Cost Share/Matching Funds

Cost share, commonly refered to as matching funds, refers to the program or project costs that are not supported by the sponsor.  Cost share can include cash and in-kind when such contributions meet the established criteria in OMB Circular A-110. (This would include costs that are reported to the sponsor and those that are not reported but are tracked for internal purposes.)

a) Cash cost-share: Cash that is contributed specifically (excluding donations) to cover the actual costs of the sponsored project.

b) In-kind cost share: Contributions proposed by a third party (ies) in the form of effort or goods with a dollar amount specified. These amounts must be verifiable by the third party, are necessary for proper and efficient accomplishments of project or program objectives, are not reimbursed with federal or federal flow-through dollars or used as cost-share with other federal funds, and are allowable under the applicable cost principles.

As part of its commitment to research development at UND, the Division of Research frequently provides matching funds for proposals to external funding agencies.  In order to properly monitor the amounts and sources of matching funds provided for these proposals, principal investigators requesting matching funds must complete a “Division of Research Matching Funds Request Form".

VPR Matching Funds Request Form

Similar/Parallel Work

Similar and/or parallel work describes sponsored projects that have similar technical backgrounds, but each project is a stand-alone project (this is used when conveying expertise in an area) and should include only funded projects. This should be specifically identified as to not convey a cost-share requirement.  It cannot be stated that these projects will benefit the proposed project because that implies cost share.

• If presented on the budget page, it is preferable to use a horizontal dividing line to separate the project budget from the budgets of the similar/parallel projects.

• Similar/Parallel projects section should be labeled as Similar/Parallel Projects/Programs/Work as appropriate.

• Information may include (but not limited to):
  a) Project title
  b) Sponsor
  c) Period of Performance
  d) PI or Project Manager
  e) Funded Amounts and/or Awarded Amounts (identified appropriately)

• If dollar amounts are noted, they should be traceable to a specific UND fund number or documentation from a third party. If dollars amounts are applicable to a UND fund, the total expenses from that fund should be attributable to the similar/parallel project (not just a portion of the expenses from that fund).

• The Similar/Parallel projects section will not be totaled with the budget section, however, each section can have separate totals.

• The information in #2 can be included on a separate page(s)/section(s) if page(s)/section(s) are titled or referred to appropriately as Similar/Parallel Projects.

Third Party Participants

Third party participants are those parties that choose to lend their expertise, facilities, or personnel to a project but not be accountable for reporting the cost of that expertise, facilities, or personnel.

• An example would include a letter of technical support from the third party participant with no dollar amounts included and a statement indicating that this is not a commitment nor will they put a dollar amount on the proposed expertise, facilities, or personnel.

Note: Do not use the words “complimentary,” “collaborative,” “matching” or “related to” to indicate the non-cost sharing portion in a proposal.