Guarantying Great Grants!

1. Guarantying Great Grants! Dr. Kristi H. Martines Director of Grant Development NKU, Research, Grants & Contracts

2. NKU Routing Form Mandatory(handout 1) http://rgc.nku.edu see “routing form link” at bottom • BUDGET CONTACT Mary Ucci (x5768) – after her approval • Signatures of Chair AND Dean are required • Return form to RGC so that Signature of Authorized Institutional Rep. (Dr. Carole Beere) is obtained by RGC) DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DAY THE PROPOSAL IS DUE TO CALL RGC!

3. Types of Proposals • Letters of Intent to Apply • Letters of Inquiry (Bill Gates Example – handout 2) • Pre-proposals • Full Proposals *REGARDLESS of the TYPE of proposal, read the funding agency’s guidelines before you prepare anything! (see MSP and Lumina Foundation examples after workshop)

4. Funding Agencies • Agencies differ on their method of: • Submission • NSF requires FastLane • NIH does not • Required forms • All Federal sources require several forms *You can not wait until the last minute to put these forms together – RGC will provide help in filling in and answering these forms!

5. The Overall Plan of A Proposal • Develop the Idea • Establish the Need • Develop a Problem Statement • Plan to address the problems with goals and objectives (which relate directly to the... • Action Plan • Evaluation • Budget • Letters of Commitment (NOT SUPPORT) (Handout 3)

6. Developing an Idea! • What kind of project would you like to conduct? • What are your funding priorities? • Research: what does that mean? • Instruction/Training • Service • Equipment

7. Finding A Funding Source • Where to look? • RGC : contact the RGC office for searches specific to projects you would like to conduct • Go to http://rgc.nku.edu (look at “Funding Opportunities, then “External Sources”) • www.infoed.org • Access InfoEd • SPIN (handout 4) • SMARTS (handout 5)

8. Finding A Funding Source (2) • http://www.cos.com • http://www.aascu.org/grc/search/ • Does that source fit your project. The #1 complaint among reviewers is that the PI didn’t read the directions – wasting your time and theirs!

9. Finding A Funding Source (2) • NOW, DO YOUR HOMEWORK Does your project, it’s goals and your plan fit what the agency wants to fund?

10. Once You’ve Found A Source... • Breakdown the requirements of the grant into bullet (or outline) format – review several times so as not to miss anything. • Use THEIR wording in your headings (e.g., if they say “objectives”, don’t give them “goals”

11. Establishing a Need (1) *What is your “target population” ? • Who do you want to serve? – regardless of your project, the organizations funding you want to know how they will be helping others? • They will also want to know what they are getting out of it (more later).

12. Establishing a Need(2) • Once you know who you want to help, you will have to find proof that the target population needs help! • RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH • RGC has some info on Kentucky and the US. • Check with Office of Institutional Research for NKU-specific numbers

13. Problem Statement Now that you have an idea of what you’d like to accomplish, who it will help, and how it will help, you can make a “problem statement” (a paragraph) that sums this up!

14. Goals & Objectives • Many grant proposals label the same items in different ways… but in your plan to address the problem, you will state your goals and objectives and what specific actions you will take to address these. This is a good place for a summary table (handout 6, 7).

15. Action Plan • Action Plan must match the goals/objectives! • Can not be too ambitious, it must be attainable and it must be measurable (next class!).

16. Effective Writing You must mean what you say and say what you mean. Every person (at least on the 3rd draft) feels as though their writing is poetry – it’s NOT! Have another two or three people read for content, language, spelling, grammar, and nonsense!

17. Persuasiveness and Active Voice A great example of persuasiveness was from a grant recently submitted to the COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT SUBGRANT APPLICATION FOR FY 2003 FUNDS (handout 8). The grant needs to sound active and proactive. Weak writing, with too many unnecessary words leaves the reviewer dozing off. Keep it lively, with graphs and charts. Leave page limit to a minimum!

18. The World Today • Money is tighter than ever before – your proposal must stand out! • There is a growing demand for projects dealing with • Homeland Security • Bioterrorism • Math and Science Education • “Bridging the Gaps” in All Types of Education • Among Others...

19. Always remember... Make the program officer your friend! ASK QUESTIONS!

20. Sometimes when you finish a grant, you feel like Webster - Don’t get discouraged

21. Guarantying Great Grants!Part 2 Dr. Kristi H. Martines Director of Grant Development NKU, Research, Grants & Contracts

22. Formative vs. Summative Evaluations • Formative Evaluation: Making progress toward achieving its objectives. • Summative Evaluation: Achieving its objectives at the end of the project period. (Handout 1)

23. External Evaluation • What is an external evaluation? • Why is it important?

24. Sustainability • How will your project continue after the money dries up? • There are few if any grant programs (public or private) who will NOT ask this question. • How will you sustain your project?

25. Sustainability • Saying that you will “apply” for more grants is not enough! • Buy in – NKU, others??

26. Budget Development • What EXACTLY are you looking to accomplish. You should answer this before you start looking for a funding agency! • If you know what you want to accomplish, you can find an agency who matches your goals as well as your budget!

27. Budget Development • What can you ask for? • Reassign time (and benefits) • Equipment • Research supplies • Travel • Student Stipends • INDIRECT COSTS • Budget examples (handouts 2 & 3)

28. Budget Development • What are fringe benefits: Staff = (salary x 0.15) + 3252 Faculty = (salary x 0.19) + 3252 • And when you factor in summer, it gets more confusing!!! • SOLUTION…

29. Budget Development • CALL Mary Ucci (card inside folder) to get an idea of what your reassign time is worth! • After you have a budget together, you will need to review it with Mary Ucci before your chair, dean, and the authorized institutional representative will sign off on your proposal!

30. Budget Development • The authorized institutional representative is Dr. Carole Beere, Associate Provost of Outreach and Dean of Graduate Studies. • She will approval a proposal to leave NKU (to be submitted) only after RGC has reviewed it.

31. Budget Development • Matching policy • Mandatory • Documented evidence that matching monies will increase the chances of grant approval

32. THE ROUTING FORM! • Handout 4 • Available at http://rgc.nku.edu • Procedures • Signatures

33. Why all the paperwork? • There are many federal and Commonwealth laws – of which NKU rules (for external funding) are based on. • Some include the inability to use federal dollars as matching dollars for federal projects! • All rules that come out from NKU RGC are based on laws and best practices.

34. The Abstract • Also called the “Executive Summary” is the last thing you write (Handout 5). • It is a 1-3 paragraph description of the project that succinctly describes the project. • It easiest to write it last after you have all of the specific details ironed out.

35. To write a successful grant, one of the most important things is to have a “unique” idea or a novel project. (See ornithologist example!) • Finding the right funding agency (best fit) is as important!