Reviewers and commenters: The 'edit' mode is disabled for this page. Please use the comment feature to leave feedback/suggestions/etc., so that the Training Branch has a record of this review period. To comment, simply highlight the text you wish to comment on and hover your mouse over the highlighted text until a comment box pops up. Click the comment box to insert comments. |
Voluntary committed cost share is a type of cost share provided by the non-Federal entity on a Federal grant or cooperative agreement.
All grants and cooperative agreements |
| Contents |
|---|
Voluntary committed cost share is pledged by an applicant in anticipation of a Federal financial assistance award that, if approved, becomes a part of the total project cost of the award (see §200.83 Project cost). Voluntary committed cost share must be included in the proposed budget and adhere to allowable cost principles, and if approved by the granting Federal agency must be reported on required financial reports and is subject to reviews and/or audits. For
| Note: Discretionary, or competitive, programs are Federal financial assistance programs that use a competitive process in selection of applications for grants or cooperative agreements. |
, the Federal awarding agency must explicitly announce in the notice of funding opportunity if voluntary committed cost share is included in the merit review process as a favorable criterion. Voluntary committed cost share is not expected on Federal research proposals and is not to be used as a factor during application review.
Project cost means total allowable costs incurred under a Federal award and all required cost sharing and voluntary committed cost sharing, including third-party contributions.
[78 FR 78608, Dec. 26, 2013]
Voluntary committed cost sharing means cost sharing specifically pledged on a voluntary basis in the proposal's budget or the Federal award on the part of the non-Federal entity and that becomes a binding requirement of Federal award.
[78 FR 78608, Dec. 26, 2013]
(a) Under Federal research proposals, voluntary committed cost sharing is not expected. It cannot be used as a factor during the merit review of applications or proposals, but may be considered if it is both in accordance with Federal awarding agency regulations and specified in a notice of funding opportunity. Criteria for considering voluntary committed cost sharing and any other program policy factors that may be used to determine who may receive a Federal award must be explicitly described in the notice of funding opportunity. See also §§200.414 Indirect (F&A) costs, 200.203 Notices of funding opportunities, and Appendix I to Part 200—Full Text of Notice of Funding Opportunity.
[78 FR 78608, Dec. 26, 2013, as amended at 79 FR 75883, Dec. 19, 2014]
Yes. The FWS permits recipients to use allowable indirect costs as cost share on Federal awards. In order to do this, recipients must
have an FWS-approved budget (as part of the approved application) that reflects the voluntarily waived indirect costs as cost share; and,
Yes, if the Federal program providing the funding has statutory language allowing the use of those funds as cost share for other Federal financial assistance awards (§200.306(b)(5)).
Yes. While some FA programs in FWS have mandatory cost share requirements established by Federal statute, non-Federal entities can elect to voluntarily contribute cost share above the required cost share under the Federal program. If a non-Federal entity pledges voluntary committed cost share above what is legislatively required, they must submit it as part of the application package. If approved, it becomes a part of the total project cost and is subject to Federal cost principles, reporting requirements, and reviews/audits.