For Faculty and Staff

The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) works with administrators, faculty, and development staff across the University to build and sustain relationships with private foundations and corporations that support Boston University's teaching, research, and service mission. In particular, we cooperate closely with the Offices of the Provost, Sponsored Programs, Technology Development, and other departments of Development and Alumni Relations to make effective, coordinated, fully authorized approaches to institutional philanthropies and corporations on behalf of BU priorities.

Faculty and staff seeking funding

CFR should be the first point of contact for all faculty and staff seeking funding from corporate and foundation sources. Faculty and staff seeking funding are encouraged to contact the appropriate CFR staff person as early as possible in the search for support. In addition to coordinating and clearing approaches to corporate and foundation sponsors ("traffic control"), we can assist your approach in a number of ways. We can:

Identify and provide research on appropriate foundation and corporate funding sources
Brainstorm ways to turn a great idea into a fundable project
Draft, review, and edit letters of inquiry, concept papers, and proposals
Prepare project budgets (in cooperation with the Office of Sponsored Programs when appropriate)
Gather required supporting institutional documentation and draft and secure letters of support from institutional leadership
Coordinate proposal submission
Assist with timely reporting throughout the duration of a grant
Coordinate site visits for potential and current funders

CFR is committed to maximizing external support for the University. To this end, we focus on funding institutional priorities identified by the president, provost, and deans, but also seek to encourage and assist individual faculty members and departments in securing corporate and foundation support for their scholarly, academic, and outreach goals. Although service to the faculty is a critical part of our mission, the level of assistance we can provide is directly proportional to the priority of and institutional commitment to the proposed project.

CFR works exclusively with private organizations. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) on the Charles River Campus and the Office of Research Administration on the Medical Campus coordinate funding from public sources, such as the state and federal government; OSP maintains links to several searchable databases of both private and public funding opportunities and RFPs. The Office of Technology Development can assist in commercializing technologies arising from University faculty research.