Grant glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms you will run into when managing and reporting a grant.
- Allowable expenses
- Costs a funder permits you to pay for with grant money. What is allowable is defined by your award terms; anything outside them is unallowable and should not be charged to the grant.
- Direct costs
- Expenses tied directly to your funded work, such as travel, materials, registration, or program activities. They are the bulk of most grant spending.
- Indirect costs
- Overhead that supports your work but is not tied to one activity, such as administration. Some grants allow a percentage for indirect costs; many individual awards do not.
- Restricted funds
- Money that may only be spent on specific purposes set by the funder. Most grant funds are restricted to the goals in your award.
- Unrestricted funds
- Money you may spend at your discretion within the spirit of the award. Living stipends are often closer to unrestricted than project grants.
- Budget-to-actual
- A comparison of what you planned to spend (budget) against what you actually spent (actual), by category. It is the core of expense tracking and funder reporting.
- Reimbursement grant
- A grant where you spend your own money first and the funder reimburses you after you submit documentation. Keeping receipts is essential.
- Grant clawback
- When a funder reclaims money that was not spent according to the award terms, or unspent funds at the end of the grant. Good records reduce this risk.
- No-cost extension
- Additional time to finish spending your grant without additional money. You request it from the funder before the grant period ends.
- Fellowship stipend
- A regular payment to a fellow for living expenses so they can focus on their work. A stipend is usually personal and not meant to fund a venture or organization.
- Cost-of-education allowance
- A payment made to your institution in lieu of tuition and mandatory fees, separate from your own stipend. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship pays a cost-of-education allowance to the school, so you do not handle or track it yourself.
- Matching funds (cost share)
- Nonfederal money you must contribute alongside a grant. Some organizational awards, such as NEA project grants, require a one-to-one match, while individual fellowships usually do not.
- Living allowance
- Funds intended to cover everyday costs such as housing, food, and local transport while you carry out your award. Fulbright grants, for example, pay a living stipend set by the cost of living in your host country.
- Estimated taxes
- Tax you set aside and pay through the year on income that has no automatic withholding. Many stipends and fellowship payments are taxable without withholding, so setting money aside avoids a surprise at filing time.