Gift or grant

The distinction between gifts and grants can be subtle. The term “grant” is defined very differently by various corporate and foundation funders and, therefore, can cause confusion. For that reason, the CFR staff uses the term “sponsored project.” Please note that the use of the term “grant” by a funding organization does not automatically mean that the award is a sponsored project; instead, the terms of the award determine its status.

A sponsored project is any externally funded research or scholarly activity that has a defined scope of work and set of objectives that provide a basis for accountability and sponsor expectations. If any one of the following characteristics applies to a project, including commitments made in the proposal or required by the award agreement, it most likely will need to be processed through the Office of Sponsored Programs, which is housed in the Office of Research:

• Sponsor is the federal, state or local government or an agency that has been established simply as a flow-through of federal, state or local government funds for accounting purposes.
• Proposal or award requires a signature from an authorized official binding the university to the terms and conditions of the proposed project.
• Sponsor has written policies requiring indirect cost recoveries. Note: The absence of a policy does not preclude the award from being a sponsored program.
• Award contains provisions regarding ownership of intellectual properties (i.e., patents and copyrights).
• Sponsor requires the delivery of specific goods or services by the university (i.e., technical assistance or training).
• Award requires a detailed technical report (generally more than a simple status report that illustrates a project’s progress).
• Award payments are contingent on programmatic or fiscal reporting (i.e., milestones, invoices).
• Award includes budget restrictions (i.e., prior approval for rebudgeting and restrictions on certain budget categories, equipment or fringe benefits).
• Award includes a provision for audit.
• Award restricts or monitors publications or use of results.
• Award requires protection of sponsor and/or confidential information.
• Project involves the use of human subjects, vertebrate animals, radioisotopes on humans, radioactive materials, recombinant DNA, human body substances, etiologic agents or proprietary materials.
• Project must be submitted for review by the university’s Institutional Review Board.

Activities supported by a donor that are generally not considered sponsored projects and can be processed as gifts can include the following characteristics:

• Award provides support for broadly defined activities, such as professorships, endowments, building projects, instructional programs and unrestricted research. The donor can restrict the use of funds to a specific program area or purpose.
• Award contains only minimal requirements, generally relating to required donor pledge payments and the university’s commitment to effectuate the donor’s intent.
• Award requires only minimal reporting to the sponsor donor in the form of a general statement or report of how funds were used and the outcomes of the project. The unit or faculty member involved can provide the donor with a brief summary of the results of supported activities and/or a statement that expenditures were made in accord with the intent of the gift.
• Award is irrevocable.

All projects determined to be sponsored must be processed through the Office of Sponsored Programs. Activities supported by a donor that are generally not considered sponsored projects can be processed as gifts to the university through Central Advancement. Please direct questions regarding whether a proposal or an award is a gift or a sponsored project to your school’s dean or to the CFR staff.

In some cases, projects that do not need to go through the Office of Sponsored Programs at the proposal stage become sponsored projects at the award stage because of conditions set forth in the award agreement. The Office of Sponsored Programs and University Advancement will work together to determine a project’s classification when there is a question about how it should be processed.