Office of Sponsored Programs Last updated 10/24/2018
Letters of Commitment, Collaboration, and Support
Overview. Many proposals require or allow letters from your institution, administrators, partners,
and collaborators. Some funding organization request letters of support or commitment and
others do not allow them. The Department of Education, for instance, rarely asks for letters,
and, if included, would count against the proposal page count. The National Science
Foundation, on the other hand, requires letters of collaboration, especially from the proposing
institution and project partners, but does not allow letters of support. Other funding agencies
leave the inclusion of letters to the proposer’s discretion. It is important that proposers
understand what is expected by the funder, the difference between the types of letters, and how
to strengthen this aspect of a proposal. The following descriptions explain the general
differences among these types of documents:
Letter of Commitment – indicates the signatory’s intent to commit resources to the
funded project as specified in the letter, should the proposal be funded. May also give
the partner’s rationale for supporting the project and point to strengths of the
organization that could be of value in implementing or sustaining the project.
Letter of Collaboration – indicates the signatory’s intent to collaborate and/or commit
resources as described in the proposal or the letter, should the proposal be funded.
Note that NSF now only allows letters of collaboration (unless otherwise requested) and
specifies how they should be written in its Proposals and Awards Procedures and
Policies Guide. OSP has a template for the NSF Letters of Collaboration on its website.
Letter of Support – expresses the organization’s knowledge and support of the project,
including why the project is important and how it relates to the organization’s mission or
expressed goals. May address the proposer’s qualifications or abilities to complete the
project. Such letters can add much additional information to strengthen the proposal.
Preparing the Letters. The PI should solicit letters well in advance
of the due date so there will
be time for signatures. Letters from partners should represent true, collaborative partnerships.
These partnerships work best when partners have been involved in the proposal planning and
preparation stages so that their concerns and ideas are addressed.
It is often useful if you, after conversations with the writer, draft the letter or give the writer a list
of talking points of things to include. This is especially important if resources are being
committed. Use the following guidelines in preparing letters:
• Keep letters short and to the point.
• Be specific about the nature of the collaboration or commitment.
• Usually indicate concrete actions the signer is committed to provide during the project.
• Do not commit to any dollar amount of funds or resources
unless you have permission
from OSP (the Program Director of Sponsored Research).
• Don’t use form letters; make each letter unique (except for NSF Letters of Collaboration).
You might even use different font types or margins.
Obtaining Signatures. Proposers requesting letters should provide the administrator with a
copy of the proposal Abstract and, for NSF proposals, the Facilities, Equipment, and Other
Resources section. Some deans required the full proposal to be submitted for their review at
least a week in advance as well. Please speak with an OSP Program Director if you have
questions about who should submit letters for your project.