The Basics of Proposal
Writing
An Introduction to Writing a
Successful Grant Application
Introductory Comments: Is it
about the money? Yes and No
• Why write a grant proposal?
 Can you afford to support the
projects that interest you from
your own or your organization’s
resources?
• Ultimately successful grant
seeking must be driven by your
professional goals and/or the
goals of your organization, the
quality of the project, the
organization’s mission and the
needs of the potential grantor,
not simply the money.
Introductory Comments: Traits of
a Good Proposal Writer
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Is clever
Plans well
Prepares extensively
Takes input and criticism
in a positive manner to
improve ideas and
presentation
Introductory Comments: Be
Proactive not Reactive
• Start the proposal preparation process
early
• Don’t be either too narrow or too general
in your approach
• Learn about your potential funding
source(s)
• Develop a quality assurance process
 e.g.
have a pre-submission review team read
and comment on the proposal
Introductory Comments:
Innovation Counts
• In submitting a proposal you are marketing your
ideas and the capabilities of you and your
organization (and possibly those of your
partners) to get the proposed work done in an
effective manner.
• Grant seeking is an entrepreneurial activity and
the competitive nature of grant funding
encourages innovative ideas that will solve the
problem in the most effective manner.
Introductory Comments: You Must
Have Goals
• Identify long term goals
 Your professional goals or your organization’s goals
 Goals of the project
• Get to know your field
 The people
 The funding sources
 Begin networking
 professionally and socially
• Be prepared for rejection
• Stick to your goals – but consider flexible
solutions
Identifying Sources of
Funding: The Grants
Marketplace
The Grants Marketplace: Federal
Government Funding
• Federal and State funding accounts for more than 75% of all money
granted (note that this is money granted, if contracts are included
the percentage would increase to well over 90%).
• Types of Federal Grants
 Categorical Grants – address a specific area of programmatic concern
 Block Grants – Pass categorical grant money to the state for administration
following state rules.
 Formula Grants – funds allocated according to set criteria such as number
of individuals below the poverty level. Specific to a problem area or
geographic region and must pass through an intermediary such as a city
government.
 Cooperative Agreement or Cooperative Research and Development
Agreement (CRADA) - An award similar to a grant, but in which the
sponsor's staff may be actively involved in proposal preparation, and
anticipates having substantial involvement in research activities once the
award has been made.
High Priority Projects
• A.K.A “Earmarks”
 “We’re a poor state and it’s only pork if it goes north of
the Ohio River.” Trent Lott
• Generally require a proposal which will be
submitted through a Congressman’s or
Senator’s office
• Will be included in a congressional bill
• If funded will be administered by the relevant
federal agency
 Execution of the project and expenditure of funds
must follow that agency’s policies and procedures
The Grants Marketplace: State
Government Funding
• In terms of dollars most of the state grants come from
federal block and formula grants.
 States can develop their own priorities for distribution of these
federal funds.
 States may add restrictions in addition to those imposed in the
federal guidelines, use a peer review system, or use elected
officials or political appointees to review applications.
• States also create their own programs and review may
or may not be by state-wide criteria.
Types of Grant Opportunities
• Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) - An announcement of a
federal agency's general research interests that invites proposals
and specifies the general terms and conditions under which an
award may be made.
• Investigator-Initiated Proposal - A proposal submitted to a sponsor
that is not in response to an RFP, RFA, or a specific PA.
• Program Announcement (PA) - Describes existence of a funding
opportunity. It may describe new or expanded interest in a particular
extramural program or be a reminder of a continuing interest in an
extramural program.
 Parent Announcements – A form of PA used by the NIH, span the
breadth of the NIH mission in order to ensure it has a way to capture
“unsolicited” applications that do not fall within the scope of targeted
announcements.
Types of Grant Opportunities
• Request for Applications (RFA) - Announcements that indicate the
availability of funds for a topic of specific interest to a sponsor.
Successful proposals submitted in response to RFAs generally
result in the award of a grant. Specific grant announcements may be
published in the Federal Register and/or specific sponsor
publications.
• Request for Proposal (RFP) - Announcements that specify a topic
of research, methods to be used, product to be delivered, and
appropriate applicants sought. Successful proposals submitted in
response to RFPs generally result in the award of a contract.
Notices of federal RFPs are published in the Commerce Business
Daily.
Contracts
• Contract - A mechanism for procurement of a
product or service with specific obligations for
both sponsor and recipient. Typically, a project of
interest to the funder and the methods for
conducting the project are specified in detail by
the sponsor, although some sponsors award
contracts in response to unsolicited proposals.
The Grants Marketplace:
Private Foundations
Types of Private Foundations
• National General Purpose Foundations
 These foundations have interests in several areas
and fund projects that will have a broad impact.
• Special Purpose Foundations
 Define their area of interest specifically
• Community Foundations
 Want to make a difference in the communities in
which they are based
• Family Foundations
Scholarship and Leadership Training Program
No region can have a bright future without strong leaders. The goal of our scholarship and
leadership training program is to identify and equip a talented network of young people for
future service in Northeast Tennessee. Scholarships are currently offered in the following
seventeen school districts: Bristol, Elizabethton, Greeneville, Johnson City, Kingsport,
Carter County, Cocke County, Greene County, Hamblen County, Hancock County,
Hawkins County, Jefferson County, Johnson County, Sevier County, Sullivan County,
Unicoi County and Washington County. There are currently 36 Scholars and 8 Alumni.
Partnership Program
The Partnership Program provides schools with the resources and expertise they need to
become successful. The focus is on schools facing economic challenges, leadership needs
or low student performance. Services include consulting, performance audits, strategic
planning, staff development, program implementation, assessment and follow-up. By
helping schools develop and maintain strong academic programs, the Foundation seeks to
enhance the educational opportunities of all children.
Patterns of Foundation Funding
• Education is the largest recipient of foundation
funds (25%) followed by human services (17%),
health (16%), and the arts (12%)
• Higher education receives more support than
any other aspect of education (15% compared
to 6% for K-12)
Identifying Potential Foundation
Funding
• Define your project, its goals and the specific
actions you will take to achieve those goals
• The Foundation Directory is the source for
information on sources of 92% of all foundation
funding.
• The Foundation Directory may often be found in
your public library and may be accessed on-line
in the Office of Research and Sponsored
Programs Administration at ETSU.
The Corporate Marketplace
The Corporate Marketplace: Education &
Health & Human Services
• Corporate giving comes in two forms – directly
from the corporation and from corporate
foundations
• The guiding principle of corporate giving is selfinterest – “this-for-that” – corporations do not
usually give away money, they invest it.
 The latest IRS rule allows up to 10% of their pre-tax
gifts and grants to not-for-profits as a tax deduction
 Education and health and human services are the two
biggest recipients of corporate contributions
The Corporate Marketplace: Culture & the
Arts
• Can you demonstrate that employees of the
corporation come to performances or sites
• Do employees of the corporation volunteer at
the performances or sites
• Do you interact with local agencies involved in
the same activities
• Do you offer activities such as family and school
activities that will assist the corporation in
recruiting employees
Entering the Proposal Writing
Process
Maximize Lead Time
• Having time to write a compelling proposal
is essential
• This begins with a proactive and early
search for funding opportunities
• You must create the quality time to
produce the proposal from generation of
the idea through gap analysis to
submission of the proposal
You Do Not Want to Get This Review
“The problems with this grant are legion,
but if I go on to detail them I will have
spent more time on the review than it
appears the applicant did in his
preparation of the proposal.”
General Guidelines for a Proposal
• Nothing beats a good idea
• Be realistic – You’re probably not going to solve
the problem of world hunger with your proposed
project
• Make the presentation clear and simple
• Make the presentation easy to read
• Present yourself and/or your organization and
partners, as the one group who can solve the
problem of interest to the funding entity
• Prepare a realistic budget and thoroughly justify
it
Nothing Beats a Good Idea
• Articulate a worthwhile, single, focused objective
• Articulate specific approaches to achieving the
objective that are clearly related to one another
and logically fit under the umbrella of the overall
objective
• Present and document gaps that need to be filled
• Plant the seed for achieving each specific
approach by presenting the questions to be
asked which will fill the gaps
Develop Your Idea
• Define the problem that you want to address
• Collect and critically analyze background
information related to the problem
• Develop, don’t force, the preliminary idea
• Assess the potential for success in solving the
problem based on your idea
• Seek constructive input/criticism from
knowledgeable colleagues
• Refine the idea to maximize its potential for
impact on your field
Assess Your Idea
• Critically asses whether or not you have the
necessary expertise, resources, personnel and
preliminary data to be competitive
• Find the agency that fits your idea
 Know what an agency can fund
 Funding your proposal should be compatible with
meeting the goals of the agency
 Contact the program officer and listen closely and
carefully
Sell Your Idea: The Successful Sell
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Make a good first impression
Be well-prepared
Be credible
Deliver a clear message
Provide supporting documentation
Include appropriate endorsements
Have something special to offer
Be persistent
Needs or Gap Analysis
• You must convincingly establish the need for the solution
to the problem you are interested in.
 Just because it is obvious to you doesn’t mean it’s
obvious to a potential grantor.
• What is the problem that requires a solution?
• What will happen if this problem is not solved?
• What is the gap between what exists now and what
ought to be or would be if the knowledge existed to solve
the problem?
• Why should grant funds be used now to solve the
problem and reduce the gap?
• What will be the return on the grantor’s investment?
Does Needs Analysis Apply to the
Basic Research Grant
• Yes – You must know the literature in your field
in depth such that you can generate hypotheses
which are based on what is not now known, but
must be known to advance the field.
• You must be on the “cutting edge”.
 You do not want to have your idea labeled as “old
science”
Writing the Proposal: General
Points
The Four Most Important Elements of
Grant-Writing
• Read the Instructions, understand the
Instructions, Follow the Instructions
• Read the Instructions, understand the
Instructions, Follow the Instructions
• Read the Instructions,
understand the Instructions,
Follow the Instructions
The Four Most Important Elements of
Grant-Writing
• AND THEN REALLY READ THE
INSTRUCTIONS
• Read the correct instructions
• Read all of the instructions
• Read the current instructions
• Read the RFA, RFP and/or PA especially
well as these are supplied to the reviewers
You Must Present the Proposal So That
It Answers These Questions
• What positively singles out this grant application
from all others under consideration?
• Why is this grant application special and,
therefore, deserving of support?
 In some state and federal service program grants the
instructions include specific areas where points may
be earned.
 This is especially the case of categorical and formula
grants and grants from the U.S. Department of
Education.
Make The Presentation Clear And
Simple
• Assume total ignorance on the part of the
reviewer
• Provide just enough background information so
the reviewer appreciates what you are proposing
 Extraneous information is distracting
• No abbreviations or acronyms without definition
• Use formatting for emphasis
• It’s ok to be somewhat redundant to call
attention to important points
Make The Presentation Clear And
Simple
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Compartmentalize information with bold
headings, key words & sentences
Make use of diagrams and
cartoons to describe
processes and concepts
Use a terminal sentence pointing to your goal at
the end of each compartment
Never exceed the specified page limits
Make The Presentation Easy To Read
• Do not be wordy – write like Hemingway, not
Faulkner
 Use simple declarative sentences
 Avoid complicated words, unusual abbreviations
(always define an abbreviation that is not common to
the area), and tortuous syntax
• Tell the reviewer what he is supposed to think
about the proposal and write in its review
Make The Presentation Easy To Read
• Do not force the reviewer to hunt through the
application for information
• Avoid “weak” words that may introduce doubt
into the mind of the reviewer about your ability to
do the work
 Example “We will try to establish conditions for
achieving better food choice behavior with the
following –” vs. “The following approaches will be
assessed in order to establish conditions for ---”
Order of Preparation
• Write the Goals and Proposed Methods to
achieve the goals first, then the Narrative,
then the Justification and Background and
finally the Title and Summary or Abstract
Present Yourself As The Greatest
Expert In The Field
• Know the background supporting the proposal in
depth and breadth
• Do not make statements without attribution or
preliminary data
• Do not be reluctant to admit shortcomings
• Seek collaborators or mentors when your
expertise cannot be documented
Present Yourself As The Greatest
Expert In The Field
This is an important project, which can be accomplished in timely
fashion because the basic support infrastructure required for the
successful completion of the project is already in place. The project
director is well qualified to accomplish the goals of this application. She
is a registered dietician and has extensive experience in managing
school food programs as evidenced by the experience presented in her
attached résumé. She has also developed a novel approach to foodchoice management in school children which has been presented at a
national meeting. The project director will be responsible for the
organization of the project project and for the overall administration of
the program.
Be Realistic
• Ask questions which are answerable
• Provide tantalizing preliminary data as
evidence that the questions are worth asking
and answerable
• Propose technical approaches which are
within the realm of your demonstrable
expertise
• The volume of work proposed should be
proportional to the time of support requested
and your other obligations
The Goals and Methods
• What do you propose to do
• How you propose to do it
• What results you expect and what they will
mean in terms of the overall project
• What might go wrong
• What alternative approaches will be used
to cope with potential problems
Narrative: Justification
• Significance
• Make it easy for the reviewers to identify the importance
of the impact the project or research will have
• Include direct sentence regarding the significance
• Significance projected must by pertinent to the interests
of the reviewers and the mission of the agency
• Background
• The purpose is not to be comprehensive – this is not the
introduction to your dissertation – be selective
• The purpose is to present a solid foundation for your
proposal
Narrative: Expectations and Impact
• Key section for developing advocacy
• Expectations must be realistic
• Each statement of expectation must be followed by a
statement as to why that outcome is important
 e.g. “This project is innovative and important because to date no
effective program has been implemented to change student food
choices in Appalachia. Poor food choice has been related to
childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease in later life.”
• Collective impact – Summary of how will all of the
outcomes advance the field
The Resources Section
• Should be a separate section
• Must be well written
• List key available facilities and equipment (if
appropriate) including larger pieces of standard
equipment, but do not include equipment or
facilities requested in your budget
• Include reference to people such as webpage
designers who may be consulted but are not
listed as key personnel
Background
• Describe what is known
• Describe what is not known (the gaps)
• Describe what needs to be done (what will
fill the gaps)
• Emphasize how achieving your goals will
meet the need, i.e., solve the problem that
you have highlighted
The Title
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Reviewers’ first impression
Should be informative
Must engender enthusiasm
Can influence assignment for review
Can be misunderstood and used out of context – this is
why you write it after the body of the proposal is finished
• Know whether or not there are restrictions on length
 If so, know whether the restriction pertains to characters or
characters and spaces
• List words that convey what you want to do and why it is
important
• Arrange words into a compelling, informative title that fits
the space
The Title
• Train Nurse Mentors in Research Skills
vs.
• Teach and Sustain Research Skills in
Nurses
The Summary
• The most difficult section of the proposal to write
• Should be written last
• Extract all essential information from the proposal
verbatim and then edit it to fit the space allowed
• Will be read by all reviewers
• Must convey all of the application’s essential information
• Must be written in plain English because it will be used to
summarize the agency’s investment
• It must convey infectious enthusiasm for the project
Submit a Realistic Budget
• Request only what you
need and you can
defend but do not
request less than you
need
• Justify every item in
the budget thoroughly
• Present evidence that
your
organization/institution
supports your project