If you are required to have partners in order to qualify for a grant program, then you must make sure that the partners are compensated for the services they provide under the project.

The federal Safe Schools–Healthy Students program grant, for instance, requires partnership among school districts, mental-health services, and police. It also requires the school district to be the primary applicant and fiduciary (the “accountant”) on the grant.

The successful school-district applicant, therefore, must purchase the services of police and mental-health organizations in order to fulfill the requirements of the funded program. And while you are writing the grant proposal, costs for these services must be determined and calculated as part of the budget.

Other purchased services, such as evaluation, are also calculated before you submit the proposal, so it's best to ask for estimates when you meet with all the project partners to design the program.