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Grant glossary
29 grant terms in plain English. Funders define some terms in their own notices; their definitions always win.
Award ceiling Award floor Budget justification Call for proposals Contribution (Canada) Cost share Deliverables Direct costs E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC) Eligibility Fringe benefits In-kind contribution Indirect costs Intake Letter of intent (LOI) Logic model MTDC NICRA NOFO Outcomes Program officer Reimbursement Repayable contribution SAM.gov SR&ED Stacking limit Sustainability plan UEI Wage subsidy
- Award ceiling
- The largest amount a single applicant can receive under a program.
- Award floor
- The smallest single award a program will make.
- Budget justification
- A short explanation of each budget line: what it is, how it was priced and why the project needs it.
- Call for proposals
- A funder’s public invitation to apply, setting out the purpose, rules and deadline.
- Contribution (Canada)
- A type of federal transfer paid under an agreement with conditions; may be non-repayable or repayable.
- The portion of project costs the applicant or partners pay. Also called matching funds.
- Deliverables
- The specific outputs you promise to produce.
- Direct costs
- Costs tied to a specific project, such as staff time on the project, supplies or travel.
- E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC)
- The person who manages an organization’s Grants.gov roles, set in SAM.gov.
- Eligibility
- The rules on who may apply and what may be funded.
- Fringe benefits
- Employer costs on top of salary, such as benefits and payroll taxes.
- In-kind contribution
- A non-cash contribution such as donated space, equipment or time, valued under the funder’s rules.
- Indirect costs
- Shared organizational costs such as rent and administration that are not tied to one project. Also called overhead or F&A.
- Intake
- A window during which a program accepts applications.
- Letter of intent (LOI)
- A short pre-application some funders require before inviting a full proposal.
- Logic model
- A one-page chain from inputs to activities, outputs and outcomes.
- MTDC
- Modified total direct costs: the base to which many US federal indirect rates are applied, excluding items such as equipment and participant support.
- NICRA
- Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement between an organization and its US cognizant federal agency.
- NOFO
- Notice of funding opportunity: the US federal document announcing a competitive grant.
- Outcomes
- The changes that happen because of your project, as opposed to outputs (what you produce).
- Program officer
- The funder staff member who manages a program and answers applicant questions.
- Reimbursement
- Payment after you have spent money and reported it, rather than an advance.
- Repayable contribution
- Funding that must be paid back, often only if conditions such as revenue targets are met.
- SAM.gov
- The US System for Award Management, where organizations register to receive federal awards.
- SR&ED
- Scientific Research and Experimental Development: a Canadian federal tax incentive for R&D work.
- Stacking limit
- A cap on how much total government funding a single project may receive from all sources.
- Sustainability plan
- How the work continues after the grant ends.
- UEI
- Unique Entity ID: the identifier SAM.gov assigns to registered entities, replacing the DUNS number in 2022.
- Wage subsidy
- Funding paid to an employer to cover part of a worker’s wages.