How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal

1. How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal C. Dianne Martin Associate Vice President Graduate Studies and Academic Affairs Seminar Series: Academic Success and Professional Development

2. Getting Started - ATTITUDE! • A good proposal has “attitude” • Don’t assume the reader will grasp the significance of your idea • Give context, explain fully, convince the reader you know what you are doing. • Marketing yourself and your idea

3. Type of Proposal Individual Team Group Program Project Research or Education Target Organization

4. Next, What do You Want?

5. Defining the Project • Choose a problem/idea you wish to pursue • Survey the literature • Contact established investigators in the area • Prepare a brief concept paper • Discuss your idea with others • Get started on the project

6. Your Proposal Should Answer These Questions • What are you going to do? • Why is this important? • What is your unique contribution? • Is it feasible? • Why are you the best person to do it? • What are others doing in this area? • How will you do it? • How will you evaluate your results? • How will you disseminate your results?

7. Proposal Writing Hints • Present your ideas clearly and succinctly • Present the main thrust of the project at the beginning - don’t bury your lead! • Use a concise writing style • Show relevance with specific examples • Organize to permit skimming - use headings • Add a timeline with specific deliverables • Include a bibliography of related work • Have someone else read it before submitting Remember that you are selling an idea to the REVIEWERS and the FUNDER

8. Attributes of a GOOD Proposal • Innovative • Comprehensive - understands all issues • Experience - has expertise to do it • Preparation - clear you know funding requirements and related work • Cooperation - done “with” not “to” target group • Beneficiaries - who will gain? • Commitment and Continuation • Evaluation and Dissemination of Impact

9. Know the Requirements(read the program announcement!) • Format • Due date • Funding timeframe/ limits • Statement of problem • Research goals • Research methods • Team members/ expertise • Deliverables • Budget

10. Grant Opportunities and Support • Internal grants (College & University) • Individual grants • Federal and National grants • Foundation awards • Fellowships/ scholarships • Industry contracts • Societies • Foundations

11. Types of Proposals Letter of proposal: usually expanded Statement of Work Preliminary proposal: used by agency to decide if proposer should develop it further Expanded proposal: contains all of the necessary information to be used in the review process Revised proposal: modified subject to comments by reviewers

12. Guidelines for Proposals • Vary by institution and agency • Outline proposal format • Set conditions on requests • Set conditions on use of funds • Set conditions on review process and negotiations • FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES TO THE LETTER ! (even font size)

13. Good Proposals • Capture the reviewer's attention • Aim for clarity • Establish the context • Identify the payoff • Use a fresh approach, but don't stray from accepted methodologies • Give yourself plenty of time! Peer reviews before submission are important!

14. Proposal Components • Executive Summary and/or Introduction • Problem/Needs Statement and Objectives • Research Methods • Evaluation Procedures • Other Funding Sources (Current/Future) • Budget

15. Introduction • Organization history • Statement of purpose and goals • Current activities • Constituency • Funding sources • Evaluations • Quotes or letters of support • Relevant publications summary

16. Problem Statement • State the problem simply & concisely • Relate it to your purpose and goals • Provide evidence of importance • Provide justification that you can solve the problem • Make certain that the scope of the problem is focused • State it in the terms of your constituents

17. Methodology Methods need to support the objectives! • Who: team selection and sampling • How: what will occur over the life of the project • When: task order and timing • Why: defend your chosen methods and provide assurance that these methods will lead to anticipated outcomes

18. Evaluation Types: • Product - has the research achieved its objectives? • Process - was the research consistent with the plan? Questions: • who will do the evaluation? • method of data collection • method of data analysis • method of reporting evaluative information

19. Know the Evaluation Criteria !!! ZU RIF

20. Budget: What Do You Need? (know what is allowed) • Equipment • Salary • Facilities • Services • Travel • Expenses • Other

21. Budget • Be specific - do NOT use ball-park figures! • Be precise - make sure your accounting is in order • Be complete - make sure there are no hidden costs • Be honest - don't make up matching costs • Be convincing - argue why a line item is needed

22. Advice on Budgets • Request realistic items / amounts • Justify anything that is unusual • Include only necessary items • Remain within grant guidelines • Indicate time and cost sharing if required Excessive budgets irritate reviewers!

23. Advice on Timelines • Provide one! • Be realistic • Within time frame of the funding • Include research methods used • Show progress along the way • Show rollout of deliverables

24. Supporting Documentation • Letters of support • Compliance documentation • Vitas of principle researchers • Related publications • Equipment quotations

25. General Tips • Network with people in your field • Call the program officer or funding representative • Propose results • Don't assume the justification is obvious • Don't assume all reviewers will agree with your position • Read and reference all relevant literature • Get letters of support from collaborators • Identify how the funding will be spent • Identify why you have the expertise to do this research • Identify what exactly is your plan • Identify what methodologies you will use

26. Common Problems of Non-Winning Proposals • Key points are buried, no highlights, no impact • No innovative topic or approach • Difficult to read, full of jargon, too long, too technical • Misspellings, grammatical errors, wrong client name, and inconsistent formats • Failure to differentiate your work from others. e.g., no reference to relevant literature

27. If Your Proposal is DeclinedREMEMBER • You are in good company • Awards are often highly competitive • Budgetary limitations exert influence • Funding agency priorities exert influence Read the reviews and TRY AGAIN!

28. Volunteer to be a Reviewer You will: • Read good and bad proposals • See the review process in action • Write better proposals next time • Get a good view of what is being funded • Give back to the community

29. Sources of Information • US National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov • Grantsandfunding.com http://www.grantsandfunding.com/libraries/grantseeking/wings/GFindex.html • Online Proposal Writing Handbook http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~writing/handbook-proposals.html • Writing a Good Grant Proposal (Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy, Microsoft Research) http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/Proposal.html • Grantwriting 101 Workshop by Wayne Carlson, The Ohio State University http://design.osu.edu/carlson/grantwriting.html

30. Grant Writing as a Courtship • Get to know the funding organizations • Find the “best match” • Talk to the funding officer if possible to establish a personal relationship • If you visit in person, be nice to the receptionist or secretary! • Reduces the chance of a bitter rejection or a bad divorce!