A preliminary proposal (also known as a letter of inquiry) is a short, informal outline of how grant money would be used by the organization that receives it. The purpose of a preliminary proposal is to see if a foundation is interested in the full proposal and might want to award a grant. It’s like reading the back cover of a book to decide if you want to read the whole thing.
Archive for the ‘Level 2’ Category
A Preliminary Proposal is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009Food Insecurity is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009Food insecurity is when people are on the verge of going hungry or are not able to get nutritionally adequate food. People who aren’t sure how they are going to afford their next meal and are consistently struggling to get sufficient quantities of healthy food are considered food insecure.
A Public Support Test is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009A public support test is a tool used by the IRS to determine if a charitable organization is a public charity, i.e. a 501(c)(3). If the charity receives at least a third of its revenue from “the public,” it passes the public support test. The public here means regular people, the government, and foundations as opposed to a few powerful individuals or corporations.
Two and Twenty is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009Two and twenty is a typical fee structure of hedge funds, or other alternative investment vehicles, where the annual management fee is 2% of assets and there is also a performance fee of 20% of investment returns.
A Time Deposit is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009A time deposit is a type of savings account from which you cannot withdraw funds before a specified date or without giving written notice of your intention to take out money. To compensate for this drawback, time deposits usually offer high rates of interest and extremely low risk.
An Expense Ratio is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009An expense ratio, in the context of mutual fund investing, is a measure of how much it costs a financial institution to manage a mutual fund for every dollar it manages. If management of the fund costs $1 for every $100 managed, the expense ratio is 1%. This ratio is important to look at if you want to invest in a mutual fund, because higher expense ratios can eat into your returns. An expense ratio can also relate to the amount of money a company spends to produce $1 of revenue.
Pay-to-Play is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009Pay-t0-play is essentially the practice of exchanging money for access to or the privilege of participating in certain activities. Sometimes it is in reference to the actions of government officials or politicians to award benefits to a business or individual. For example, the owner of a road construction company might give a politician some money – maybe through campaign contributions or maybe just cash in a suitcase – to make sure his company gets a big government contract to build a new highway. There are all sorts of campaign finance and other laws to try and prevent this practice.
The PPI is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009The PPI (Producer Price Index) is a measurement of how expensive it is for businesses to operate. It measures the average price for a sample group of goods that businesses or producers need to make a product. A high PPI will mean high prices for you, the consumer, because it costs more for businesses to make whatever it is you’re buying.
A Money Market is…
Friday, August 21st, 2009A money market is a market for borrowing and lending money for three years or less. The securities in a money market can be U.S. government bonds, treasury bills and other short-term instruments.