Funding Opportunities & Resources
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What's the difference between a grant and a contract?
A grant is awarded for research, educational services, or other public benefit. A contract is negotiated for specific work to be done for the benefit of the sponsor.
How do I go about getting funding?
You can begin by contacting the grants development specialist who will walk you through the process, including getting internal approvals for your project. You might start by developing your research idea into a concept paper. Then fill out a Funding Search Request form to initiate a search, which is a service provided by the grants development specialist. Once a potential sponsor is identified, you are ready to prepare a formal proposal.
How can I find potential sponsors?
The Foundation grants development specialist can help you find potential sponsors among federal, state, and private funding sources. We can help you with the search and send you notices of available funds that match your areas of interest. We can also teach you how to use the Grants Resource Center databases. GRC allows you to customize your grant search using various descriptors and categories. Go to www.aascu.org/grc then click ‘GrantSearch.” You can do a simple keyword search, or you can specify based on subject and activity.
What should I include in my proposal?
This depends on the sponsor, who will usually provide specific guidelines on how and when to apply. Most proposals include: a statement of need or problem, a project description and timetable, a budget, organizational information and qualifications of the project personnel, an evaluation plan, and a plan to disseminate the results. Refer to the Proposal Writing Help section of Proposal Preparation.
How long does it take to develop and submit a proposal?
You should begin the writing process several months in advance of the due date. This will allow reasonable time to develop a cohesive plan and obtain appropriate internal reviews. It takes time to develop a solid plan that conveys your expertise and documents institutional support of your project, particularly if matching funds are required. In the event that a sponsor provides little lead time, the Foundation staff will work with you to ensure a timely submittal while achieving the necessary campus approvals. Refer to the Proposal Submission Timeline section of Proposal Preparation.
How does the grant application approval process work?
A Sponsored Projects Approval Form (formerly Grant Application Approval Form) must be prepared and signed by you. It will ask you to answer questions that may impact either your proposal or the proposal budget, and it will direct you to acquire the appropriate administrators’ signatures. The grants development specialist will work with you to ensure this form is correctly filled out and the necessary signatures are obtained. Final approval to submit a proposal will involve your department chair, your college dean, the Foundation executive director, the associate vice president for research, and the vice president for finance and administrative services. You should allow two weeks to complete the review and approval process before the deadline.
How does the proposal get submitted to the sponsor?
The Foundation provides all proposal production services. We make the necessary copies, compile the proposal with appendices, and mail the package to the sponsoring agency using a courier service. We keep a copy of the proposal and the courier tracking number on file. We then notify you when we hear from the agency that the proposal has been received and provided a review number.
How are the grant funds managed?
The Foundation administers grants and contracts on behalf of the University. Usually the sponsor does not simply send a check. This means the Foundation must “float” your project and then seek reimbursement from the sponsor at intervals. We also handle financial management and reporting, human resources, payroll services, accounting services, compliance audits, and risk management. In addition, the grants post-award administrator works closely with you throughout your project to ensure compliance with policies and regulations.
Grants Resource Center http://www.aascu.org/grc/
GRC is a division of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). GRC provides us with a personal liaison in Washington DC to help us stay in touch with Federal Agencies. They distribute a weekly electronic newsletter, a monthly bulletin of grant Deadlines, and two annual conferences to keep us updated on activities in Washington.
To log onto the GRC electronic database to search for funding opportunities, click on the above link, then click on GrantSearch. The database allows you to do a keyword text search, OR you can specify subject and activity for a more refined search.
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Nonprofit Gateway. A network of links to Federal government information and services http://www.nonprofit.gov/
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State and Federal Resources
California State Contracts Register https://www.cscr.dgs.ca.gov/cscr/
County of San Diego Contracting http://63.200.213.30/cnty/cntydepts/general/prchcntr/newfctns.hts
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/cfda/ia4.htm
Federal Business Opportunities http://www.fedbizopps.gov/
Federal Register http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
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Science
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GrantsNet http://www.grantsnet.org/
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National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov
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National Institutes of Health http://www.nih.gov
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration http://www.nasa.gov/
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U.S. Department of Agriculture http://www.usda.gov/
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U.S. Department of Energy http://www.energy.gov/
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Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/
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National Institute of Justice http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/
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California Department of Conservation http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/index.htm
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California Department of Corrections http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/
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Education
Department of Education http://www.ed.gov
California Department of Education http://www.cde.ca.gov/
Educational Resources for California http://www.ed.gov/Programs/state.cgi?ca
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Arts & Humanities
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National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov
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National Endowment for the Arts http://www.nea.gov
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California Council for the Humanities http://www.calhum.org/
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American Library Association http://www.ala.org/work/awards/
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Institute of Museum and Library Services http://www.imls.gov/grants/index.htm
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Foundations
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The Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org
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San Diego Foundation http://www.sdfoundation.org
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Agency Listservs
Department of Education. EDInfo is an information service that delivers two or three email messages a week featuring information on the U.S. Department of Education including budget and grant information, and legislative updates. To subscribe, send a message to listproc@inet.ed.gov. In the body of the message, type: subscribe EDINFO<your full name>. (If you have a signature block, please turn it off.)
Department of Energy. DOE Pulse, a bimonthly newsletter, highlights work being done at the Department of Energy's national laboratories. Each issue will include research highlights, updates on collaborations among laboratories, and profiles of individual researchers. To subscribe, go to http://www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/pulse_home.htm.
Department of Justice. JUST INFO, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service (JCJRS), is a biweekly email newsletter that reports on a wide variety of criminal justice topics. To subscribe, send a message to listproc@aspensys.com. In the body of the message, type: subscribe JUSTINFO<your name>.
Environmental Protection Agency's National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance (NCERQA). From http://es.epa.gov/ncerqa/elists.html on the NCERQA homepage you can subscribe to the following email mailing lists: (NCERQA administers most of the EPA's research grant and fellowship programs). The Grant and Funding Announcements mailing list distributes notifications of new Requests for Applications (RFAs) as they are posted on the NCERQA Home Page. The Topical E-Mail Lists distribute bi-weekly e-mail messages which include a brief summary and a link for one or more documents that have been added to the NCERQA Home Page over the preceding 2-week period. Only documents that contain terms related to the specific topic of concern are summarized.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. National Aeronautics and Space Administration maintains a press release mailing list to distribute its press releases and other selected documents via email. To subscribe, send a message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message, type: subscribe press-release <your name>.
National Endowment for the Humanities. NEH OUTLOOK is an NEH email newsletter which includes information on funding opportunities and grants awarded. Just send an email to: newsletter@neh.gov. In the body of the message, put the keyword "subscribe" on a line by itself.
National Institutes of Health. Each week the NIH transmits via email the Table of Contents information for each week's issue of the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. Associated with each entry is the WWW address (URL) for each Guide article. To subscribe to the Guide TOC Notification service, please send an email to listserve@list.nih.gov and in the first line of the email message itself (not the subject line) provide the following information: subscribe NIHTOC-L your name.
National Science Foundation. The NSF Custom News Service is a Web-based/email-based alert service designed to provide information about new NSF publications and information. This service allows you to select the types of information you are interested in and alerts you to new publications and provides links to electronic copies that can be downloaded or printed. To subscribe to this free service you will need to go to http://www.nsf.gov/home/cns/start.htm. From here you will be prompted to provide your email address and then will be able to select from the following options: whether to receive announcements by email or just by visiting your custom news page; whether to receive a weekly email summary of all new NSF documents; and to select documents types you're interested in, such as program announcements, news releases, policies and procedures, reports and awards for particular divisions or all. You can change your profile at any time.
U.S. Agency for International Development. You can receive email notification when a solicitation is posted to the USAID Solicitations page. This includes RFPs, RFAs, and new amendments. To sign up, go to http://www.info.usaid.gov/cgi-bin/listproc?list=solicit-update-l.