Including Cost Share in a Proposal

Types of cost share in SOM:

Mandatory: sponsor requires cost share, often called a "cost match."
Voluntary Committed: sponsor doesn't require it but VCU is choosing to cover some of the costs of the project, rather than asking the sponsor to pay for them.
DHHS Salary Cap Cost Share: sponsor is part of DHHS and follows the current salary cap (find current Executive Level II salary cap here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/)
Other Sponsor Salary Cap Cost Share: sponsor has a published cap on base salary that can be charged to the project.

Questions to ask as soon as you think cost share may be involved in a proposal:

What kind of cost share is it? Mandatory, voluntary committed, DHHS salary cap, other sponsor salary cap?
Who will be paying for the cost share if this gets awarded? 9 times out of 10 this is the department (Mandatory, Voluntary Committed, or Other Sponsor Salary Cap) or the SOM Dean's Office (DHHS Salary Cap). In some cases, maybe the PI has gotten a commitment from the SOM Dean's Office to cover the Mandatory or Voluntary Committed cost share (rather than the department). If the project is not research but is instead clinical service in nature AND there is a cost share requirement, contact SOMRESADMIN@vcuhealth.org for guidance.
Does SOM require advance approval before the department can submit this proposal with Voluntary Committed cost share? See these wiki pages:
- https://wiki.vcu.edu/x/cBALCQ (link not working)
- https://wiki.vcu.edu/x/rYItBg (link not working)
What signatures do I need on cost share authorization forms?
How will this get entered into RAMS-SPOT?
How will the cost share be included in the proposal/budget to the sponsor, if at all?

	At time of proposal:	Cost Share Authorization Form Needed?

	At time of proposal:	Cost Share Authorization Form Needed?
Mandatory	If PI wants to apply for funding and proposal guidelines state cost share is mandatory, make sure PI has approval from department to submit for this, since the Department will be covering the cost. If some other unit at VCU will be paying for the cost share (for example, if the SOM Dean's Office agreed to pay for it instead of the department), make sure this is documented.	Must have it signed in all cases of mandatory cost share, by both the submitting department and any other departments/units providing cost share.
Voluntary Committed	If PI wants to include cost sharing in their proposal, make sure PI has approval from department to include voluntary cost sharing since the department will be paying for this. This should include the minimum 1% effort for PI's that often gets cost shared. Same as Mandatory - if department won't be covering it for some reason, get documentation from the unit that will be covering the cost share.	Must have it signed in all cases of voluntary committed cost share, by both the submitting department and any other departments/units providing cost share.
DHHS Salary Cap Cost Share	Make sure the correct salary cap amount is entered in the RAMS-SPOT budget.	When SOM is submitting DHHS proposals, we do NOT require the cost share authorization form to be filled out, signed, and uploaded to RAMS-SPOT at the time of proposal.
Other Sponsor Salary Cap Cost Share	Manually enter the sponsor's salary cap onto the RAMS-SPOT budget before adding personnel.	When SOM is submitting other proposals with sponsor caps, we do NOT require the cost share authorization form to be filled out, signed, and uploaded to RAMS-SPOT at the time of proposal - BUT be sure to upload to RAMS-SPOT the sponsor's guidelines that mention their required salary cap.

At time of award:

At time of award:
Mandatory	A unique cost share index is created by G&C. The department (or whomever has agreed to cover the cost share) is responsible for funding the budget on that cost share index.
Voluntary Committed	A unique cost share index is created by G&C. The department (or whomever has agreed to cover the cost share) is responsible for funding the budget on that cost share index.
DHHS Salary Cap Cost Share	A unique cost share index is created by G&C. Clinical Departments: SOM Dean's Office annually provides funds to the departments to cover this cost and fund the budget on these cost share indexes. DHHS salary cap cost share does not come out of a clinical department's annual budget. Basic Science Departments: These departments must fund their salary cap cost share from their annual budget.
Other Sponsor Salary Cap Cost Share	A unique cost share index is created by G&C. Clinical Departments: SOM Dean's Office annually provides funds to the departments to cover this cost and fund the budget on these cost share indexes. Other sponsor salary cap cost share does not come out of a clinical department's annual budget. Basic Science Departments: These departments must fund their salary cap cost share from their annual budget.

	Possible Scenarios:

	Possible Scenarios:
Mandatory	PI is submitting a proposal which requires a 1:1 cost match. The award from the sponsor will be $50,000, all direct costs (indirect costs not allowed). VCU must provide cost share in amount of $50,000.
Mandatory	Determine with PI and the department what that cost share will be (people's salaries? supplies?). Determine if the sponsor allows unrecovered F&A as cost share (email SOMRESADMIN@vcuhealth.org if you have questions about this). Create a budget for the cost share portion of the project and enter into RAMS-SPOT. A signed Cost Share Authorization Form must be included in the RAMS-SPOT submission.

DHHS Salary Cap	PI is submitting a proposal to a DHHS agency (like NIH, AHRQ, etc). Faculty working on the project have salaries above the current DHHS salary cap.
DHHS Salary Cap	Fill out the cost share budget in SPOT.

Voluntary Committed	PI is submitting a proposal and they want to propose voluntarily cost sharing a portion of the cost of doing the project. This could involve: cost sharing all or some of their effort on a project, cost sharing non-personnel, or cost sharing the efforts of other personnel. If cost sharing only a portion of their effort on the project, they may state they are performing 10% effort but only ask the sponsor to pay for 5% of that (other 5% cost shared).
Voluntary Committed	Some PI's would like to voluntarily use a salary cap (like the DHHS salary cap) in their budget even when a sponsor does not require the cap be used. This is done to lower the costs of the project that the sponsor has to pay. This is still Voluntary Committed cost share (not salary cap).
	Departments must always get advance approval from SOM before including any Voluntary Committed cost share (beyond the minimum PI 1% effort) in an outgoing proposal. See these wiki pages for guidance on how to do that: https://wiki.vcu.edu/x/cBALCQ (not working) https://wiki.vcu.edu/x/rYItBg (not working) In RAMS-SPOT, if a portion of the effort is to be charged to the grant and a portion to cost share, put the total effort performed in the "% Project Effort" box and the amount the sponsor will pay in the "% Salary Requested" box. This will cause the remaining amount of effort to populate on the cost share budget in SPOT. If PI is voluntarily using a salary cap (not required by sponsor), do not use the "Annualized Salary Cap" box in RAMS-SPOT. Manually calculate the $s paid for by the sponsor and $s to be cost shared outside of SPOT, and then translate this into a "% Salary Requested" which you then enter into SPOT. A signed Cost Share Authorization Form must be included in the RAMS-SPOT submission.

Other Sponsor Salary Cap	PI is submitting a proposal to a foundation which has a published salary cap for $200,000. The PI's salary is above this amount.
Other Sponsor Salary Cap	Manually input the sponsor's salary cap in the "Annualized Salary Cap" box on the budget in SPOT. Follow same instructions for DHHS Salary Cap.