Budget development is one of the most complicated aspects of proposal development. You have an idea of what you'd like to do with the funds...but you also have to comply with sponsor regulations as well as JMU policies and state regulations.  Fortunately, we're here to help.  When you submit an interest form, we will assign a grants specialist to your project, who will work with you individually to craft a budget that meets your needs.

• As soon as you are relatively certain you will apply for a sponsored program, please complete our interest form.  In addition to enabling us to assign a grants specialist to assist you, this gives OSP time to research your sponsored program to ensure we are aware of the relevant sponsor policies and regulations.
• To build your budget, we will ask for either a list of how you will use the funds or a draft budget using one of the templates below.  If you are listing how you will use your funds, please be as specific as possible.

As we develop the budget, you will want to also to draft the budget justification, which explains why each item in the budget is necessary.  There are samples provided below.

If you want to build a draft budget yourself, or see what you can fund with a particular grant, you can use the OSP-developed budget templates below.  These templates are maintained with up-to-date information such as our indirect cost rate.

• NSF-specific Budget Template^*
  If applying for NSF funding
• SF-424 Budget Template^*
  If your sponsor uses SF-424 forms
• R&R Budget Template^*
  If your sponsor uses R&R (Research & Related) forms
• Generic Budget Template^*
  All other cases or if you're not sure
• Travel Detail Tool^*
  Use this to develop a budget for travel, including when applying specifically for travel funding and when the travel funding will be part of a larger budget.

^*: Requires JMU log-in

Along with your budget, you'll also need to provide a budget justification or narrative explaining your budget.  These are some resources to assist you:

• Budget justification guidance and sample wording^*
• A sample NSF budget justification^*
• A sample R&R budget justification^*
• A generic sample budget justification^*

Please note that annual salary increases, the indirect costs rate, and other numbers in these samples may no longer be accurate.  Your grants specialist will assist you to make sure everything is correct.

^*: Requires JMU log-in