Preproposals may also be referred to as Letters of Intent, or White/Concept papers. Some sponsors require PI’s to submit a smaller preliminary proposal to narrow down the number of full proposals received for particular deadlines.
When a sponsor asks for documents before the submission deadline, which include a budget, it should be routed in GMAS as a preproposal. Sponsors will frequently expect the budget to remain the same at the full proposal stage. Routing documents through the review process ensures the correct fringe and indirect cost rates are used, and the appropriate costs are built into the budget.