What Is Cost Sharing?

Not all costs are completely covered by all grants. Cost sharing occurs when a percentage of the amount spent on research is paid for by the organization conducting the research. There are three types of cost sharing: mandatory, committed, and uncommitted.

• Mandatory cost sharing specifies an organization’s contribution to a sponsored project that is required by the terms of the project. For example, the National Science Foundation requires a one percent cost share. This means the grant recipient is required to fund one percent of the project’s costs.

• Committed cost sharing occurs when the research organization commits to sharing a portion of the research costs within the grant proposal. For example, an organization may commit the effort of a researcher whose salary will not be charged against the award.

• Uncommitted cost sharing occurs when the research organization must pay for a portion of a project's cost. These are costs that are not covered by the grant and also were not specified as paid for by the research organization in the proposal. For example, if a researcher spends more time on the project than is committed or charged, or a salary cap is exceeded.

  For a cost sharing example, see What Factors Impact Project Accounting Structures for Grant Management?.