Grant & Proposal Writing Best Practice

Preparation

• Read the Funding Opportunity/NOFO/RFP completely and thoroughly; highlight it and make notes on it. This is your tool for writing the best grant proposal that meets funder expectations.
• Talk to program officers. Reach out early to see about funding suitability, questions regarding the application, and other pertinent issues. At some agencies they can direct you to other opportunities you may not know about.
• Talk to those who received funding from the same or similar institutions. What feedback did they receive?
• Create a database of due dates, materials, and other necessary materials you will need. Many extramural funding agencies ask for documentation that is not easily accessible to researchers and you will need the ArtSci Grant Proposal Development Services help in locating these materials.
  • Reminder: SPO needs a minimum of 4 working days prior to the due date to review your application for compliance.
• Start on Kuali soon by meeting with a member of the Proposal Development Services Team early in the process; as soon as you know that you’ll apply.
• Discuss the possibility with your department head. You may need a letter from them, and they could provide guidance as to the time period you should perform the work, etc.
• Pre-tenured faculty should also check with their T&P chair to ensure that this will positively impact the tenure and promotion dossier.

Making your case

• Most agencies provide criteria by which your application will be evaluated. Make sure that your application answers those criteria and makes a strong case.
• The most important criterion for most humanities applications is “significance.” In other words, what will this study or work do to help advance knowledge in your chosen field? This should be lofty but realistic.
  • Who will read your work?
  • Does it have public policy implications? Environmental? Educational?
  • Is this specific to your field or wider higher education/education writ-large?
• Don’t try to shoehorn your project into a funding source that fundamentally changes the nature of your research, methodology, or the questions you want to ask. Everything will feel awkward as a result.
• State the purpose very clearly in the first paragraph. Don’t make the reader search for this. Most reviewers are skimming quickly after doing other responsibilities. Make it clear to them what the project is doing.
• Show don’t just tell. Be clear about what you’re going to do (methods, sources, etc), but explain why you’re doing that and give them specifics.
• Explain your project in the larger scholarly context. Know the literature, issues, questions, and controversies of your topic. How are you building on, challenging, departing from, expanding the work of tother scholars in your areas?
• Be realistic with your work plan. While ambition is important, realistic goals are paramount.

Writing for your audience

• You need to persuade both generalists, specialists, and potentially significant outsiders to your field about the project’s importance and significance. Balance how much you show specialists versus generalists. Avoid excessive jargon and/or define jargon when necessary for less familiar scholars.
• Write clearly and concisely. Avoid abstract language. Avoid long sentences.
• If stated, make sure you use the preferred citation style outlined in the RFP. If one is not provided, use the citation style that most in your field would be familiar with.

Nitty Gritty

• Proofread your work several times. Especially titles. Titles are an area that see the most mistakes and can really set a bad tone for review.
• Write your abstract last. You might then adjust your intro to better reflect the abstract, especially if the abstract clearly state’s your project’s purpose.
• Ensure that your references and bibliographies are up to date. Cutting-edge scholarship is important to include and often those people are chosen to be reviewers.
• Ask colleagues outside of your immediate field to read the work and provide feedback.
• Consider the budget carefully. Review USU policies regarding travel and hiring of contracted workers, etc. Consult with Proposal Development Team on budget.
• Ensure all file formats are correct.
• Did we say proofread?