FAQs for Faculty and Staff

If you have questions, please reach out to the CFR team.

CFR’s Funding Research Request form: Access it here

Grants and gifts differ in many important ways, and classifying funds appropriately is vitally important to ensure proper accounting and compliance with governmental regulations and School of Medicine policies. The following are the distinguishing factors between grants and gifts.

Gift Characteristics:

• Irrevocable transfer of funds or other valuable articles
• Unrestricted use of funds
• No donor-imposed time limits
• No deliverables or benefits expected by the donor

Grant/Contract Characteristics:

• Revocable transfer in whole or in part (if entire funding amount is not used or terms are not met)
• Application solicited and submitted to sponsor, including budget, scope of work, etc.
• Specified or limited timeframe to perform tasks or achieve goals
• Specific sponsor requirements, such as terms and conditions stating a precise scope of work to be performed rather than general support for an area of research
• Required deliverables and/or technical and financial reports (beyond what is normally provided for good donor stewardship)
• Subsequent funding dependent on sponsor receiving final grant report
• Requires a 501(c)(3) or other nonprofit designation as a condition of funding

Please note ALL GRANTS MUST ROUTE through Kuali Research and Sponsored Program Administration. If you have questions, please contact the CFR team.

While you are not required to work with our office, we highly recommend you do to bolster your chances of receiving private foundation and/or corporate funding. The CFR team can help you with finding grant opportunities that are good fits for your research or program, help you organize your ideas into a strong and persuasive application, provide substantial copy and content edits, coordinate the routing and application submission process, and more. We also have contacts at many private foundations and corporations and can set up conversations between faculty and program officers.

While our team does not route grants, we can help coordinate the routing process with the faculty member, your department or division administrator, and the Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA). Please see our in-depth routing document Step-By-Step for more information on the routing process.

There are many resources for funding opportunities. See our Find Funding page. Other universities have created a database of funding opportunities. Contact us at CFRdirector@umaryland.edu so we can direct you to their websites.

Yes! Our office serves as proposal consultants for letters of inquiry (LOIs) or proposals requesting corporation or foundation support. We prefer the content expert (faculty member or executive director of research or programs) to write the first draft. We can provide guidance on framing your request, review draft inquiries and draft proposals, and ensure that the language and context align with the audience that will be reviewing your request. Review our Resources for Proposals and find the member of our team that works with your area of expertise.

We have “restricted” several foundations due to the nature of the University’s relationship with the foundation, because the foundation may limit the number of applications that can be made from UMB Corporate and Foundation Relations, particular interests of the funder, etc. Review the Restricted Foundations.

Limited submissions are funding opportunities whereby the number of applications UMB Corporate and Foundation Relations can submit is limited by the sponsor. Follow this Limited Submission link for the process.

We focus exclusively on building and strengthening relationships with private, professional foundations and corporations. We support faculty across the UMB campus in developing and submitting the strongest proposals to the most appropriate foundations and corporations. We also monitor all foundation proposal activity and track philanthropic gifts on behalf of the University.

The Office of Research and Development (ORD) is the chief administrative unit and catalyst for advancing research and economic development at UMB. ORD’s three departments—Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts, Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA), and Technology Transfer—provide a range of high-quality, comprehensive services to investigators. The specialized teams help foster new research and clinical initiatives with industry, federal, state, and other non-profit sponsors, secure and administer research funding, protect discoveries, and push innovations to market.

Yes. Contact cfrdirector@umaryland.edu for access to the current board of trustee list, IRS forms, etc.

Yes. Most times, we are already working with you on your proposal and if you are awarded, we enter the dates for the interim and final reports in our database. If you submitted a grant that you have been awarded and we no knowledge of the submission, please reach out to us immediately at CFRDirector@umaryland.edu. We will setup report reminders, and alert you approximately six weeks in advance of the deadline. We can also help with reviewing reports, coordinating foundation site visits, and more.

Please let our office know if you are planning on submitting a funding request to a corporation or private foundation. We strive to track all private foundation activity, including foundation responses to proposals, and can help in crafting your approach or proposal. All proposals must be routed, reviewed, and approved by the Office for Sponsored Research.

When you’re ready to explore funding opportunities for your research or project, email your Research/Funding request form to CFR Director.

Please contact us at CFRDirector@umayland.edu  for mailing checks or ACH/Wire transfer instructions.

Please contact the CFR team at CFRDirector@umaryland.edu with funding or decline notification from funders. See the Step-By-Step guide.

Increase your chance of success with our services. Get Started by contacting CFRDirector@umaryland.edu to schedule a meeting with the Corporate and Foundation Relations team. We look forward to working with you!

Contact our office when you have questions about private foundations and corporations or want to begin exploring private foundation funding opportunities. We can help with prospect research, developing proposals, planning foundation and corporation visits, and more.