Letter of support example
- Hours this one requirement costs you
- 3.666666666666667
- Letters you will write yourself
- 4
- Hours drafting
- 2.3333333333333335
- Hours chasing
- 1.3333333333333333
Where these sheets touch federal rules they cite the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR part 200 rather than paraphrasing it: 200.414 sets the de minimis indirect rate at up to 15% of modified total direct costs for a recipient with no negotiated rate, and 200.334 requires award records to be kept for three years from the date the final financial report is submitted. Every other number in the sheets is one you type in, because your partners, your sections and your hours are not ours to guess.
The figures above are one application worked as an example (3.666666666666667). Put your own partners, sections and hours in and the answer follows as you type.
Download the Letter of support example worked example (CSV)
A letter of support is the sentence a partner signs saying the work will actually happen: the school that will host the programme, the clinic that will refer to it, the city office that will let you use the hall. Funders read them as evidence that the plan is real. This sheet costs the requirement honestly, because the letters are almost never the hard part of the writing and almost always the reason an application goes in late: five partners, most of whom will ask you to draft it, each taking about ten days and two reminders.
Where the constants in this tool come from
What a grants manager asks before using the Letter of support example
Why does the sheet assume I write the letters?
Because you almost certainly will. Partners agree readily and then ask for a draft, which is reasonable: they know their organisation, not your programme. Budget for drafting most of them and you will be right more often than not.
How far ahead should I ask?
The sheet works it out: the partner's turnaround plus three days per chase round. On the default figures that is sixteen days before the deadline, which is why letters requested a week out arrive late or not at all.
Does a generic letter hurt the application?
Yes, and reviewers spot five identical letters immediately. Draft each one to say what that partner will specifically do, and the drafting time in this sheet is the price of it being believed.