The song lyrics say, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” So maybe it’s an appropriate time to talk about grant seekers that confuse Uncle Sam, the personification of the American government, with Santa Claus. He gives presents and fulfils requests for those who deserve them.
How many times have we heard someone say, “Oh don’t worry about how much it costs it’s a grant application.” Or, “ask for everything you can because it’s a grant.” We in the grant field like to refer to this practice as confusing Santa with Uncle Sam, and it could doom your application. This philosophy holds true for both federal grant applications as well as private foundation requests.
One particular area they focus on is the budget for the proposed project and the cost/benefit of the request.
Applying for items and inflating their cost (or not doing market research) will set up a red flag with reviewers.
If your application lacks solid cost estimates, you could also get caught in a situation where you are awarded funding but it isn’t sufficient to complete your project.