Welcome back to MicroLearning Mondays, our biweekly series of bite-sized research administration trainings brought to you by the Department of Contracts and Grants.
This week’s topic: Gifts vs. Grants: Understanding the Difference
Why It Matters: Correctly identifying whether funding is a gift or a grant helps ensure your department routes requests to the right office, applies the right requirements, and avoids delays. Gifts are typically non-competitive and do not include sponsor-imposed terms like required reporting, deliverables, or a defined scope of work. Grants, on the other hand, generally require a proposal and support a clear USC scope of work under sponsor terms that often include a period of performance, financial requirements, and required reporting and deliverables. Getting this distinction right upfront protects compliance, speeds up processing, and supports a smoother experience for PIs and units.
In This Video, You’ll Learn:
The defining characteristics of a gift versus a grant (and why the distinction matters).
Common “strings attached” that indicate funding is a grant.
How proposal requirements and sponsor terms typically differ between gifts and grants.
Practical cues to help you route funding correctly and avoid processing delays.
👉 Watch Gifts vs. Grants: Understanding the Difference
Questions or Feedback?
We’re here to help! For anything related to MicroLearning Mondays, please reach out to Noah Congelliere in the Department of Contracts and Grants.