Match Guidelines

You are required to provide a 1:1 match for the federal grant dollars you request.  You are also required to track and report the match dollars throughout the course of your grant. Rules, recommendations, and specifics on providing and reporting match dollars are outlined below.  

Match will consist of the following: 

1. Indirect costs and waived IDCs on federal grant dollars: Indirect costs are calculated on federal grant dollars requested but are excluded from federal funds used for tuition and equipment.  The University of Montana Western’s federal IDC rate (31.1%) is used to calculated the IDC rate.
   1. Example: A PI at UMW requests $15,594.35. She will use $4,457.40 for a student’s tuition, so the IDCs are calculated on the remaining $11,136.95.

2. Cost Match: Cost match is provided by the PI and can include salary, wages, tuition, supplies, services, travel or other grant project expenses provided by the PI or project partners.
   1. Example: A PI at UMW provides match through (a) $5,000 in PI Salary (cell D5), (b) $1445 in PI Fringe (cell D10), and (c) $2050.00 for Services and Consultants (cell D31). In this case, the total direct match (Non-Federal Direct Costs) = $8495.00 (cell D35).

3. Indirect Costs for Non-federal Match and waived IDCs on match dollars: Indirect costs are calculated on the match dollars provided by the PI, excluding tuition and equipment, and are calculated using UMW’s federal IDC rate (31.1%).
   1. Example: Match provided is $8495 x 0.311 = $2,641.95 (cell D37). 

4. Total match dollars: The total cost match amount will be the sum of 1-3 above (cell D35) and should be equal to the amount of the total federal dollars (cell C45).
   1. Example: $6445 + $2050 + $2641.95 + 4457.40 = $15,594.35 (cell D45).

Match Recommendations, Rules and Reporting: 

1. Foregone IDCs on your federal costs plus IDCs calculated on cost match provided should be the first sources considered as you build your 1:1 match.  
2. Cost match provided from salaries, wages, and fringe is the easiest for the PI and UMW to track and report.  For this reason, we recommend providing as much match through these means as possible.  If match is provided through salary and wages, fringe match must also be calculated.
3. As mentioned above, Indirect Costs from non-federal funding may not be calculated on match provided for tuition and equipment.
4. Cost match may not come from other federal grants.  Match may come from non-federal grants, if explicit permission is given from the non-federal funding source to provide that match. S tart-up funds for faculty are acceptable sources of match.
5. Cost match expenditures must take place during the period of the grant.
6. All cost match provided outside of salaries, wages, and fringe must be tracked within the PI’s department and must be reported through UMW’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Grants Team for each expenditure.