Basics of Grant writing

1. Basics of Grant writing

2. Workshop Overview • Before you start writing • Proposal outline • How to cost your project • Human Subjects

3. Before you start writing • If you’re looking to find funding for a particular activity, limit your search to that. But be creative and expand when necessary. • Consider your resources, staff, qualifications and training. • If this is your first grant proposal, you can start small. • Make sure your idea and the grant opportunity are a good match, and check eligibility requirements. • Is your idea a good one? Check for innovation, significance, trends, and if your target population is of interest to the sponsor. Check the sponsor’s mission statement.

4. Before you start writing • When you’ve found a potential grant opportunity, read the guidelines carefully. • Consider the competition. • Read past-awarded proposals.

5. Before you start writing • Find the grant program’s review criteria that the reviewers will be using to score proposals. • What information reviewers will be looking for • Key words, phrases or specific questions • Use the elements above in your proposal to make it easier for reviewers to find the information they’re looking for.

6. Before you start writing • Watch the sponsor’s website for corrections or updates to the guidelines. • Follow the guidelines’ instructions exactly for organizing and formatting the proposal. • If there are required forms and application files to fill out, download them ahead of time so you can review the forms while reading the guidelines.

7. Proposal outline Common elements in a grant proposal: • Cover page • Abstract page • Project Narrative • Budget • Budget Narrative • Letter signed by an Authorized UWEXT official • Letters signed by subcontractors or partners • Vitas or resumes from key personnel in project • Any forms required by the proposal guidelines.

8. Proposal outline • Cover and Abstract Pages • Cover page • Summary of your proposal, your organization and any recent correspondence with the sponsor. • Amount of funding requested. • Who your proposal will target or benefit, and the issue(s) it will solve. • Be enthusiastic and descriptive in your writing about the proposal. • Include your contact phone# and email address. • Abstract page • 1 page concise summary of your project • This should be the last section you write for the proposal

9. Proposal outline • Project Narrative: Where you make your argument why the sponsor should fund your proposal. • Statement of need or problem; significance of the issue. • Population to be helped or served • Goals and objectives: clearly stated • Description of project work • Timeline • Evaluation scheme to determine effectiveness of project • Qualifications of key personnel and your organization • References and appendixes; letters of support • Sustainability of project after end of funding; future funding support.

10. Proposal outline • Budget and Budget Narrative • Include all necessary, reasonable project expenses • Brief narrative for each cost, justifying the expense and how it relates to the project work • Use a table when necessary to show cost components • If there are mandated contributions of cost share, show them in the budget. Separate them from the costs you’re requesting funds for. • Expenses should be categorized and listed in the same order as in the proposal guidelines. • All numbers should add up and be within the guidelines’ budget limit.

11. Proposal outline • Letter signed by Authorized UWEXT official • Letter of intent, commitment letter, or cover letter • Signed by someone authorized to sign for UW-Extension. This can be the Controller, Director of Extramural Support, or the Associate Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance. • Includes UWEXT letterhead, Project Title, name of project director, and statement that UWEXT supports the proposal. • If match is mandated, list its dollar amount, time period, and type of expenses the match is from.

12. Proposal outline • Letter signed by Authorized UWEXT official

13. Proposal outline • Letters signed by subcontractors or partners • Key partners, subcontractors, and shared UW grantees who have a significant part in the proposed scope of work should provide a letter signed by their authorized official. • The letters ensures that their agency is aware of the proposal, has reviewed and approved their portion of the work and budget, and commits to the project if funded. • If they will contribute match, the letters will include dollar amount, time period, and type of expenses the match is from.

14. Proposal outline • Vitas or resumes from key personnel in project • Shows that the key personnel has the necessary expertise and qualifications for the project. • Example from the USDA-NIFA application guide: The biographical sketch should be limited to two (2) pages each in length, excluding publications listings. The vitae should include a presentation of academic and research credentials, as applicable; e.g., earned degrees, teaching experience, employment history, professional activities, honors and awards, and grants received. A chronological list of all publications in refereed journals during the past four (4) years, including those in press, must be included. Also, list only those non-refereed technical publications that have relevance to the proposed project.

15. Proposal outline • Any forms required by the proposal guidelines • Federal standard forms such as SF-424 • Conflict of Interest • Current & Pending Support • Supplemental Information • Some sponsors provide a comprehensive application package to download or fill out online, that includes the forms to fill in. They will usually ask that the application be submitted electronically through their grants application portal such as grants.gov, or via email.

16. How to Cost your Project • Components of a project budget: • Personnel Costs for participating staff • Travel Costs • Other Direct Costs • Indirect Administrative Costs

17. How to Cost your Project • Obtain or create a budget template to help you build your project costs • Typically a spreadsheet such as MS Excel, containing formulas and subtotals. Use ROUND formulas. • Allows for easy edits, updates and corrections. • Uses the same budget header categories as in the proposal guidelines. • You can get a template from your department’s grants administrator or the CES Budget Office. • The template should include separate columns for cost share and multiple years, if those will be budgeted in the proposal.

18. How to Cost your Project • Personnel Costs • Staffing needs to support the project; • University staff needed to carry out the work. We use salary classifications including: unclassified staff, LTE (limited term employees), student help or ad hocs (short term academic staff hires) • New hires: • Use $2,000 to estimate a position advertisement allowance. • Estimate the percentages of time (in FTEs) staff will work on the project. • Are University of Wisconsin non-Extension staff involved?

19. How to Cost your Project • Personnel Costs • Extramural Support Fringe Benefit rates • Charged automatically as a percentage of salary. • Rates are calculated for July through June. • Are posted at http://www.uwex.edu/business-services/extramural/documents.html • New rates are usually posted around every February before the start of the new state fiscal year. • Rates are estimated using the previous year’s actual fringe benefit expenses. • In fiscal year 2011, there was an significant increase in health insurance benefits, that then increased the FY2012 rates.

20. How to Cost your Project • Travel • UW Employee travel • In-State vs Out-of-State Travel. • Mileage, fleet car, lodging, meals, per diem. • See UWEX Business Services website for reimbursement rates: http://www.uwex.edu/business-services/travel/

21. How to Cost your Project • Other Direct Costs • Materials & Supplies • Consumable items ex. name tags, paper pads, pens • Publications & Printing • Publications and handouts not paid for directly by participants; can include design and printing costs.

22. How to Cost your Project • Other Direct Costs • Contractual • Subcontract • Services • Shared Grant with another UW institution • Communications • Postage, telephone, photocopying • Advertising • UWEX position recruitment costs • Workshop/Meeting expenses • Speaker fees

23. How to Cost your Project Unallowable expenses: • Entertainment expenses • Promotional give away items such as tote bags, coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc. • Items of a personal nature such as flowers and cards. • Gifts • Award ceremonies • Receptions • Alcoholic beverages • Proposal writing costs • Rent for grantee owned facilities • Overload pay

24. How to Cost your Project • Indirect administrative overhead • Indirects - costs from shared services including utilities, general and departmental administration such as Payroll and Business Services, and use of building. • Assessed as a percentage of total direct cost. The current rates are 29.5% for on-campus projects and 26% for off-campus projects (50% threshold). • As policy, we always seek to recover indirect costs when possible.

25. How to Cost your Project Indirect administrative overhead The rate to use is determined on a case-by-case basis. • In the application guidelines, are indirects not allowed or allowed, and if allowed, is it capped at a certain percentage? • Is the source of funds federal or nonfederal? • Pull up the UWEX Applicable Indirect Cost Rates chart at http://www.uwex.edu/business-services/extramural/documents.html to find the category your grant is in and its applicable rate.

26. How to Cost your Project Example of working backwards from a fixed budget total: You are applying for a $50,000 grant budget, the indirect cost rate is 15% for federal pass-through funds via a WI state agency, and the applicable unclassified staff fringes rate is 44%. If less than the full rate of 26% or 29.5% is used, calculate overhead as a % of total direct costs. • $50,000 / 1.15 indirects = $43,478 is available for direct costs. • $43,478 less $3,000 needed for travel and supplies, leaving $40,478 for unclassified personnel. • $40,478 / 1.44 fringes = $28,110 available for unclassified staff salary. The budget breakout for $50,000 would be: Salary $28,110 Fringes $12,368 Supplies $ 1,000 Travel $ 2,000 Total Directs $43,478 Indirects $ 6,522

27. How to Cost your Project Example of a medium complex proposal budget: You are applying for a $50,000 US EPA grant, the indirect cost rate is 26% off-campus, and a third party subcontract for $26,000 is included. If full UWEX on-campus or off-campus rate is used, calculate overhead as a % of total direct costs less capital equipment, tuition remission, the portion of each subcontract in excess of $25,000, and rent. The indirect cost formula is: (Total Direct costs - $1000 subcontract excess) x .26 = $10,111 indirect costs. The budget breakout for $50,000 would be: Salary $ 9,645 Fringes @44% $ 4,244 Other Direct Costs: Subcontract $26,000 Total Directs $39,889 Indirects $10,111 Total Request $50,000

28. How to Cost your Project Example of a medium complex proposal budget: You are applying for a $50,000 US EPA grant, the indirect cost rate is 26% off-campus, and a shared grant with UW-Madison for $15,000 is included. Always exclude UW shared grants* from UWEX’s indirect cost calculation. They charge their own overhead rate to the project. (Total Direct costs - $15,000 shared grant) x .26 = $7,222 indirect costs The budget breakout for $50,000 would be: Salary $19,290 Fringes @44% $ 8,488 Other Direct Costs: Shared grant $15,000 Total Directs $42,778 Indirects$ 7,222 Total Request $50,000 *Shared grants are not considered Subcontracts because we are part of the University of Wisconsin System, and can’t issue subcontracts to ourselves.

29. Human Subjects If the proposed project will include questionaires, evaluations, surveys and other studies to obtain data from people: • Federal regulations and the University of Wisconsin-Extension Institutional Review Board (IRB) Standard Operating Procedures mandate education on the use of human subjects in research. • Human Subjects Protection - safeguarding the welfare and protecting the rights of individuals who participate as subjects in research and non-research assessments sponsored by UW-Extension. • Vulnerability of subjects (examples: children and prisoners), protection of subjects’ privacy and confidentiality, and level of risk inherent in the questions being asked. • All faculty, staff, students, and collaborating researchers who are involved in the use of human subjects in research are required to complete the Human Subjects Research Core Education Modules.

30. Human Subjects UW-Extension web page: http://www.uwex.edu/secretary/human-subjects.html • Self-Assessment Decision Tree • Step #1 - Are human subjects part of my research/evaluation? Step #2 - What is the purpose of the data collection? • Step #3 - Intended use of the collected data? • Step #4 - Do the participants include vulnerable populations? • Step #5 - Does the sample size and methodology protect the participants’ privacy and confidentiality? • Step #6 – Does the research/evaluation request sensitive (at risk) information? • Application for Human Subjects Approval • Sample consent language for study participants.