The Fountain of Funding: Strategies for Securing Financial Support for your Project

1. The Fountain of Funding: Strategies for Securing Financial Support for your Project February 27, 2007 Keenan Dungey, Associate Professor, Chemistry Deb Koua, Coordinator, Grants and Contracts Pamela Salela, Assistant Professor, Library Instructional Services& Coordinator, Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center, Brookens Library Stacey Willenborg, Director of Development, Corporate/Foundation Gifts

2. Corporate and Foundation Relations Find matches Conduct research on funders Set-up and attend initial meetings Serve as a general resource to help you find funding

3. Proposal Preparation Faculty and staff know their projects best Tailor to your audience Use your contacts Talking points are helpful Ask for assistance

4. Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Centerhttp://library.uis.edu/findinfo/grants/index.html Pamela M. Salela, Assistant Professor CINRC Coordinator Brookens Library psale2@uis.edu 217-206-6783

5. Affiliations
Foundation Centerhttp://foundationcenter.org Publications Training Reference Guide for Researchershttp://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/guides/research.html Donors Forum of Chicago – Partnerhttp://donorsforum.org Publications Workshops (Chicago) 20% discount UIS Foundation Center Online tutorials: FREE, fee-based, interactive Live Workshops at their regional offices Foundation Center Online tutorials: FREE, fee-based, interactive Live Workshops at their regional offices

9. Services provided by G&C Office Identification of external funding sources Interpretation of sponsor guidelines and requirements Assistance with all stages of proposal development Official submission of proposals to outside sponsors, including electronic submissions through grants.gov, Fastlane, etc. Assistance with protocols for research involving human and/or animal subjects Assistance with intellectual property issues A webpage with links to relevant information, and downloadable forms

10. Where to look for funding IRIS www.library.uiuc.edu/iris SPIN (coming in FY09) Google Association listserves, funder newsletters, etc. Grants.gov Colleagues

11. UIS Provost Funding Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Grant Program (SCRGP) Strategic Academic Initiatives Grant (SAIG) Program Collaborative Project Seed Funding (CPSF) Scholarly Presentation Support Program

12. UIS requirements for proposals & awards All proposals submitted to external sponsors by UIS faculty, staff and students require internal approval using the UIS Internal Clearance Form. All awards must be officially accepted by the campus, and must be signed by the proper authority.

13. Proposal Writing Tips DO: Follow directions Learn as much about your funder as you can Use language that is simple and direct Repeat the funder’s language back to them Include tables, flowcharts and diagrams when they are useful

14. Tips continued … Proofread Have someone not familiar with your work read your proposal Prepare a detailed and justifiable budget Talk to staff at the funding agency if possible Ask for reviewer comments

15. Tips continued… DO NOT: Go over the number of pages allotted Pad your budget with items that can’t be justified Assume that reviewers are experts in your field Wait until the last minute – to write or to submit Send the same proposal off to multiple funders Get discouraged!!

16. How to get your project funded (1 faculty perspective) Keenan Dungey (CHE)

17. Writing the Proposal Clear hypothesis/goals State the importance of the project Clear statement of resources/personnel needed and timetable Make the case that you can do the project If your project involves students, describe their learning goals Be considerate of the reviewers Correct format, excellent language skills

18. Help for Writing the Proposal Get copies of proposals that were funded by the agency Volunteer to serve as a proposal reviewer for the agency You make contacts and learn first-hand about the grants that get funded Pre-”peer review” Send a copy of your proposal to a colleague before the submission deadline

19. Start Now Set goals and deadlines for yourself Contact program officers at granting agencies find out more information about their program learn from them what has worked in the past Don’t wait Submit a proposal and get feedback. Some programs give preferences to new faculty.

20. Finding Funding Resources at UIS All of the above Center for State Policy and Leadership http://cspl.uis.edu/ Professional Organizations Council on Undergraduate Research www.cur.org Colleagues Attend professional meetings

21. What if you don’t get funded? Don’t be discouraged by the failure rate Some NSF programs have a 10% funding rate Always pursue comments on why you were not funded; even gather comments on why you were funded so that you know what you did correctly

22. KED Grant Proposals Written 2000-2006

23. Suggestions for Success Establish a track record with peer reviewed publications Gather preliminary data on the project to demonstrate that you can do it Show institutional support List all available resources even if you haven’t tapped into them yet. Find collaborators Colleagues down the hall, at another campus Attend professional conferences

24. Finding Time for Research Schedule your academic week into blocks for teaching and research reserve a day, or at least an afternoon, to your scholarship (no meetings, no committees, no classes) Reserve summers for research underload/overload semesters Since contact hours are counted for the entire year, you can underload one semester to make time for writing. Course-related research can lead to published articles