For Grantseekers

The Teagle Foundation uses concept papers as the basis for inviting full planning or implementation proposals. Requests from both single institutions and multiple institutions partnering together will be considered. Interested institutions, organizations, or consortia may submit a 3-5 page concept paper that outlines the project goals and description, demonstrates alignment with our mission and your institutional priorities, and responds to the criteria laid out in the relevant ​request for proposals. The key questions to keep in mind while developing your concept paper (and if invited, your proposal) are:

• In what ways will your institution substantively differ or be strengthened as a result of a Teagle grant?

• How will those substantive changes be sustained beyond the life of a grant?

• How will the work reach a significant share of the undergraduate student body and strengthen students' learning?

The Teagle Foundation makes two types of grants: planning and implementation. Please indicate the grant type (planning or implementation) that you have in mind in for your concept paper.

Planning grants typically operate for six to 12 months and provide support for faculty to achieve the following: connect with field experts; lay the curricular groundwork for their proposed program; establish a clear strategy; ensure the proposed program meets the necessary approvals by the appropriate governance committees; engage campus leadership and faculty, where appropriate; and whenever possible, pilot the project.

Planning grants often serve as an effective way to help build momentum for change. One major deliverable expected from a planning grant is a clear and persuasive proposal for implementation funding from the Foundation. Please note, however, that planning grants do not guarantee implementation funding. Implementation grants typically run for up to 36 months, depending on the initiative. Implementation grants provide support for institutions/organizations to enact concrete plans for comprehensive and sustainable projects. Ranges for planning and implementation grant award amounts are specified in the relevant request for proposals.

While there is no need to include a budget at the concept paper stage, please let us know the grant award amount you have in mind and provide a sentence or two on how funds will be applied, taking care to ensure they follow our general budget guidelines provided below. 

Foundation staff cannot assist with concept paper development. Please email concept papers to proposals@teagle.org.

If invited, Teagle staff work with applicants to set a timetable for submission. Staff work collaboratively with invited applicants and review draft proposal narratives and budgets prior to formal submission. Once the narrative and budget of the proposal are finalized, instructions will be provided to upload the complete application and all supporting materials (e.g., letters of support, CVs of project leaders) to the Foundation’s grants portal.

Complete applications will include responses to a series of short questions in the online application system and the components listed below, to be uploaded as Word, Excel, or PDF attachments:

• A 5-10 page narrative that outlines the project as specifically as possible and includes the following: the project’s purpose and goals; background context and rationale for the project; its major components and activities; criteria (both short- and long-term) for judging the project's success as well as plans for assessment; how the work will be sustained or institutionalized in the post-grant period; a plan for dissemination to the higher education community; and a description of the leadership team for the grant. 

• 1-2 page work plan and timeline. Planning projects typically operate for six to 12 months and implementation projects typically run for up to 36 months, depending on the initiative. Please outline major activities related to your project and indicate who will be involved for various aspects of the work.

• 1-2 page budget, based on July 1-June 30 operating years, and an accompanying budget narrative. The budget must be provided in the following format, and should indicate proposed expenditures by campus partner (see example template).  Please show cost-sharing wherever possible. Cost-sharing should be for those direct costs borne by the institutions. The Foundation does not cover indirect or overhead costs. Please consult the general budget guidelines below for more information on eligible and ineligible budget items.

• The contact information and resume/abbreviated CV (four pages maximum) of the person(s) in charge of the project.

  • When multiple institutional partners are involved, please include contact information and the abbreviated CV (four pages maximum) for each campus lead.

• Letters of support from organizational leadership of institutions involved in the project (e.g. presidents, provosts, executive directors).

• A copy of your organization's IRS 501(c)(3) public charity determination letter.

The total grant award will depend on the number of institutions/organizations involved in the proposed project, the scope of work, and the duration of the project. Appropriate uses of Teagle funding include:

• stipends for project leader(s),

• stipends for faculty participants,

• reasonable honoraria or fees for visiting experts or consultants,

• U.S. domestic travel related to the project or for dissemination at conferences,

• meeting expenses and meals for working dinners or similar occasions,

• office and research materials and assistance,

• and the costs of support staff.

The Foundation does not permit indirect cost recovery or administrative overhead. Please show cost-sharing wherever possible. Cost-sharing should be for those direct costs borne by the institutions.

As general guidance for compensation to personnel through our grants, please note that we disallow course buy-outs for faculty participants other than the co-PIs; disallow hiring of adjunct instructors; and disallow fringe being charged to our grants. These policies are intended to ensure grantees develop budgets with an eye to longer-term sustainability of their funded projects so that teaching of grant-supported courses is absorbed into the regular teaching load. One-time stipends for teaching redesigned courses (with the expectation that instructors will commit to teaching grant-supported courses on a regular basis thereafter) and stipends for participation in faculty development activities is appropriate and encouraged.

Further, please note that the Foundation does not support activities that take place internationally (e.g., international travel).

Budget requests must be provided in the following format and should indicate proposed expenditures (see example template).  Our budget template is designed to be used at the proposal stage and subsequently updated as expenses are accrued and applied during the grant period and captured for each annual report submitted to the Foundation. For each year of the grant period, there are three columns: Teagle Request, Teagle Actual, Cost Share. The “Teagle Request” is the amount proposed for each budget line item (i.e., each row) to be covered by the grant. The “Teagle Actual” is the amount that is spent during that specific year of the grant period and should be left blank at the proposal stage. The “Cost Share” are the direct costs/expenses covered by the organization/institution. At the proposal stage, only the “Teagle Request” columns are required; however, we strongly encourage cost-sharing to be demonstrated. Once the grant is approved and in-progress, the “Teagle Actual” column will be filled in for each annual report based on the expenses incurred during that year of the grant.

When Foundation grants are awarded to multi-campus collaboratives, grant payments must be managed by a single fiscal agent on behalf of the collaborating partners.

Please consult the RFP for the specific initiative you are interested in for deadlines to submit concept papers. In general, we review concept papers submitted on December 1, March 1, and August 1. If a proposal is invited based on your concept paper, program staff will confer with you to determine the appropriate timeline for submitting the full proposal for review by the Teagle Foundation’s Board of Directors when it meets in November, February, or May. We ensure that the targeted board meeting aligns with invited grantees’ proposed plans. 

The Teagle Foundation awards grants only to tax-exempt 501(c)3 organizations that are based in the United States. Our grantees include residential liberal arts colleges, community colleges, comprehensive institutions, research universities, community-based organizations, non-profit organizations, higher education associations and consortia, and disciplinary associations. Institutions and organizations of particular interest to us are those that:

• explicitly put engaged student learning in the liberal arts at the center of their mission;

• allocate their resources to sustain this mission;

• have stable enrollments and finances;

• achieve good graduation rates, typically 65% or more after six years;

• systematically assess student progress;

• serve underrepresented populations and communities

Please note that given our modest resources and interest in extending our support as widely as possible, we generally refrain from providing more than one active grant to an institution at a time.   
 
The Foundation does not make grants to individuals.

Q1. Should I apply for a planning grant or an implementation grant?
 
There is no advantage or disadvantage in seeking a planning grant over an implementation grant and vice versa. The request should be based on the needs of your institution or consortia. Please note that a planning grant does not guarantee implementation funding.
 
Q2. What is the range for planning and implementation awards?

Planning grants are typically about $25,000 over six to 12 months. Planning grants can provide an opportunity to pilot a concept and use the implementation support for scale up. Planning grants do not guarantee implementation support.

The Foundation provides a wide range of possible funding – from $100,000 to $400,000 – in recognition of the unique circumstances for which an implementation request may be submitted. Single institution grants are usually in the range of $100,000-$250,000 over 24 to 36 months. The maximum amount is rarely awarded and most often reserved for projects that serve an exceptionally large number of students and faculty and often attempt to address system-level impact.
 
Q3. Can I submit more than one concept paper at a time?
 
An institution typically receives only one grant at a time. As such, we ask prospective applicants to put forward what they believe is the strongest concept paper under a single initiative that is most tightly aligned with their institutional priorities. Rather than have the Foundation determine fit, we look for our applicants to put forward the project for which their campus is best positioned to lead at the time of submission.
 
Q4. What is the anticipated number of planning and implementation awards that will be made by each initiative?
 
We do not have a fixed number of grants nor do we have a ceiling on the total amount to be awarded by initiative.
 
We understand that once a new funding initiative has been announced, there may be institutions immediately well-positioned to request funding while others require time to consider the possibilities for their campus community.  We are patient in our search for ambitious projects with appropriate fit with our RFP’s criteria.

Q5. How do you recommend proceeding for an institution with a graduation rate below 65%?

We pay attention to the profile of students served by our grantee institutions and have an interest in reaching students from low-income backgrounds as well as those who are underrepresented in terms of race and ethnicity. We also consider graduation rates in the context of the profile and needs of students served. We work with institutions with graduation rates below 65 percent that serve vulnerable students and have promising projects aligned with our initiatives that would help improve student success and completion. If your institution has a graduation rate below 65 percent, please be sure to describe how the project would strengthen student achievement in your concept paper.
 
Q6. What is the expectation for cost-sharing for projects?
 
Please show cost-sharing wherever possible. Cost-sharing should be for those direct costs borne by the institutions. The Foundation does not cover indirect or overhead costs. We do not have fixed matching dollar requirements, but we are interested in reasonable cost-sharing from prospective applicants, whether or not other funders are involved. In our experience, cost-sharing reflects the strength of commitment from the applicant(s) and provides a preliminary indication of sustainability.
 
Q7. What is the Teagle Foundation’s stance on co-funding?

The Teagle Foundation welcomes opportunities to collaborate with other funders. If a proposed co-funded project advances our mission and grantmaking priorities, we do our best to reduce the administrative burden of applying for and managing co-funded grants. For example, we use application and annual report templates that may be required by other funders (if they meet our general guidelines) and harmonize the grant reporting schedule across multiple funders.

Q8. Can Teagle share sample proposals?
 
Proposals are not ours to share as they are grantee work products and they contain sensitive budget info. If you would like to see a proposal, you would need to ask the grantee for it directly.