Transfer Grant Guidelines
What are Transfer Grants?
Transfer grants shift responsibility for conducting grant activities from one grantee organization to another. Such action can be taken only if there is justification for the transfer, if the present grant has a balance of $20,000 or more in uncommitted/unexpended funds, there is at least six months remaining of the grant term and if both organization involved agree to the transfer.
Some common reasons for transferring a grant are the principal investigator transfers to a new organization, the current organization can no longer provide support to the project, or the project itself becomes a separate organization and wishes to complete grant activities under its own name. All project work must stop once the original grant is closed; project work may resume once the new grant is active. The current grantee organization will return all uncommitted/unexpended funds to the Foundation. The Foundation will separately award a new grant to the new grantee organization. A transfer grant will be subject to the same application/budget review process as the original grant.
Transfer Grant Procedures
Request for Transfer Letter
The project director or an authorized official at the current grantee organization emails a written request for the transfer to the program pfficer, with a copy to the program financial analyst and authorized financial officer at the current grantee organization, at least nine weeks prior to the effective start date of the transfer. The email should state the requested new ending date of the current grant and the expected start date and end date of the transfer grant. This email also should identify the institution/organization to which the grant is being transferred as well as the dollar amount to be transferred. See Addendum #1 for a sample request for transfer email.
Relinquishment Letter
An authorized financial official at the current grantee organization must email a letter to the program financial analyst stating the current institution concurs with the transfer and relinquishes a specified amount of dollars to be transferred. The relinquishment letter will be used as the officially binding document to confirm the amount of funds available for the transfer. The relinquishment amount should include all unexpended funds and any expected refunds. Please note that the anticipated start date of the transfer grant will be contingent upon receipt of the relinquishment letter that is required both to relinquish the present grant and to establish the new transfer grant. Furthermore, RWJF must receive any applicable refund before the transfer grant process is able to start. Please note that there may be the need to pause the project and its activities while the current grantee organization is processing the refund. See Addendum #2 for a sample relinquishment letter. See Addendum #3 for a guide for calculating the relinquishment amount.
Final (or projected final) Expenditure Report
The final financial report (or projected final report) should be submitted to the Foundation along with the relinquishment letter or closely thereafter. Please be aware when submitting a projected final financial report, should final actual expenditures be greater than the projected amount, the resulting deficit may not be recouped and will have to be covered by other support. Once funds are transferred, they cannot be recovered. In addition, any refund due under the current grant should be submitted to the Foundation before the transfer grant is awarded. (Refer to Addendum #3.)
Final Narrative Report, Bibliography, and Products
The final narrative report describing accomplishments through the date of transfer, along with a bibliography and products as appropriate, must be provided within thirty days after the date of the transfer. Please refer to the narrative reporting guidelines for format and content.
Other Documentation from the New Institution
The grants management coordinator will email a new application invitation to the project director. When submitting the application, the project director should include a proposal, budget, and budget narrative detailing how the remaining funds will be utilized at the new organization.