GUIDE TO FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING FACULTY FOUNDATION RELATIONS OFFICE OF ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT

Transcription

1 GUIDE TO FOUNDATION FUNDRAISING FACULTY FOUNDATION RELATIONS OFFICE OF ALUMNI AND DEVELOPMENT 2011

2 INTRODUCTION The following guide is intended as a basic introduction to foundation relations for Columbia University faculty and development personnel. In providing this guide, we hope to explain how foundations function and how best to work with them in applying for and stewarding nongovernmental grants. For institutional programs or other projects that might interest private funders, Faculty Foundation Relations also offers one-on-one consultation. What Faculty Foundation Relations Can Do for You Advise you on the best strategies for finding support for your work Help you determine whether your program is suitable for foundation funding Keep you informed when private funding opportunities arise in your field Let you know when existing Columbia contacts can make a difference for your approach. Save you the embarrassment of conflicting approaches Identify institutional prospects for specific programs and projects Provide briefings and scheduling assistance for meetings with foundation representatives Review letters of inquiry and proposals and provide edits and suggestions Provide supporting documents, budget assistance, and other requirements for proposal submission Post-grant assistance includes institutional acknowledgement letters and reminders when reports are due For more information contact Janet West, Director of Faculty Foundation Relations, at or janet.west@columbia.edu. CONTENTS ABOUT FOUNDATIONS PAGE 2 PROSPECT RESEARCH PAGE 10 THE APPLICATION PROCESS PAGE 13 STEWARDSHIP PAGE 17 Proprietary Rights Notice: All rights reserved. This document is the property of the Office of Alumni and Development at Columbia University. No part of this workbook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the Office of Alumni and Development at Columbia University. 1

3 ABOUT FOUNDATIONS All foundations share certain attributes, but each one is as unique as a snowflake a snowflake governed by US Tax Code Section 501(c). Foundations can be established by individuals, families, corporations, or a combination of these and the wishes of the founding donors may influence a foundation s mission and operation for the life of the organization. Types of Grantmaking Organizations Private or Independent Foundation To the IRS, private or independent are umbrella terms for tax-exempt grant-makers (usually with a single funding source, such as an individual or family) that are restricted by certain rules. For example, a private foundation is required to give away five percent of the average market value of its total assets each year in grants and gifts. They are also required to file an IRS form 990 which is publicly accessible and lists their income and disbursements, including grants. Within the nonprofit community, the terms private or independent usually refer to an organization with a professional board of directors or trustees and a professional program staff. Independent foundations usually give within specific program guidelines that are aligned with a larger mission, such as eliminating poverty or improving higher education. Family Foundation Family foundations are another variety of private foundation, but they are more often led by members of the donor s family who make some or all granting decisions. Family foundations sometimes do not accept applications, preferring to preselect where their money goes. What usually determines how a foundation operates is its size. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, is a family foundation, but it runs on a similar mission-driven model to the Ford Foundation. Initially, it operated as family and continues to do so, however its size has grown to such an extent that it is now, more often, thought of as a private foundation. Operating Foundation These are private foundations whose primary mandate is to conduct research, promote social welfare, or perform other nonprofit activities that may even be secondary to grantmaking. Open Society Institute is an example of an operating foundation. Public Charity Public charities differ from private foundations in that they receive a large portion of their funding from the government or from public donations. They may make grants or run their own activities, as operating foundations do, but they raise much of their own funds and are accountable to their donors. The Pew Charitable Trusts and Doctors without Borders are examples of public charities. (Community funds and community foundations are similar to public charities except that they serve a single city or region.) Donor-advised Fund These are for donors who prefer to give through third-party charities rather than incur the expense and time commitment of opening a foundation and managing it 2

4 administratively. In addition to the administrative convenience of conducting one s grantmaking through the fund, there are cost savings and tax advantages. The New York Community Trust was the first such fund, started in Company-sponsored or Corporate Foundation These are private foundations that derive their assets from a for-profit company. They are separate entities from their parent company and subject to the same regulations as other private foundations. Corporate giving programs, on the other hand, are administered within the parent company and their assets depend directly on that corporation s bottom line. Also, unlike foundations, corporate giving programs are not required to make their grantmaking activities public. Other Terms Foundations of all types set specific limitations on what kind of grants they will make. Here are some terms to be aware of: Nonprofit vs. individual When a foundation says they do not fund individuals, they mean that any person who requests support must do so through a non-profit organization, e.g. Columbia University. Foundations may request to see a copy of the University s 501(c)(3), also known as a tax-exemption letter, which Faculty Foundation Relations in the Office of Alumni and Development can provide to you. Use limitations Foundations, as a rule, are unlikely to award endowment grants, preferring instead to fund current use projects. Geographic limitations Some foundations restrict their giving to specific geographic regions. It is recommended that grant-seekers review the foundation s previous grants as there are occasions when geographic guidelines are dropped. RFPs RFPs, or Requests for Proposals, may come from the government, but a growing number of private grant-makers issue them as well. Some foundations offer alerts to let subscribers know when new opportunities arise. Columbia s InfoEd includes both public and private RFPs. Also, the Foundation Center publishes an RFP Bulletin of non-government grant opportunities. Four Ways to Wow a Foundation Philanthropy is increasingly perceived as an investment. More and more, grant-makers are looking for programs that are efficiently run, well thought out, and that have the potential to make a lasting difference. The following are some of the qualities foundations look for in a successful application: 3

5 While some foundations still make gifts with no strings attached, more often they expect some kind of assessment and evaluation, often in the form periodic reports that explain the activities and outcomes of the project. I.e., did the money granted reach the goals outlined in the proposal? Proposals should address how the work will be evaluated. Collaboration refers to grantee activities in partnership with other institutions, community groups, academic centers, and researchers in the same or complementary fields. While far from mandatory, collaborative projects appeal to grant-makers because they can approach a problem from an interdisciplinary perspective and potentially reach a larger audience at a lower cost. If the program under consideration is one that has no natural end date, foundations may look for a demonstration of sustainability. Will the program outlive the foundation s initial support? Will the university assume responsibility for support? Is there potential for the project to bring in revenue? Many foundations will help launch a program but don t have the resources to keep it running in the long-term. Their deliberations will include discussion of what will occur when their funding ends. Partnership (i.e., cost sharing) with the nonprofit during the term of the grant is favorably viewed. Another way that foundations measure success is through replication, also called scaling up. When a program gets good results, it can become a model to be replicated and thereby, serve a larger population. (Of course, not every grant lends itself to this action.) Foundations will sometimes seek out proven programs that can be replicated for a greater return on their investments. As you research potential foundation funders, you will start to see other trends in various areas of giving, and across the world of institutional giving. As always, however, we urge any fundraiser to carefully consider how each foundation is singular, paying close attention to the requirements of each individual funder. Few things are more annoying to foundation program officers than outreach that does not convey the grant seeker has done the homework and understands the foundation, its processes, mission and style. Studying the foundation website prior to outreach is highly recommended. Restricted Foundations Some foundations prefer to interact with a limited number of contacts at the University or only accept one application at a time from each institution. Other foundations have the distinction of being major Columbia partners. To safeguard our good relationships with foundations and ensure that activity can be made known to other fundraisers who may also be working with a foundation, please contact Janet West if you have interest in any of the foundations listed below: 4

6 Atlantic Philanthropies Carnegie Corporation of New York Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Doris Duke Charitable Trust Sherman Fairchild Foundation Ford Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation William Randolph Hearst Foundation Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Kavli Foundation W.M. Keck Foundation Kresge Foundation MacArthur Foundation Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Bernard Osher Foundation Starr Foundation The Importance of Guidelines It can be wonderfully satisfying to identify a funder whose interests perfectly match your project. Making that match by reading only about the foundation s interests is not enough, however. To varying degrees, all foundations have guidelines that govern how and under what circumstances they award grants. Guidelines can hold important clues to what the foundation is looking for in a grantee, project, letter of inquiry and/or proposal, and how the foundation operates. The success of your application may well depend on whether you pay attention to them. Guidelines can be as simple as a deadline for submission. But even foundations that have rolling deadlines will sometimes reveal in their guidelines when their boards meet to make funding decisions. This is useful information if the funding you seek is time-sensitive, for example, support for an upcoming conference. You ll also learn how the foundation wishes to be approached for the first time. Many foundations prefer that a letter of intent precede a full proposal, a step can save the applicant a great deal of time and trouble. Some prefer correspondence in hard copy, while other foundations have online templates for entering data, or uploading Word or PDF documents. Additionally, some foundations will only accept one proposal at a time from a single university. Others impose a waiting period wherein no new proposals will be accepted once a grant has been awarded. Columbia has carefully cultivated relationships with select foundations. If you are unsure about the guidelines of a foundation or its relationship with Columbia, please get in touch with Faculty Foundation Relations before contacting the foundation. Our office can help you fully understand and negotiate institutional policies for many foundations. 5

7 PROSPECT RESEARCH Good prospect research begins with a clear idea of the project to be funded, therefore it is often best to start by answering the following basic questions: - Who is the applicant? - What problems will the program or research address? - What are the planned activities? - Who will benefit? Where to Look for Prospects The Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is an excellent tool for finding prospects. Foundation Directory is a database of both foundation and corporate grantmakers in the United States, searchable by various categories and offering information from IRS 990 forms to boards of directors, full listings of projects and locations the grantmaker funds. Foundation Directory profiles are available in PDF and can be saved and printed. FDO can be accessed through the Columbia libraries database collection. Fundraisers can also use InfoEd, a service provided by Columbia, to search for prospects. Please see Sponsored Project Administration instructions before getting started. Faculty Foundation Relations also maintains a searchable and archived CFR News Roundup that offers news about grantmakers, trends in philanthropy and higher education, RFPs, and other relevant information. How to Search Foundation Directory lets you search for funders by several categories, the most useful of which are: Fields of Interest these can be broad topics such as education or narrower fields such as Education, drop-out prevention Types of Support includes options such as research, curriculum development, and equipment. Geographic Focus can be set to capture foundations that give internationally, nationally or both, and for giving in a specific state. For giving in a specific country, use Fields of Interest. Keyword Search this field searches the entire profile for the words you enter. It can be a helpful supplement to the Interests field. Tip To weed out grantmakers who give only in their local region, search for National; international or National or New York. Beginning a search can be a process of trial and error. For some projects there will be many potential funders and it may be necessary to limit your search in a few different ways to get the best results. Start with the widest net and narrow down from there. Here s an example: Let s say you want funding for research into alternative energy sources. Start by opening Fields of Interest index in the Search Grantmakers tab of FDO. The index contains the keyword 10

8 environment, energy which by itself will give you 127 results. Adding research to the Types of Support field reduces the results to a more manageable 27 foundations. Since some grantmakers fund alternative energy projects but don t designate energy as a specific interest, it s a good idea to perform another search for environment and limit by Types of Support and Geographic Focus. Tip Including and higher education in the Interests field is a good way to find funders who are friendly to universitybased programs. the tools it won t take long to find out what FDO can do. Other searches may require less limiting criteria. For example, in a search for prospects for a student radio station, you might try combinations of keywords like radio, media, and broadcasting with student services/organizations selected as an interest. This search yields only a few prospects, so you might then broaden the search to all foundations that support student organizations. It may take a few tries to figure out when to use limiting criteria or wider searches, but once you are familiar with Using the Search Grants Tab Most Foundation Directory profiles contain a searchable list of grants in a separate tab. It offers a detailed view of what kinds of grants a foundation is actually making, which organizations receive the most funding, and the typical size of each grant. It is also possible to identify prospects using the Search Grants tab on the FDO main page. The fields on this page differ slightly from the Grantmakers page, but they work in similar ways. Instead of Interests, use the Subjects field to search for the grant s purpose. You can limit the search to grants to higher education, universities the field Recipient Type or narrow the geographic location with Recipients Location. For a detailed guide to using the Foundation Directory, see the website s Help page: When Foundation Directory Leaves You Hanging Sometimes a program or project is so specific or difficult to find matches for that Foundation Directory offers few viable prospects. In these cases, we often look for programs engaged in similar activities, to identify and then research their funders. This approach can be timeconsuming, but organization websites and annual reports will often publicly acknowledge their donors. This tactic is especially useful for identifying corporate prospects, who might not publish their grants through FDO. Corporate Funders Corporate foundations and corporate giving programs will appear in Foundation Directory searches, but additional research on corporate websites is often necessary to uncover essential information such as the names of program officers and nonprofit partners. A corporation s annual report will sometimes give a better picture of grantees, projects, and giving priorities. 11

9 Consider checking the company s press releases for announcements of recent gifts, which may contain quotations from program officers whose names are not published elsewhere. The Last Important Steps Check the foundation s website for additional guidelines and limitations. (See the About Foundations section for more about guidelines.) Query Advance or Athena to learn about Columbia s relationship with the foundation, including prior grants, open proposals, and recent contact reports. Read the foundation s board of directors and staff lists (in the People section of the Foundation Directory profile) for possible affiliations with the University. Columbia alumni are everywhere! If the foundation has a website, take a look at its news and publications section. Important, timely information is often revealed there. Before reaching out to a potential funder, contact the prospect manager or a member of Faculty Foundation Relations. This is especially important in the case of larger foundations, many of whom are key institutional partners, handled with special attention. Also, some foundations restrict the number or timing of proposals they will accept from a single entity. Compliance with these rules is essential to maintaining the institutional relationship. 12

10 THE APPLICATION PROCESS The application process varies foundation to foundation. Online application forms are increasingly common, even in the initial (pre-proposal) stage. Some foundations issue explicit instructions, word limits and even typeface requirements for proposal writers. The following is a set of general best practices. Remember to read the guidelines of each foundation carefully. Letters of Inquiry/Interest Absent any specific instructions from the foundation, it s a good idea to start with a letter of inquiry (LOI). The LOI is a brief letter (generally no more than two to three pages) that introduces the project in an engaging and pithy way. It contains many of the same elements as a full proposal but offers only enough details to pique the reader s interest in: the problem the project is intended to solve how it will be implemented what the project s goals are, and why Columbia University is qualified to solve the problem and meet those goals. The purpose of the LOI is to begin a conversation, so be sure to include your contact information and encourage the recipient to contact you with questions. Close with an offer to follow up by phone or suggest that a meeting be arranged. An LOI FAQ Should the letter ask for money? While an LOI can include an ask, it isn t necessary. Sometimes reference can be made to the size of the project, conversationally. But the aim of an LOI is to engage the funder, ideally leading to a meeting or site visit, which in turn may lead to an invitation to submit a full proposal. To whom should the LOI be addressed? Just as you would not send a cover letter for a job application to whom it may concern, LOI s should always be addressed to a specific person. If the foundation has professional program officers, identify the person responsible for the appropriate area of interest and write to him or her. Ideally, the letter should go to someone who works directly with grantees, who has some amount of influence over granting decisions, and who can be reached by phone or . Letters to smaller foundations can be sent to the president or executive director. The person at the head of a very small foundation might read these letters personally. Otherwise, they will be delegated to other staff members. Who should sign the letter? Usually the signature of the principal investigator is best at this stage. Depending on the size and scope of the work and its priority within the university, however, obtaining the signature of a dean, the provost, or the president may be appropriate. Some things to consider: does the 13

11 rank of the recipient match the rank of the signatory? The president of Columbia should write to the top person at the foundation, for example. Also, more often than not, funders like to have direct contact with those involved in doing the actual work they may support and so outreach from a development professional tends to not be as well received as a query made by a faculty member or University leader. Should I send the same letter to multiple prospects? Yes and no. By all means, save time by writing boiler plate copy about the program, but also consider your audience s specific interest and mission. Tell the prospect why you think the foundation is a good fit for the project and emphasize the components in which the funder will be most interested. Always watch carefully when using a template and be sure that if you refer to the foundation by name in the body of one letter, you remember to change it in the next! The letter is in the mail. Now what? Foundation processes can be very slow and it may take a few weeks or months to receive a reply. That doesn t mean you have to sit on your hands. After two or three weeks, call the foundation to make sure they received the letter. This may sound like a ploy (and it is) but correspondence to a busy foundation may be lost more often than you might think. If the goal of the LOI is to start a conversation, the goal of a follow-up call is to move the conversation forward. The objective is to make plans for a face-to-face meeting, a longer telephone conversation, or be invited to submit a full proposal. Of course, decisive action is not the end result of most follow-up calls. Don t be disheartened if you can t get the program officer on the phone repeatedly. Wait a week; call again and again if necessary. Your persistence will be rewarded at least with a direct answer to the inquiry. The rule of thumb for outreach is in the range of five or six attempts. Proposals: The Key Elements Proposals tend to follow a common format that includes certain key elements. While there s no need to be overly rigid, following this format sends a signal to funders of awareness and experience. Generally speaking, a good length to shoot for is five to seven pages. Avoid jargon or overly technical language. Not everyone at the foundation will be an expert in the field. Be concise but detailed so that the reader isn t left with a list of questions by the end. Again, always review the foundation s guidelines and write the proposal so that the convergence between your project and the foundation s priorities is obvious! Proposal Summary This is a brief paragraph that includes the official request and purpose of the grant, as in this hypothetical example: The Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University respectfully requests $50,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation toward a two-day conference on Middle Eastern Voices in Contemporary Literature in collaboration with 14

12 Princeton University. The conference will add significant knowledge in Middle Eastern literature and lay the foundation for a new curriculum at both institutions. Statement of Need What problem or problems will the project attempt to solve? Imagine that you are a journalist and the problem you want to address is your story. The statement of need is the lede of the proposal and your best chance to impress upon the reader the importance of the project. Your objective is to tell the story in a way that compels him or her to keep reading. Make your case stronger by using facts, statistics and, as applicable, real-life examples to create a sense of importance and immediacy. Program Description What plan of action do you propose to solve the problem? What population will the project serve? Introduce and describe the program using clear language and concrete terms. Explain why your team and Columbia University are uniquely suited to accomplish the task, referring to past successes, varying levels of expertise, etc. Including data and statistics makes the case that much more persuasive and demonstrates that the successes of the past are likely to prevail in the proposed project. Objectives What are the goals of the project? The objectives section is crucial because it is the result the actual deliverables not the process in which most funders will be interested. Subsequently, when reporting on the progress of the project post-award, the objectives become a kind of checklist for measuring success. That said, the goals should be ambitious, but realistic and clearly defined. Evaluation Foundations want to see a return on their investment for every grant not just how the money was spent, but what impact it had. A proposal should provide a Some items that foundations frequently request: Organizational mission Board of Trustees list CVs of Principal Investigators Audited financial statement IRS determination letter IRS form 990 Letters of endorsement from the university president or others Wire transfer instructions plan for how the project will be evaluated, what the benchmarks are, and how success will be measured. Success will mean different things to different projects. For example, the evaluation plan can be as simple as a survey of constituents about their experience with the program. Evaluation for research speaks to how closely the hypothesis is answered. In short, did you as the grantee do what the grantor expected and as you proposed you would in your submission? Budget Budgets need not be long or elaborate, but it is important to clarify how the funds will be spent. Items may include personnel, fringe benefits, equipment and space, travel and meeting costs, supplies and faculty release time. Although the budget usually comes at the end of a proposal, 15

13 determining the budget as a first step can help clarify the proposal-writing process and suggest otherwise unforeseen problems. Some foundations will not contribute to administrative or indirect costs. (Sometimes referred to as overhead, this fee covers infrastructure and administrative costs incurred by Columbia from sponsored activity.) Others won t consider proposals with indirect costs that exceed a specified percentage. The University will negotiate with the principal investigator or department on a case by case basis. Also, many foundations look for cost-sharing, which demonstrates that the university has confidence in the project and willingly contributes to it. If a grant spans multiple years, the budget should anticipate the rise in costs over time. Faculty Foundation Relations can provide sample budgets that reflect issues and concerns related to budget projection. More about Content Even if you decide to take a different approach to the presentation of your proposal, keep in mind that reviewers will be looking for certain qualities in any project. Emphasize what is innovative about the work a unique concept or a problem that has never before been adequately addressed. Demonstrate rigorous methods; this is an obvious strength of academic research, but programs of all kinds need to show rigor in the services they provide and in the way they evaluate that work. Put the project in context. Clear and succinct explanation of what is already known about your specific field will not only provide necessary information to reviewers who might have backgrounds in other areas, but also will demonstrate that the project you propose is grounded in the latest thinking on the subject. When the Funder Declines When a foundation rejects your LOI or proposal, there are a few steps that can be taken. In the words of Dr. Alison Bernstein, longtime vice president at the Ford Foundation, with some foundations you have to apply at least three times to get a grant and no rarely means never. Consider it an opportunity to build a relationship with the foundation and send a reply thanking them for responding. Explain clearly and succinctly why you think the project is a match and ask for feedback on how it might be improved. Provide more detail about the program if you think the message wasn t understood. Above all, be polite and professional. Foundation grantmaking is very competitive business and foundations turn down most of the applications they receive. Don t take it personally and keep trying! The relationship that you are able to build through an application, even when the grant is not awarded is important and will certainly help you with your next interaction with that foundation, or that program officer. More Guidance The Foundation Center offers an excellent tutorial on proposal writing: 16

14 POST-AWARD PROCESSES Stewardship Good stewardship of an award cannot be underestimated. Stewardship is an investment in the next gift, with the goal of further engaging donors and motivating them to continue giving and increase their commitment. A comprehensive stewardship program builds trust and confidence and demonstrates to the foundation that their support is necessary and appreciated. The process strengthens the University s relationships with funders and ensures that those relationships remain fruitful for years to come. Gifts vs. Grants Institutional support from corporations or When surveyed, donors have reported that they want: prompt, personalized acknowledgment of their gifts confirmation that their gifts have been used as intended measurable results on their gifts at work prior to being asked for another contribution foundations can come as either a gift or a grant. Gifts are voluntary, irrevocable, gratuitous transfers of money or other property to support Columbia programs or activities. Gifts can be restricted to a particular purpose or unrestricted. Generally, funds from private, nongovernmental sources are to be administered as gifts when the funding source neither expects nor requires consideration in return for the transfer of funds to Columbia. Grants, alternatively, involve conditions that the funding recipient agrees to uphold in exchange for support. Grants are defined by one or more of the following characteristics: They may commit the recipient to a specific line of scholarly or scientific inquiry. They may require the submission and approval of a budget. They may be intended to accomplish specific goals (as opposed to general support) within a certain period of time. They may require deliverables such as detailed technical or financial reports or some other product. They may be limited to a specific time frame during which the activity must be completed. They may require audits by or on behalf of the funder. They may include stipulations regarding tangible or intellectual property rights, including data, copyrights, or inventions developed in the course of the activity. They may require the return of unexpended funds at the end of the activity. In the past, the Office of Alumni and Development processed philanthropic gifts and Sponsored Project Administration processed grants, generally governmental. Today, however, these roles are somewhat less exclusive. Many foundations seek a return on their investment and expect reported evidence that the project advanced the foundation s mission as it indicated it would. 17

15 Corporate grantmakers also expect reporting on their awards to assure that the award is aligned with their core business and sometimes negotiate for access to research results as well. The Office of Alumni and Development s division of Gift Systems works closely with SPA when there is a question about whether support is a gift or a grant. Although SPA approves and monitors nongovernment grants, Columbia will count them in development and Campaign totals and record them in Advance. The stewardship process may differ depending on whether the award is designated a gift or a grant. The award letter is key in this regard and generally will stipulate what sort of reporting, if any, is expected by the institutional funder and on what time table. Rule of thumb is to stay in communication with the funder. Be sure that changes to the program, adjustments to the project s direction and/or leadership are known to the funder beforehand (or very soon thereafter). Surprises are generally not appreciated and may create unnecessary problems at the end of a project/program or when asking for a renewal on the award. In this case, it s better to ask for blessing than forgiveness. In addition to the financial receipt an organization receives automatically from OAD s Gift Systems, more formal stewardship of institutional awards both gifts and grants is the responsibility of the faculty member who solicited the grant and shared by the Faculty Foundation Relations team. The basics of stewardship are as follows: Acknowledgement Letters An acknowledgement letter should thank the donor with a few well-considered paragraphs expressing appreciation for the support. The letter can explain something about what the grant will fund and why it is important. It should mention the donor s generosity and commitment to the area of funding. Acknowledgements of foundation grants can be addressed to the president, CEO, or executive director and written to the foundation as a whole on behalf of the university as a whole. If a program officer was involved in the process, he or she should be copied on the letter. Acknowledgement letters can be signed by a dean, executive vice president (in the case of Arts and Science departments) or the president. Progress Reports Many foundations now require periodic reports on the project s activity along with annual financial accounting. The specific reporting requirements will appear in the award letter, which often has to be signed by a representative of the University. Just as application guidelines differ from one foundation to the next, reporting guidelines also vary. The foundation may require a final report only or a series of updates throughout the life of a multiyear grant. Reports should be submitted on time, especially as some funders will not issue subsequent payments if the report is late. If you have any questions about reporting, please contact Faculty Foundation Relations. 18

16 Meetings Meetings and site visits can be a major part of both the application and stewardship processes. For a project that is ongoing, a site visit provides an opportunity for prospects to experience firsthand some of the results of a grant. If a foundation or corporate donor requests a visit to campus, please contact Faculty Foundation Relations so that University leaders can be included and FFR can assist with scheduling, and preparation of briefing materials for all involved. Renewing a Grant The receipt of additional support from a donor is a renewal and it is one of the reasons that stewardship is so important. A request for renewal can be submitted as part of the final report as long as the funder s requirements have been met. Working Together: Pre-Award and Post-Award Many university offices and individuals work together in the process of securing a grant and establishing an account. Columbia s Sponsored Projects Administration and Technology Ventures play important roles in the University s relationship with institutional donors. Visit their websites, linked below, for more useful resources. Sponsored Project Administration is a university-wide office that serves as a central resource to support the research community at Columbia University by providing grant guidance, regulation and stewardship for researchers and administrators on all campuses. Columbia Technology Ventures facilitates the translation of academic research into practical applications, supports research, education and teaching at Columbia by facilitating partnerships with industry, and serve as a resource on matters relating to entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and technology commercialization. 19