Post-Award Policies

Recipients may transfer their grant from one institution to another, if the new institution meets the criteria required of the award (e.g., for RFAs and CDAs, institutions must be in the United States). Projects that have been funded for six months or longer will be administratively reviewed after full details of the new environment and budget have been provided.

The award transfer / change of institution request form and instructions are available here. Contact [email protected] for questions or more information.

Carryforward into the next budget year is allowed up to 30% of the annual budget.

Carryforward requests for amounts above this threshold will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must be requested in writing to the Foundation staff no later than 60 days before the end of the budget period. This request must be made on institutional letterhead and signed by both the PI and the Institutional Official and submitted via e-mail to [email protected]. Formal requests for carryover (greater than 30%) should include the reason why the budget period was not fully spent down and how carrying the funds, into the next budget period, will be expended in regard to the funded specific aims.

The carryforward instructions are available here. 

All certifications and assurances should be on institutional letterhead and signed by the PI and countersigned by an authorized institutional signing official.  It should be submitted and should include the application number, name of the Principal Investigator and title of the proposal. The awarding institution is responsible for insuring that the appropriate approvals are in place.

Human Subjects

If any Human Subjects are used: The awarding institution is responsible to provide the assurance type and number (if changed from the initial submission) and the Certification date of IRB Review and Approval. Pending or out of date approvals are not acceptable.  Certifications of IRB approvals need to be updated annually.  If IRB approvals are pending, or there are lapses between approvals, human subject research should be restricted until an active approval is in place.

Human Subjects Education: For grants involving Human Subjects, certification is required for each person identified under Key Personnel involved in human subject research. It needs to be confirmed that each person has completed an educational program in the protection of human subjects. If there are Key Personnel changes, the Foundation will need their certifications forwarded.

Vertebrate Animals

If any Vertebrate Animals are used: The awarding institution is responsible to provide the assurance number (if changed from the initial submission), verification of IACUC approval with date, and any IACUC imposed changes. Pending or out of date approvals are not acceptable. Certifications of IACUC approvals need to be updated annually. If IACUC approvals are pending, or there are lapses between approvals, animal subject research should be restricted until an active approval is in place.  

Applicants are responsible for notifying the Foundation in writing of any changes of address, email or phone number, following the submission of an application.

If an awardee needs to change mentors because of an institutional transfer, retirement or other circumstances, the Foundation would require a formal letter of request signed by the PI/Mentee, current mentor, new mentor and an Authorized Signing Official. The letter should include the new mentor’s biosketch (NIH format, preferred) and a mentorship plan. This scenario would apply to our Career Development, Research Fellowship and Student Research Fellowship Awards.

Annual financial reports

Annual financial reports for multi-year awards will be due three months (90 days) after the end of each project year. For example, annual finance reports for awards beginning on January 1 will be due on April 1. Annual financial reports for awards beginning on July 1, will be due on October 1. Annual reports should contain all expenditures from the previous year. Please use template provided via proposalCENTRAL.

Final financial report

The final financial report will be due (90 days after final budget period end date) and will include all expenditures for the entire length of the project. Please use template provided via proposalCENTRAL.

Signatures of the Principal Investigator and the institution’s financial officer are required on these reports. Any unexpended funds must be returned to the Foundation upon termination of the project. Final payment will be held until receipt and approval of final reports.

In the event the research spending is delayed, an extension is required and a no-cost extension request form and documentation must be e-mailed to [email protected] no later than 60 days before the end of the project period. This request must be made on institutional letterhead and signed by both the PI and the Institutional Official.

Multiple no-cost extensions may be considered based on the research involved.

Please ensure that annual progress and financial reports have been uploaded in proposalCENTRAL before submitting a no-cost extension request, as requests will not be considered for awards with outstanding required reports. Request for leave will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The no-cost extension request form and instructions are available here. 

It is understood that submission of a proposal for funding consideration indicates that both PI and Institution are informed of and agree with the Foundation’s Patent and Intellectual Property Policy, available for download on the Foundation’s website. Awards are made with the understanding that the Foundation will receive written notification of the filing of any letters of patent for any discovery made based on work funded by the Foundation. 

Payments will commence after agreement execution. For multi-year awards, the first payment of the year one budget (50% of the budget period award) will be released once the award is activated. The second payment (the remaining 50%) will be made six (6) months later. Year-two payments will follow the same payment schedule after the receipt and approval of the annual progress report. For all awards, final-year payments will follow upon satisfactory approval of the annual progress report and will begin with 50% of the award paid initially, 30% of the budget period released after six (6) months and the final 20% will be released upon approval of the final progress report. Budget changes recommended by the review committee, if any, are included within the award letter.

Payments may be made via electronic transfer. Acknowledgement of payment by the grantee institution is not required. We require a banking letter from the awarded institution at time of award acceptance.

Personnel compensated in whole or part with funds from the Foundation are not considered employees of the Foundation. Institutions are responsible for issuing the appropriate IRS tax filings for all individuals receiving compensation from the Foundation and are responsible for withholding and paying all required federal, state, and local taxes with regards to such compensation. Thus, these and any other tax consequences are the responsibility of the individual recipient and grantee institution.

Institutions must maintain separate accounts for each grant, with substantiating invoices available for audit by representatives of the Foundation. The Foundation is not responsible for expenditures made prior to the start date of the grant, or if the complete budget is expended prior to quarterly payments or any expenditures that exceed the total amount of the award. The Foundation will follow the payment schedule outlined in the award letter. Please refrain from sending invoices to the Foundation from the institution as these will not trigger a payment; payments are predetermined based on the schedule outlined previously.

The Foundation research grants are not designed to cover the total cost of the research proposed nor the investigator’s entire compensation. The grantee’s institution is expected to provide the required physical facilities and administrative services normally available in an institution.

Publications resulting from research activities supported by the Foundation should contain the following acknowledgement: Supported by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, award number xxxxxx, project title xxxxx.

The Foundation’s support should also be acknowledged by the awardee and by the awardee institution in all public communication of work resulting from this grant, including scientific abstracts (where permitted), posters and oral presentations at scientific meetings, press releases and/or other media communications, and Internet-based communications.

The Foundation shall receive timely and prior notice of any publications based upon the funded research and a copy of the publication should be uploaded onto the award record in proposalCENTRAL.

All grantees funded by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation are required to provide an annual update on their research outcomes and impact from their Foundation-funded grant in Researchfish®. Grant holders are required to report during each year of active funding and for a minimum of 7 years after the award has finished for a total of 10 years. The annual reporting period is six weeks between October and November each year.

The Foundation uses Researchfish® to collect both quantitative and qualitative information about research progress and outcomes. It allows us to capture the broader impact of your work, from publications to patents, influence on policy, and more to demonstrate the impact of our funding portfolio on IBD research. This is critical to the Foundation as we communicate with donors to help them recognize the value of our funding and ask them to give more generously. Our Researchfish guidance briefly outlines what we want to know in each section of Researchfish. You will receive an email from the Foundation’s Research Impact team prior to the annual reporting period with instructions.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Should a PI receive another award with overlapping aims to the Foundation-funded project (see example for Career Development Awardees - NIH funding), the PI should notify the Foundation immediately. Foundation policy strictly forbids scientific or budgetary overlap and therefore reserves the right to review the extent of its support and terminate the grant if funding is secured from another source for the same project.

Unspent balances at the end of the project of up to $100 (one hundred dollars) can remain at the awardee institution and be allocated to support the PI’s research efforts.

Unspent balances at the end of the project of more than $100 (one hundred dollars) must be returned in full to the Foundation.

Instructions on how to return funds will be provided by the Foundation upon request.

Recipients of awards are required to submit scientific reports, outlining their accomplishments on the research project. The report must address milestones agreed upon in the funding letter for the award.   For multi-year awards, continuation funding is based upon a satisfactory progress report that will undergo peer review by the review committee.

Progress Reports – for Multi-year Awards

An awardee is required to submit one progress report per project year and one final scientific report summarizing the progress made toward achieving the proposed goals and outcomes.

Second and third year funding is contingent upon the favorable evaluation of the first and second years’ progress reports. The final scientific report is due 90 days after the end of the project. Payments will not be processed while progress reports are delinquent.

Progress reports are due 10 months after the start date of the current year of the award. Reports should follow the template provided in proposalCENTRAL and available for download on the Foundation’s website. If the report lists any publications, please include an electronic copy at the end of the report. If an electronic copy is not available, please briefly explain why.

The annual progress report is available for download on the Foundation’s website and on proposalCENTRAL.

Final Scientific Reports

The final Scientific Report, a brief summary of progress toward the achievement of originally stated aims, is due 90 days after the end of the project.

Final payment will be held until receipt and approval of final reports.

Applicants are asked to notify the Foundation in writing should they decide to withdraw their applications for any reason.