Budget Preparation
Guidance on Preparing the Budget for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows
The fellowship budget should be simple and straightforward. The 3-year grant includes no indirect costs. Relocation and travel reimbursements are administered by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) under separate funding. The main cost components for the budget are expected to be the fellow's salary and fringe benefits while in DC (the fellowship year along with any extensions beyond August) and costs of policy-related activities after the year of residency. Line items for any remaining fellowship funds after the residential stay might include travel to attend meetings or conferences to interact directly with policy-makers at the national or state level after the fellowship period; salary offsets to support the fellow's research or writing; a research assistant or support staff; or other costs directly attributable to health policy leadership development.
Sponsoring institutions may supplement funds in any category.
Travel and meeting expenses to attend the fellowship program’s annual meeting are budgeted for in a separate grant. You will not need to include this expense in your budget.
Total expenditures for all three years may not exceed $165,000.
Stipend for the Washington year
The largest single item in the proposal, and the only expense for most applicants in year one, will be up to $94,000 to cover the fellow's stipend for the year in Washington, DC. The cost of the fellow's current fringe benefits at the sponsoring institution should be included in the grant request on a pro-rated basis based on the portion of the fellow's salary covered by RWJF. For example, if your annual salary is $100,000 plus 23% for fringe, you will budget $94,000 plus $21,620 (totaling $115,620 of Foundation support for Budget Period One). $43,380 remains for the other budget periods. The amount in the personnel category for the first twelve months can be no higher than your current salary.
Work placement extensions
The salary line item for year one will include both the orientation period (September-December) and the work placement period (January-August). The stipend during the work placement period in Washington can be supplemented by the fellow's sponsoring institution.
Year two might include salary to extend the fellow's work placement period through the end of the legislative session (usually October or November) or through the end of the calendar year.
Other expenses appropriate for years 2 and 3
Years two and three budget items might include travel to interact with policy-makers, partial funding of the fellow's salary to support policy-related work, time for a research assistant, expenses of operating a website, empirical data-gathering on a policy-related topic, etc.
Examples of budgets and guidance on preparing a budget can be found below.
Budget Example for Track 1 Finalists
Budget Example for Track 2 Finalists
Instructions for Budget Preparation
For further guidance on preparing budgets for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, please look at the Foundation's Budget Preparation Guidelines (Word Document).
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