There are both private and public funding agencies. Private agencies include foundations, corporations, and individuals. Federal, state and local government departments and units as well as government funded (quasi-government) organizations, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, are public agencies. Each funding agency has its own method of soliciting and funding proposals but, in general these methods can be categorized as follows:
*Foundations: Foundations for the most part are passive in their solicitations, which is to say that it is up to the grant seeker to approach the foundation via a letter of inquiry. Foundations are most likely to fund projects where a congenial relationship between the foundation and the submitting individual or institution has been established over time. Foundations generally provide statements on their fields of funding interest. Proposals to foundations typically have few formally defined guidelines. Submissions are on a recurring annual cycle with multiple deadlines.
*Corporations: Corporations on the other hand, are usually approached in one of two ways, either through their corporate giving/foundation office or via a collaborative initiative where the corporation sees a benefit in working with a particular library, library department, or library consortia. To be successful with corporate giving, library staff must be prepared to spend extensive time courting corporate sponsorships.*Individual donors: The Library hopes to expand its ability to attract funding from individual donors. Traditionally, individual givers have contributed substantially to the collections through gifts-in-kind, endowments for the acquisition of library materials, support for the construction and renovation of space, through gifts to support specific programmatic endeavors, and through endowments. The University Librarian encourages librarians throughout the system to think creatively about possible constituents or contacts they may have who could help accomplish library goals.
*Government and quasi-goverment agencies: Almost without exception, these solicit proposals via widely publicized Requests for Proposals (RFPs) or Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) This is how the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and most other state and federal agencies make their funding opportunities known to the public. Government guidelines and applications can be lengthy documents with detailed criteria and guidelines. Proposal submissions must be substantiated, well- documented, and free of hyperbole. Preparation for these proposals is usually time-consuming, and generally involves numerous staff. Cost share requirements are usually clearly stated according to the agency and the type of proposal. For example, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation and Access requires a one third cost share for preservation projects, and one a fifth cost share for demonstration and education projects.
More information on funding sources may be found in the section Identifying Potential Sponsors.
Proposals for external funding are institutional commitments. As such, all proposals submitted by Cornell must be endorsed by appropriate offices prior to submission. University policy requires that the University Librarian must approve proposal submissions from the Library. The University Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and the Cornell Development Office are key parties, depending on the type of funding agency. (See OSP's Guide to Proposal Preparation and Submission, APPENDIX A: Where to Route a Funding Request). Proposals routed through the Office of Sponsored Programs must be approved by that Office. The Cornell Development Office must pre-approve proposals being submitted to (and, in fact, any contact with) foundations, corporations, or donors with which the University has developed a continuing relationship. Appropriate administrators in the various colleges may also need to approve a proposal before submission.
Regardless of the type and routing of the proposal, awards entail facilities and administrative costs (also referred to as overhead or indirect costs). To recover these costs, all awards are subject to facilities and administrative cost recovery charges which must be taken into account when formulating proposal budgets. OSP determines the facilities and administrative cost rate for proposals routed through their office. You must negotiate the rate before finalizing your budget. For endowed units, a 10% surcharge is levied against all other external funding received (including gifts.) Requests for waiver of this surcharge must be made to the Library's Director of Finance and Administration. All seekers of external funding should also understand the concepts of "cost sharing" and related budgetary issues. The best place to read about these concepts and their implications to your proposal can be found in OSP's Guide to Budgeting and Costing of Sponsored Programs.Edward Weissman (esw3@cornell.edu)
Updated: January 12, 2004
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/grants/overview.html