Plan my grant budget
Get the free Grant Proposal & Budget Builder
A section-by-section grant proposal planner — hook, gap, aims, significance, and innovation — and a budget-justification builder, with worked examples of a Specific Aims spine and justified budget lines, from the Mastering Research series. We’ll email you the download link.
How a grant budget is built
A budget has two layers: direct costs (everything tied to doing the project) and indirect costs (a percentage on top for shared institutional overhead). Getting the structure right early saves painful rework with your research office:
- Direct: personnel + fringe, equipment, supplies, travel, participant costs, and other.
- Indirect (F&A): your institution’s negotiated rate × a cost base — often MTDC, which excludes equipment (and sometimes large subawards / participant support).
- Funder rules vary: some cap or disallow indirect costs entirely — check the call.
- Justify every line — a budget justification narrative is usually required.
This is a planning estimate. Your sponsored-programs / research office prepares and approves the official budget using your institution’s exact negotiated rate and base and the funder’s rules.
Frequently asked questions
Direct vs indirect costs?
Direct = tied to the project (salaries, equipment, supplies, travel). Indirect (F&A/overhead) = shared institutional costs, charged as a % of a cost base.
What is MTDC?
Modified Total Direct Cost — an indirect base that excludes equipment (and sometimes large subawards/participant costs). Use the checkbox to estimate this way.
What rate should I use?
Your institution’s negotiated rate, or the funder’s allowed/capped rate. Your research office has the current figure.
Is this the official budget?
No — it’s a planning estimate. Your research office prepares the official, approved budget.
Does it store anything?
No. The budget is calculated entirely in your browser; nothing is uploaded or saved.
The Grant Writing and Budget Planning Workbook
Your grant application is not failing because your research is weak. It is failing because no one gave you the fill-in templates, budget calculators, and reviewer score sheets you needed before you started writing.
56 fill-in templates. Paperback $26.99 on Amazon
See inside the workbookJust want the templates? The Grant Writing & Budget Planning Kit: every template as a fillable PDF, $19.