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
Getting Started - ATTITUDE!
• A good proposal has “attitude”
• Don’t assume the reader will grasp
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the significance of your idea
Give context, explain fully,
convince the reader you know
what you are doing.
Marketing yourself and your idea
Type of Proposal
Individual
Team
Group
Program
Project
Research or Education
Target Organization
Next, What do You Want?
Defining the Project
• Choose a problem/idea you wish to
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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
Your Proposal Should Answer
These Questions
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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?
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
Attributes of a GOOD Proposal
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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
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
Grant Opportunities and Support
• Internal grants (College & University)
• Individual grants
• Federal and National grants
• Foundation awards
• Fellowships/ scholarships
• Industry contracts
• Societies
• Foundations
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
Guidelines for Proposals
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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)
Good Proposals
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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!
Proposal Components
• Executive Summary and/or
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Introduction
Problem/Needs Statement and
Objectives
Research Methods
Evaluation Procedures
Other Funding Sources
(Current/Future)
Budget
Introduction
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Organization history
Statement of purpose and goals
Current activities
Constituency
Funding sources
Evaluations
Quotes or letters of support
Relevant publications summary
Problem Statement
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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
Methodology
Methods need to support the objectives!
• Who: team selection and sampling
• How: what will occur over the life of the
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project
When: task order and timing
Why: defend your chosen methods and
provide assurance that these methods will
lead to anticipated outcomes
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
Know the Evaluation Criteria !!!
ZU RIF
Budget: What Do You Need?
(know what is allowed)
• Equipment
• Salary
• Facilities
• Services
• Travel
• Expenses
• Other
Budget
• Be specific - do NOT use ball-park
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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
Advice on Budgets
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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!
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
Supporting Documentation
• Letters of support
• Compliance documentation
• Vitas of principle researchers
• Related publications
• Equipment quotations
General Tips
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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
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
If Your Proposal is Declined
REMEMBER
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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!
Volunteer to be a Reviewer
You will:
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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
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
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!