7 Common Errors to Avoid in A Grant Proposal Budget
In a grant application, the budget section is vital. Every research needs financial support to reach its desired objectives. To receive US financial aid, you have to provide a competitive grant application with a good budget plan. Therefore, have an idea about research resources as you plan out your finances. Remember, there is no space for error in the budget section, for it concerns funding agencies the most. Below are seven mistakes you can avoid in the grant budget section.
1. Selecting the wrong type of budget form
Most grant applicants choose the budget type that does not match the expenditure they need for the research. Thus, the research writers select the budget form without knowing the two types. For instance, some of them fill out the short budget form when research requires a detailed budget and vice versa. Selecting the wrong form shows you lack adequate knowledge about the budgeting process. Grant reviewers term this mistake as carelessness on the grant writer’s side and decline the application immediately.
Many research proposals have errors in calculation and typing. It gives a bad impression of your mathematical skills and impacts your application negatively. Also, these applications are declined and asked for resubmission after you review them. Correcting this error is simple. Get your seniors or other people to go through the budget plan. Another tip is to ensure you practice budget writing continuously.
2. Too high or too low a budget
What if the range of budget you are offering your application? Most applicants submit with either a too-high or too-low budget. When you plan a low budget, the reviewers think you are afraid that your application will be rejected if your budget is too high. Likewise, a high budget plan portrays you are demanding money for your interest and not the project research. Both of them impact your grant application negatively.
3. Complex budgeting
It is a big mistake to opt for a complex budget plan. For instance, adding long lists with long justifications for each of them. Adding this type of complicated figures and facts for the budget complicates the mind of reviewers who have other applications to review in a short time. Remember, it takes all their energy to go through just on a budget plan. So, a complex budget makes them irritable, and it distracts them from the complexity of the statements. Yet, the real purpose of the budget is lost. And such applications are requested to resubmit and make their budget simple to understand.
4. Unpredictable charges
When you choose the research method for your project, you can estimate the expenses occurring with the research technique. Most grant proposals lack the flexibility for such charges. The techniques they choose are a challenge to carry out. Thus, it results in a waste of limited quantity in the budget plan. The reviewers have the skill to notice the deficiency of unpredictable expenses. Thus, your budget plan is weak to them. Therefore, such applicants are declined and asked to resubmit.
5. Lack of budget justification
Some grant proposals make the mistake of lacking budget justifications. There is no justification for items under either direct costs or indirect costs. So, you cannot justify costs to reviewers when there are no roles of items the writer provides. Such budgets are considered blunt and unjustified, with no statements of purpose. Plus, the funding agency cannot approve such expenses. They need a list to enlighten them precisely about every necessary expense with the respective names.
6. Missing out the separate costs
A budget section requires the cost and names of the items the money is needed. Therefore, avoid the mistake of failing to enlist the item in the budget section. This causes the reviewers to be confused with the costs provided for the budget of the research project. So, the budget becomes ambiguous for the reviewing panel. Plus, this makes it seem they are hiring actual items from the budget, or you have no idea how to specify the budget items. Avoid this frequent error by going through the budget several times with your seniors.
