DIG Strategic Project Fund

Proposal Submission

The application process for the strategic project fund is designed to be straightforward and efficient. (Please note some process changes have been adjusted since the initial 2025 launch of the DIG Strategic Project Fund CFP).

Methods Training Proposal Submissions

Proposals will be submitted through a single-stage, comprehensive application process*, due no later than 14 September 2026. Each submission should include:

• Contacts: Lead DIGs group members and names/affiliations of collaborators.
• Summary: A description of the project idea, its innovative potential and the project goals.
• Target audience: Discipline/subject matter, intended career stage (graduate and doctoral student as primary focus), and geographic regions (if applicable).
• Originality: The project must be original or a substantial extension/enhancement of an existing initiative.
• DIG Sponsorship: A brief statement by a DIG Executive Committee Member (or members if more than one DIG is involved) confirming that the DIG is a formal sponsor of the proposal.
• Governance and implementation plan: Clear roles and responsibilities for developing, implementing, and disseminating the project.
• Deliverables and dissemination: Description of expected outputs and how they will be shared with the broader AOM community.
• Timeline and success metrics: Key milestones and criteria for evaluating project success.
• Budget: Estimated funding request and justification, consistent with Strategic Project Fund guidelines.

Principles for Projects and Project Teams

The creativity and passion found in Strategic Project Fund proposals reflect a shared interest in building an Academy that provides ever-better member services—all year long and beyond our current offerings.

Consistent with the member-service ideal, Project Teams are guided by the following principles in the execution of funded projects:

• Projects are for the benefit of the Academy’s membership, or service to the broader field, as approved. Funding supports costs for strategic projects undertaken by volunteers on behalf of the Academy of Management.
• Project work products generated through funded initiatives are considered AOM assets. Proposals should clearly outline plans for dissemination, reuse, and long-term accessibility of materials for the broader AOM community.
• Project teams are accountable to the Methods and Teaching Committees of the Board and to the membership, on whose behalf they are working.
• Project Teams incorporate the feedback of the Board Committee reviewers, if any, into their activities.
• Project Teams, operating under the purview of the Academy and with Academy funding, promote high quality scholarship and standards in all activities.
• Transparency and fairness are paramount in all activities where members stand to gain from, or where they may be excluded from opportunities to participate.
• Project Champion/Teams help the Academy and future members to learn from experience, by documenting the procedures for activities and reporting to Board Committees on progress and against metrics for success, if requested.

Resource Principles (Financial, Human, Technical)

The Academy responsibly manages its assets (human, technical and financial). As such, the following principles apply to the support of funded projects:

• Once the project is approved, funding will be immediately available for use.
• Submission of the third-party expenses (vendors) should follow established AOM invoicing/expense reimbursement procedures.
• Upon successful project completion, unused funds, if any, will remain available for DIG’s operational use. AOM’s financial policies apply in cases where the award includes additional funds designated for capacity building or other approved activity.
• All project budget funds are approved on a “not to exceed” basis. Project teams may not re-engage the process to request additional funds in the same funding year. Overdrawing the project budget is not allowed.
• Approved project budget funds not expended in the timeframe to which they were approved do not carry over automatically beyond that time period (future fiscal years).

Funding Preclusions

The following activities are precluded from funding:

• Payments to members for service.
• Contributions to, or sponsorships of other organizations.
• Activities that can/should be carried out as regular business of the DIGS (events and activities at the annual meeting, awards, catering, regular travel, program time).
• AOM membership or registration fees for current or former AOM members.
• Membership and registration fees paid to other organizations.

Financial Procedures

Specific financial procedures will accompany the notification of funded projects.