is meaningful to define supplies as either instructional or administrative and to separate the list accordingly. Remember: your school or agency is supposed to have the organizational capacity to run the program proposed for funding…so go lightly on the paper clips.

When is a supply item not a supply item? When it's a piece of equipment. The following is a widely accepted definition of “equipment”:

Equipment retains its original space. It retains its identity if incorporated into a more complex unit. Equipment is more practical to repair than to replace. It is useful for at least one year.

Dollar-wise, different grant-makers set different parameters to categorize equipment. To some funders, equipment is any item costing in excess of $1,999 per unit. To other funders, the per unit cost that defines equipment is $4,999. Many grant-makers impose a cap on the amount of equipment allowed in a single proposal. It pays (or not!) to check your funder's definitions.

Today's computers are so inexpensive most are considered supplies. Software, regardless of price, is always categorized as a supply.

Watch what you write: them's funding words.

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