FAQ
Grant Guidelines
Lilly provides funding to organizations to support projects that enable the advancement of patient care. The LGO will accept the following grant requests:
- Medical education grants (priority will be given to accredited programs) that support the lifelong learning and continuing professional development of healthcare professionals (HCPs), with the goal of improved health outcomes for patients
- Patient advocacy and consumer education programs (e.g., disease-state education and awareness)
- Programs focused on education related to basic or preclinical science
- Healthcare Improvement (HCI) initiatives that foster the translation of scientific evidence into routine clinical practice using improvement and implementation science methodologies that lead to measurable improvements in healthcare processes and patient outcomes. HCI is an umbrella term used by Lilly to include Quality Improvement (QI), Improvement/Implementation Science, and applicable Health Services Research
- On a limited basis, scientific fellowships or charitable contributions
A grant Lilly funds to support independent initiatives that utilize proven methodologies (e.g. improvement/implementation science) to address barriers at the system level that prevent, or have the potential to prevent, patients receiving the latest evidence-based care. HCI is an umbrella term used by Lilly to include initiatives such as Quality Improvement (QI), Improvement/Implementation Science, and applicable Health Services Research with aims aligned to those outlined above.
Lilly seeks to support initiatives that demonstrate sustainability and scalability with the potential for widespread transferability and dissemination to other healthcare organizations.
Lilly supports Healthcare Improvement (HCI) because of the well documented time lag for evidence to reach routine use in clinical practice. A concerted effort is required to bridge this translational gap and improve implementation into practice to ensure patients receive the latest evidence-based care. HCI initiatives help to bridge this gap by identifying system-level barriers and enablers to the translation of what is known into what is done in routine practice. By designing, testing, and measuring strategies/interventions to address these barriers, robust HCI initiatives can generate sustainable, scalable changes in the system to improve healthcare processes and the quality of patient care.
In line with the independence of our grant approach, Lilly shall not be involved in any aspects of project development nor the conduct or execution of the initiative. Lilly does not support initiatives or medical activities for the purpose of encouraging off-label use of Lilly products.
The portal is only for HCI initiatives in the USA or spanning multiple countries. For single country HCI initiatives outside the USA, please reach out to the local Lilly affiliate.
We recognize HCPs value and seek independent fair-balanced education that does not insert commercial bias. We believe education is a source to accelerating personalized evidence into practice for the best interest of HCPs and patients. Therefore, Lilly is committed to supporting high-quality, high-impact education that provides HCPs with evidence-based, clinically relevant content that advances learners’ knowledge, competence, and performance to ultimately benefit patients.
Lilly adheres to the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education established by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) and expects all grantors of CME to adhere to these precisely. We also comply with the principles established by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Compliance Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Medical Professionals, and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Code of Practice.
The LGO will consider proposals for all medical educational activities for HCPs; however, accredited programs for HCPs will receive the highest priority. The LGO applies the same standards of independence to non-CME grants regarding content, influence, faculty selection, educational methods, materials, venues, and attendees as it does to CME grants.
If your organization provides services for both grant-funded education and Lilly-directed education (in any capacity), it is important we understand the firewalls in place between the teams working on Lilly-directed initiatives from those working on IME supported via the LGO. It is critical that we ensure appropriate firewalls are in place within your organization to allow us to compliantly operate across these two important scopes of work. Our commitment for IME is to fund independent, fair and balanced, and scientifically accurate initiatives that receive no influence from our organization in either submission, design, or implementation. If your organization is also supporting Lilly-directed education in some capacity, and appropriate firewalls are not clearly and compliantly in place, your organization will not be able to receive a grant from the LGO.
Lilly prohibits grant requestors and their educational partners (i.e., third-party providers) from performing promotional activities for Lilly while also contributing to, providing, or accrediting IME funded in whole or part by Lilly, unless there is sufficient separation between the grant requestor's and partner's promotional and medical education business units. The ACCME requires an accredited CME provider be a separate legal entity from the organization that provides promotional services and requires proper firewalls in place between the business units. Proof of documentation may be requested.
No. IME grant funding requests cannot include promotional exhibit opportunities or sponsorships. This applies to both accredited and non-accredited education. During the application, you must confirm that your organization has not and will not seek additional funding from Eli Lilly and Company or its affiliates related to the LGO grant request.
Funding/Budget Guidelines
- Speaker-related fees for speakers or faculty at non-accredited educational programs
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For non-accredited programs in the USA, funding may not be used for:
- Meals at events with under 50 participants
- Meals at events with 50 or more participants unless meals are provided in the form of a buffet
- Website development for an educational program that is not accredited
- For all programs, except HCI initiatives, salaries, compensation/benefits, and operating expenses (e.g. overhead)
- HCI outcomes incentivized or rewarded by any government programs
- Grants to individuals or solo medical practices
- Clinical grants, including Investigator-Initiated Trials
- Participant expenses (e.g., program/registration fees, travel) NOTE: Outside the USA, the LGO will not directly fund individual participant expenses; however, we can consider supporting a structured scholarship program established by the organization sponsoring the educational conference
- First class airfare
- Personal travel (including for partners or guests)
- Entertainment or programs that are primarily entertainment (e.g., class reunions, retirement dinners, staff recognition)
- Grant requests for programs in a location, venue or with a schedule that detracts from the educational activity as the primary purpose
- General capital or infrastructure (e.g., office equipment/staff, computer hardware/software, medical library resources)
- Personal or non-medical education programs (e.g., leadership training, business meetings)
- Gifts for faculty, organizers, or participants
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Grant requests with unreasonable budget line items, for example:
- Faculty lodging and/or expense reimbursement out of proportion with the number of days the faculty is presenting
- Faculty dinners not related to content review
- Honoraria or costs in excess of their fair market value
- Capital campaigns/building funds
- Service contracts
- Religious programs
- Textbooks and journal subscriptions
- Advertising, exhibit, and display fees
- Mass media productions not associated with educational content (e.g., webcasts, journal supplements)
- Educational content development
- Honorarium for medical or scientific faculty, preferably for accredited education only
- Speaker travel (coach), reasonable expenses for lodging and meals, preferably for accredited education only
- Room rental related to the educational portion of the program
- Costs for accreditation
- Meeting-related expenses including A/V equipment rental (must be detailed in budget)
- Reasonable meals or refreshments for participants allowable per the country guidelines where the event takes place. In the USA, this is limited to buffet style meals or snacks for 50 or more participants only
- Outside the USA only: Scholarships for travel, lodging, or program registration fees for HCPs to attend educational conferences through a structured scholarship program established by the organization sponsoring the educational conference; the sponsoring organization shall have sole discretion over the selection of the scholarship recipients and distribution of scholarship funds
- Personnel salaries for tasks related specifically to the initiative, where a detailed breakdown is provided as part of the proposal budget
- Program development costs
- Site recruitment and honoraria/stipends
- Clinic implementation support
- Dissemination of learnings and/or scaling (e.g. posters, manuscripts, live meetings), including travel specific to this aim
- Non-capital information technology (IT)
- Outcomes assessment, analysis and reporting for outcomes not being incentivized or rewarded by any government programs
- Institutional overhead (up to a maximum of 30% of the total grant request)
No. The LGO does not provide unrestricted grants. The purpose for the grant must be designated in the grant application and program detail. Grant funding can only be used for the details outlined in the proposal. Any further restrictions will be included in the Letter of Agreement.
Registration and Application Submission
No. Only online applications will be considered. Applications must be submitted through your portal account on the online portal. Once your online application is submitted, you will receive an acknowledgement at the e-mail address indicated on your application.
Prior to submitting a grant request, each new user who will be requesting grants on behalf of an organization must complete a new user registration by providing basic business contact information and creating a password. After your registration is created, you will be able to log in to our grant management portal. During your first time on the portal, you will be asked to either link your registration to an existing organization or create a new organization.
- If your organization already exists in our portal, you will be able to select the organization name and address from a pre-populated, drop-down list
- If your organization is not already in our portal, you will be asked to provide information including but not limited to, legal business name, organization type, and business address. This information should match information that would be submitted on an appropriate tax form (e.g., W-8, W-9). No tax forms will be collected at the time of application but will be requested if your grant application is approved
Immediately following completion of your registration, you may submit a grant application.
Applications should be submitted as far in advance as possible, however applications must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the overall program start date or they will not be considered for review. Also, as the laws and requirements for many countries outside the USA continue to evolve, we are noticing some new requirements are adding time to the review and approval process. It is recommended for organizations outside the USA or for grant submissions with events occurring outside the USA that applications be submitted at least 120 days prior to the overall program start date.
The LGO accepts grant applications for the current calendar year during the months of January through September. We accept grant applications for the next calendar year starting in September; however, grants submitted in September and October will likely have a longer review time due to the timing of the planning process and determination of funding levels for the upcoming year.
A grant request submission includes completion of an online application as well as uploading any required documentation. A full grant proposal should be limited to 20 pages or less (not including references and budget). Requesting organizations are responsible for all data and information provided and must resolve any deficiencies or requests for additional information from the LGO. To reduce processing time, ensure submitted documentation is consistent with portal application entries.
Components of the full grant proposal vary by grant type. The most current grant submission requirements for each grant type are included on the portal for reference while applying for a grant.
For educational programs, information requested may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Executive summary (an optional, recommended template is included on the portal)
- Program agenda
- Program detail, including a description of your program content
- Event details, including start and end dates as well as intended learners
- Detailed line-item budget showing the intended use of the requested funds (more detailed information is available in the Funding/Budget FAQ)
- Learning objectives
- Target audience and audience generation
- Gaps, barriers, and needs assessment
- References
- Program evaluation and outcomes plan
For HCI initiatives, information requested may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Executive summary
- Purpose and aims of the initiative
- Detailed line-item budget showing the intended use of the requested funds (more detailed information is available in the Funding/Budget FAQ)
- Health system practice gap(s) and root causes/barriers (or the approach to identifying the root causes where they have not yet been identified)
- Strategy/intervention including the framework and approach that will be used
- Measurement plan
- Timeline, scope
- Qualifications and experience of involved organizations/institutions
- Plan for disseminating, sustaining and scaling successful approaches
Please limit the length of your grant proposal to 20 pages or less (not including references and budget).
- An individual or solo medical practices
- Organizations requesting grants that do not meet the criteria outlined on this website
- Organizations requesting grants for clinical or investigator-initiated trials
- Organizations looking for a country-specific grant outside the USA (i.e., the organization and target audience are all in a single country)
- Organizations found to be listed on the Office of Inspector General's List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (OIG LEIE) or the General Services Administration Excluded Parties List System (GSA EPLS)
You can log into your portal account and from the Welcome screen navigate to the My Organization tab. You will see a summary list of all the grants submitted for your organization.
Note that communications about a specific grant may only be with authorized personnel for that grant and only the individual who submitted the request will be able to see the grant specifics and enter data for the grant in the portal.
No. Payment will only be issued to the organization that applied for the grant.
Grant Review Process
Lilly strives to uphold the highest standards in the way we conduct business. Therefore, the policies and procedures that govern our review of grants and contributions are designed to meet both the letter and the spirit of independence standards and ensure all grants and contributions are made in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Grant requests are evaluated by Lilly professionals who are selected and trained to evaluate the applicable program/initiative type.
Completed applications are objectively evaluated based on criteria specific to the type of program/initiative being requested. This may include, but is not limited to, alignment with Lilly’s medical and scientific strategies and therapeutic areas of focus, clarity of evidence-based clinical care gaps, quality of methodology and potential to achieve desired outcome, and efficient use of funds.
The LGO will do our best to provide a decision to you as quickly as possible, but please be aware that we cannot commit to a specific processing time period. Our goal is to review and make a decision within 60 days (for the USA) and 90-120 days (outside the USA) after we have received all the completed, required documentation. However, please be advised of the following:
- You can assist with minimizing the review time by providing complete and accurate documentation in a timely manner.
- If responses to LGO requests to resolve missing or incomplete information related to new grant application submissions are not received in a reasonable time frame, your grant will be cancelled and will not be reviewed.
- If the LGO does not receive all necessary documentation at least 60 days prior to the start date of your program, we cannot accept your grant request and it will be cancelled.
- Requests for the next calendar year may experience a longer wait time.
No. Each request is evaluated on its individual merit relative to other grant requests. Please do not consider any request approved until you have received written documentation from the LGO notifying you of grant approval.
No. Lilly is committed to improving patient care and providing valuable information to the scientific, medical, and broader healthcare community. As a result, the LGO receives numerous grant requests, making the grant process very competitive.
The LGO and all partner offices are independent of Lilly’s sales and marketing organizations. Sales and marketing personnel have no role in the grant review and approval process.
All Lilly personnel must respond to inquiries regarding a grant request by providing the requester with the LGO email address lillygrantoffice@lilly.com or the LGO website address https://grantoffice.lilly.com/.
You may check the status of all your grant requests by logging into your portal account and reviewing the My Grants tab at any time. You will receive email notification from the LGO of the grant committee’s decision if your grant is approved. If your grant has been denied, you will receive a system generated email letting you know. You can review the specific decision reason in your portal account.
Please do not consider any request approved until you have received written documentation, including a letter of agreement, from the LGO notifying you of approval. Only LGO personnel can approve, deny, or communicate grant decisions. Requestors should not accept any verbal commitments from sales representatives, medical liaisons, or any other Lilly employee, as they do not have access to the information and are not authorized to make such a commitment.
If your organization is on lockout, no new grants may be submitted and any grants in process will be placed on hold until lockout is removed. If an organization is locked out for non-compliance, all requestors from the locked-out organization can see the cause of the lockout by reviewing the My Organization tab in the online portal. Note that communications about a specific grant may only be with authorized personnel for that grant.
- Agreement with the terms of the Letter of Agreement. The Letter of Agreement MUST be signed, initialed, and dated in the designated area(s) and returned to the LGO prior to the start date of your activity.
- Completion of the program as outlined in the grant proposal and notifying the LGO of any changes being requested to the program (see Changes of Scope).
- Completion of any required periodic event and/or outcomes documentation as well as post-program budget reconciliation, including return of unused funds, if applicable (see Grant Requirements).
- Provision of all data needed by the LGO for purposes of Lilly's transparency reporting.
- Provision of organization banking information and tax documentation on the most current version of an appropriate tax form (e.g., W-8, W-9), if requested. Generally, this documentation is requested only for newly registered organizations.
Program Changes/Changes of Scope
There may be instances in which the requester of a grant needs to propose changes to previously approved activities. Examples of modifications where a Change of Scope form would be required are:
- Dates or locations of any event
- Learning objectives, level of outcomes collected, or accreditation hours
- Program agenda or program educational modalities contained in the original grant application
- Number of events, number of intended learners, or type of learners
- Funding use or amount, reallocation of funds, or budget
- Educational partner, accredited partner, or any party to the signed Letter of Agreement (excluding the “Recipient”)
- Changes impacting sections of the signed Letter of Agreement
If an approved grant needs to be modified, the requester should log into their portal account and download the Change of Scope template from the Welcome screen. Using the “Upload Document” function on the Grant Summary screen, the completed template should be uploaded through the portal using the document type COS Template on the specific grant for which the change is being requested. The LGO will consider the change of scope for alignment with original scope of the activity and the resulting decision will be communicated to the requester. Approved changes may require an update to the Letter of Agreement. Changes which are denied may require return of funds.
Disclosure of Grants and Contributions
The LGO provides funding to various organizations in the form of grants and charitable contributions to support healthcare professional education, education related to basic or preclinical science, patient advocacy, consumer education programs, and Healthcare Improvement (HCI) initiatives, as a part of our mission to increase healthcare knowledge, enhance patient care, and improve the healthcare system. By adding transparency to our grant funding and charitable contributions, we are making available to the public the nature of the relationships between Lilly and these organizations.
In the USA, Lilly follows disclosure requirements at the local, state, and federal levels. Outside the USA, in addition to adhering to local and national legislated requirements for countries in which we operate, Lilly participates in voluntary disclosure codes led by local trade associations.
Disclosing information about LGO grants is one of several areas of business activity for which Lilly discloses information to the public. For further detail on disclosure, view Lilly's transparency reporting information.
Lilly will disclose to the public all grants and charitable contributions made by the LGO to U.S.-based organizations on our website. The U.S. Grant Office Registry includes information such as organization name, grant amount, and program title and is updated quarterly to include all new grant funding provided during that period.
Other Grant Considerations
Consistent with Company policies, applicable FDA regulations, and rules of the ACCME and other accreditation groups, Lilly as a commercial supporter is not permitted to control the content of activities funded through grants. The LGO applies this policy to all educational activities funded through the LGO. Thus, it is possible that educational programs funded via the LGO will discuss off-label uses of our products. However, such content would have been independently determined by the grant recipient and, per above policies, Lilly would have no input. Lilly does not support independent education, or any medical activities, for the purpose of encouraging off-label use of our products.
The LGO receives, evaluates, and renders decisions on most of the grant requests the Company receives. However, the Lilly Foundation and country-specific Lilly offices also may provide grant funding.
The Lilly Foundation , a separate organization, awards grants for philanthropic programs aligned with the Company's corporate responsibility priorities. For more information regarding the focus of the Lilly Foundation, please review the details on their website. The Lilly Foundation does not currently support any independent medical education programs and is not included in any reports found on this website.
Outside of the USA, grant requests for single-country programs and events are submitted to the Lilly office responsible for operations in that country for evaluation and funding consideration.
No. The rules governing accreditation of activities do not permit commercial supporters of accredited education to control the content of independent medical education activities funded through grants. The LGO applies this policy to all educational activities funded through the LGO and therefore, the LGO has made the determination that we will not provide medical and/or scientific reviews to grant recipients.
No further downstream commercialization of any solution derived using initiative funds is permissible. This includes, but is not limited to, selling, licensing, or otherwise monetizing any products, services, or technologies developed with Program funding. Rather, making the results freely available to the public is encouraged.