Grant Writing Professional Ethics and Standards 3

Question 1

A grant writer is asked to sign a letter of intent on behalf of an organization claiming that a community partner has already agreed to collaborate. The partner has only had a preliminary conversation. This is:

Accepted Answer

Unethical because it misrepresents the status of the partnership

Answer

Claiming confirmed partnerships that do not yet exist misrepresents organizational capacity and violates the ethical standard of truthfulness in all grant materials.

Question 2

Under the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), what is an unallowable cost that grant writers must help organizations avoid?

Accepted Answer

Lobbying activities conducted with federal grant funds

Answer

Federal regulations prohibit using federal grant funds for lobbying activities, and grant writers must ensure proposed budgets exclude such unallowable costs.

Question 3

When two former colleagues ask a grant writer to review each other's competing proposals for the same grant, the most ethical response is to:

Accepted Answer

Decline to review either proposal to avoid any conflict of interest

Answer

Reviewing competing proposals simultaneously creates an unavoidable conflict of interest and the ethical action is to decline involvement with both.

Question 4

What is the primary ethical concern with 'proposal mills' that sell pre-written generic grant applications?

Accepted Answer

They present another organization's work and misrepresent organizational capacity

Answer

Generic pre-written proposals misrepresent the applying organization's actual programs and capacity, and submitting them as original work is a form of deception toward funders.

Question 5

A grant writer learns that their client submitted a final report with fabricated outcome data to a major foundation. The grant writer's ethical obligation includes:

Accepted Answer

Advising the client to self-disclose the error to the funder and correct it

Answer

When aware of fraud or significant misrepresentation, grant professionals should advise the client to self-disclose and may need to withdraw from the engagement if the client refuses.

Grant Writing Practice Test

Grant Writing Practice Test

Grant Writing Professional Ethics and Standards 3