Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find funding for my idea?
How can the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations help me?
Who needs to approve my grant proposal?
How much lead time does the Foundation & Corporate Relations office need?
What do I do when I’m ready to begin drafting my proposal?
Where can I find the College’s tax exempt number and other similar required information?
How do I prepare a budget?
What if the grant I want to apply for requires matching funds?
Contacts

How can I find funding for my idea?

Start by thinking generally about the purpose of your project, considering prospective funding sources, developing a tentative budget based on your requirements, developing timelines for implementing your project and considering the degree of commitment required from the College. Review the resource identification section and proposal preparation section of this site. Discuss your idea with your department chair and then contact the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations at (814) 332-3864.

How can the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations help me?

Our office can help you in a number of ways. For example, we can work with you to:

  • Discuss strategies for funding your project
  • Refine your ideas to improve chances for receiving funding
  • Identify funding sources
  • Obtain approval for your proposal
  • Read and edit your proposal
  • Prepare a budget
  • Provide institutional data
  • Assemble, copy and submit your final proposal
  • Prepare routine and final reports once a grant has been secured

Who needs to approve my grant proposal?

When submitting a proposal to an external funding agency or organization, it is important to note that awards are almost always made to the institution rather than to the individual faculty member. Allegheny College acts as the fiscal agent and is responsible for making certain the terms of the award are fulfilled. In addition, the Foundation & Corporate Relations Office works to ensure that all approaches from Allegheny to funding sources are coordinated. Therefore, all applications for external funding must be approved before submission. If you plan to seek a grant, you should first receive preliminary approval from your department chair and then contact the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations. This includes applications to the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), any other state or federal source, any local source, and any private foundation and corporate source. You must receive approval to apply for funding for any research activity that will occur on or off campus, or that involves students or faculty.

In addition, you will need to complete our grant proposal endorsement form if you have not already done so. The Grant Proposal Endorsement Form is required for any proposal that involves any Allegheny College commitment, even if the grant is awarded directly to a faculty member, and not to the institution.

The Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations will coordinate the approval process for you. This may include review and approval from the President, the Provost and the Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance and Administration. If an institutional match is required and if there are additional financial, personnel or other implications for the College, additional College officers may be added to this sign-off group.

For more information, review Steps in the Grant-Seeking Process.

How much lead time does the FCR office need?

The more assistance you need, the further in advance we need to know about your project. If you would like us to read and edit a proposal you’ve drafted and to prepare it for submission, please give us your draft at least two weeks before the deadline.

If you are submitting a proposal to a public agency, please allow extra time before the deadline for our help with steps such as checking your proposal against the guidelines, proofreading it, completing the forms, making the necessary copies and gathering signatures. (Many agencies will not consider a proposal that does not conform exactly to their requirements.) In addition, federal agencies require you to follow special electronic submission procedures. Because so many institutions submit proposals to federal agencies, these electronic submission programs can be overwhelmed at deadline times, so you need to submit your proposal well ahead of the deadline.

Where can I find the College’s tax exempt number and other similar required information?

If the information you need does not appear below, contact the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations at (814) 332-3864. The following information is frequently required on a cover sheet:

Federal indirect cost rate (on campus): 46% of salaries and wages*

Federal indirect cost rate (off campus): 25% of salaries and wages*
*The college periodically negotiates an indirect cost rate with the Department of Health and Human Services of the federal government. If you have any questions about this or would like more information, please contact the FCR office at fcr@allegheny.edu.

Fringe benefit rate for academic year: .41 x salary

Fringe benefit rate for summer salaries and/or stipends: .0765 x summer stipend/salary

Congressional District: 16th

State Senatorial District: 50th

State Representative District: 6th

Authorized Organizational Representative:
Dr. Amber Pouliot
Director, Foundation & Corporate Relations
(814) 332-2233
apouliot@allegheny.edu

Other Helpful Information 

What do I do when I’m ready to begin drafting my proposal?

You will need to complete our Grant Proposal Endorsement Form. The Grant Proposal Endorsement Form is required for any proposal that involves any Allegheny College commitment, even if the grant is awarded directly to a faculty member, and not to the institution. Please note that the questions on the form are not meant to be a list of requirements that are necessary to submit a proposal; they are meant to make sure we have all the necessary information we need prior to submitting a proposal.

Please note that the endorsement form must be submitted at least 30 days before the proposal deadline to allow the FCR Office time to complete required compliance checks. If you are unable to provide this information 30 days in advance, your proposal may not be able to be submitted. Of course, the more assistance you need, the further in advance we need to know about your project.

The endorsement form should take 10-20 minutes to complete. You can access the form here.

How do I prepare a budget?

In your proposal narrative, you should have a section detailing the resources needed for your project. This should provide the basis for your budget. For example, if your proposal includes a request for equipment or technology, you may need to include a section in your budget for faculty training. If your proposal includes evaluation methods, your budget should reflect any resources needed to help with the evaluation. If your proposal includes an outreach component, your budget may include costs for the development and maintenance of a website for disseminating information.

In general, ask for what you need, and explain why you need it. Avoid vague or ambiguous budget requests. Be sure to include a budget narrative that explains how you came up with your numbers. You can use this Budget Justification Template as a guide.

The Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations has sample budgets that may be helpful, and we can help you develop your budget. You can use this sample Budget Template as a guide.

The following chart provides the guidelines for summer stipends. Please note additional guidelines below the chart.

Summer Stipend Summer Fringe Benefits
Salary 1/9 (1 mo.) 2/9 (2 mo.) 1/9 x .0765 2/9 x .0765
50,000 5,556 11,111 425 850
55,000 6,111 12,222 467 935
60,000 6,667 13,333 510 1,020
65,000 7,222 14,444 552 1,105
70,000 7,777 15,554 595 1,190
75,000 8,333 16,666 637 1,275

What if the grant I want to apply for requires matching funds?

Some grants require that the recipient obtain matching funds from the institution or another donor. The need for matching funds does not necessarily represent an impediment to your grant search. Matching funds may come from the College, from alumni or other donors, or from other grants. However, if the grant you want to apply for does require matching funds, you need to discuss this requirement with the Office of Foundation & Corporate Relations, which will help you explore possible sources for the funds and discuss the match with other officers of the College who must approve your grant application.

Contacts

If you have specific questions or if you would like more information, please contact:

Dr. Amber Pouliot
Director, Foundation & Corporate Relations
(814) 332-2233
apouliot@allegheny.edu
Heather Grubbs
Associate Director, Foundation & Corporate Relations
(814) 332-2348
hgrubbs@allegheny.edu
Kate Bennett
Office Coordinator, Foundation & Corporate Relations
(814) 332-3864
kbennett@allegheny.edu

Foundation & Corporate Relations Office
fcr@allegheny.edu