Cost-sharing occurs when a portion of project costs are not paid for by a sponsor but are paid using CSU resources or by an entity outside of CSU (aka third-party cost-sharing).

Cost-sharing may be a condition of the award (i.e., mandatory) or may be voluntarily contributed to a sponsored project. Voluntary contributions may or may not have to be documented and reported to the sponsor.

Mandatory Cost-share

Mandatory cost-share is when cost-sharing is required by a sponsor in order for a proposal to receive consideration and review. If awarded, the cost-share committed in the proposal becomes a condition of the award and the Principal Investigator (PI) is under an obligation to meet the cost-share commitment.

At the proposal stage, promises of cost-share contributions can be documented using the Institutional Commitment form or the Cost-Share Account (CSA) Request form. Both forms are found on the OSP ‘Forms’ webpage.

Awards that contain committed cost-share obligations must have a separate cost-share account established in order to track the cost-share. Use the Cost-Share Account (CSA) Request form to request that a cost-share account be set up. If a unit submitted a CSA Request form at the proposal stage, no additional form is needed at the award stage unless there is a significant deviation between the amount of cost share that was proposed and the amount awarded, or if the source account changed*.

Voluntary Cost-share

Cost-share is considered voluntary when it is not required by the sponsor, yet it is provided by the Institution or by a third party. Voluntary cost-share may be committed or uncommitted.

Voluntary, Committed Cost-share

Voluntary, committed cost share occurs when cost-share is not required by the sponsor but is proposed and accepted as a condition of the award. When this occurs, CSU must treat the voluntary cost-share as if it were mandatory, meaning we must set-up an account to track and meet the cost-share obligation. Use the CSA Request form to request an account to track voluntary, committed cost-share.

Voluntary, Uncommitted Cost-share

Voluntary, uncommitted cost-share occurs when effort or resources are contributed to the project beyond any commitments in a sponsored agreement. For example, when a PI expends more effort than the amount agreed to as part of the award. Typically, voluntary uncommitted cost-share does not have to be reported to the sponsor.

Voluntary, Uncommitted Cost Share – 1% Minimum Effort Cost Share

Normally, voluntary cost-share is discouraged by CSU policy as it strains CSU resources and places additional administrative burden on the award management process. However, there is one time when voluntary, uncommitted cost-share is required – 1% minimum effort cost-share.

If no effort for the PI, Co-PI, or key personnel is charged to a sponsor or used to meet a mandatory cost-share commitment, 1% voluntary effort must be captured in Kuali Research and in the ecrt effort reporting system. At CSU, we track the 1% effort committed on a project internally as non-reportable, voluntary committed cost share.

At the proposal stage:

• A separate budget version should be created for reference when key person effort is not charged to sponsor or used as cost-share.
• Do not include F&A on this internal budget (change in budget settings).
• Name this budget version something like, ‘1% minimum effort’
• Do not mark the 1% minimum effort version ‘for submission,’ because the ‘include for submission’ version is supposed to be what is submitted to sponsor.

At the award stage, use the 1% Minimum Effort Cost Share Account Request form on the OSP ‘Forms’ webpage to request that a cost-share account be established.

*Modifications to Cost-share

If an award document cites a cost-share commitment that is greater than the amount proposed or if a modification to an award increases the institution’s cost-share commitment, OSP must obtain confirmation from the department that they understand and agree to the increased cost-share commitment.

• If a new cost-share account is necessary, another CSA request form should be provided.
• If the account information does not change, the updated cost-share information (amount, allocation by category, etc.) can be provided in email, using a unique descriptive subject line.

Online Course on Cost-sharing at CSU

For more on CSU cost-share policies and procedures, take the online course, “Cost-sharing 101” in My Learning. “Cost-sharing 101” introduces foundational concepts and practices for providing cost-share on sponsored projects. The course covers types of cost-share, considerations when proposing cost-share, and CSU processes for meeting and reporting cost-share obligations.