Carry Forward

A carry forward provision allows unspent grant funding to roll over into the next funding year. An activity structure that allows carry forward will be different than an activity structure without carry forward.

Example: Carry Forward

A research organization receives a grant (#142234) from the National Institutes of Health for two years with total funding of two million dollars, which will be distributed in one million dollar increments at the start of each year of the award.

If the research organization only spends $700,000 of the allotted one million dollars in the first award year, then the unspent $300,000 is added to the one million dollars of funding for the second year.

Example: No Carry Forward

A research organization receives a grant (#142234) from the National Institutes of Health for two years with total funding of two million dollars, which will be distributed in one million dollar increments at the start of each year of the award.

The grant does not allow any unspent funds at the end of the first year to be carried forward or added to the second year. So if the research organization only spends $700,000 of the allotted one million dollars in the first award year, then the unspent $300,000 is lost and not added to the one million dollars of funding for the second year.