MICA's Fundraising Policy

If a group of MICA students is interested in fundraising for a program or project that benefits the College, they must work under the supervision of a faculty or staff member. Students are welcome to be the primary proposal authors, but the faculty/staff person must provide oversight and review and approve all written materials before they are shared with the Office of Research/Development. The faculty/staff person will be the Office of Research/Development's contact person for the project, and will serve as the official applicant on all External Fundraising (EFG) forms. All faculty/staff EFG policies apply in the same way.

1. Developing Your Idea

If you have an idea for a project that you believe presents an opportunity for external funding, contact the Office of Research. The office will assess the fundability of your project, and assist you in thinking through internal approvals and in accessing tools to conduct prospect research. Please refer to the appropriate Proposal Development Step-by-Step Guide for a one-page summary of the process, available here.

Faculty Contact:
Bob Merrill, Interim Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, rmerrill@mica.edu, 410.225.5242 

Nancy Daly, Program Coordinator for Graduate Studies and Research, ndaly@mica.edu, 410.225.5241

2. Internal Approval

Begin developing the one- to two-page narrative project description and budget that will need to accompany the Project Approval Form, available here. Members of the Office of Research are available to meet with you as needed. After you complete the Project Approval Form electronically, print it, attach the narrative project description and budget, and circulate these materials to obtain the required signatures that allow you to continue seeking external funding for your project. Once the Project Approval Form has been fully signed, submit to the Office of Research.

• If submitting a request for support that has staffing implications (e.g. a new hire), you will need to work directly with Human Resources to develop a detailed job description, establish a salary level, and calculate benefits. Human Resources will review personnel information in the completed proposal before submission.

• The consent of the president must be received before any department or program in the College may enter into a Memorandum of Agreement, contract, etc. with another institution for grant purposes on behalf of the College as a whole.

3. Vetting Your Funding Sources

After you have received internal approval of your project and identified possible sources of support, complete the Funding Source Approval Form, available here, and return via email to the Office of Research.

The Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office is responsible for vetting the identified source(s) and will respond to you via email within a week of receiving the form to let you know whether or not you may proceed and apply for support.

4. Writing Your Proposal

Before you begin writing the full proposal, budget and cover letter, arrange a meeting with the Office of Research to jointly review each approved funder's guidelines and your proposed content. At this time, the designated office will familiarize you with the Proposal Submission Form, available here.

Write your full proposal, budget and cover letter and share final drafts of all documents with the Office of Research and your immediate supervisor. In order to ensure that you have enough time to incorporate any suggested revisions, please submit your final draft to the Office of Research four weeks (20 business days) before the proposal deadline.

5. Submitting Your Proposal

The Office of Research will review your final proposal package and either approve for submittal or suggest changes. Once you have incorporated any final edits, return all proposal documents and completed Proposal Submission Form via email to the Office of Research no later than two weeks (10 business days) prior to the funder's deadline. A representative will complete the bottom of the submission form and forward it and all proposal documents to the Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office for submittal.

The Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office will obtain all required signatures, produce the requested number of copies for your proposal package, and submit it to the funder. Once your proposal has been successfully submitted, you will receive an email with a PDF of the full proposal package for your records. A follow-up email will be sent to you as soon as MICA receives communication from the funder regarding the status of your proposal.

6. Managing Your Grant

If you receive any grant-related documents (including award and declination letters), please forward them to the Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office. Additionally, this office will obtain all required signatures on any grant agreements or contracts and return them to the funder.

When funds are awarded, you will receive an email explaining the terms, conditions and amount of your grant, interim/final reporting requirements and deadlines, and any other stipulations of the grant or contract. At this time, you should schedule a meeting with the Office of Research to review next steps. Please use the Post-Grant Award Step-by-Step Guide, available here, to guide you through the reporting process.

For reports (quarterly, interim and final) please submit final draft of all documents (cover letter, report, and budget) with completed Report Submission Form, available here, via email to Office of Research (for faculty) or the Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office (for staff) four weeks (20 business days) before the report deadline to ensure that there is ample time for revisions. The designated Office will review your report package and either approve for submittal or suggest changes.

Once you have incorporated any final edits, return all documents and completed Report Submission Form via email to the designated Office no later than two weeks (10 business days) prior to the deadline. A representative will complete the bottom of the submission form and forward it and all documents to the Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations Office for submittal. Once submitted, you will receive an email with a PDF of the full report package for your records.