How to AvoidGrant Proposal Rejection?

What is a Grant Proposal?

• Grants are non-repayable funds given out by grant makers, often a government department, corporation, foundation, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business, or an individual.

• To receive a grant, "Grant Writing“is required, which is referred to as either a grant proposal or a grant application.

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF A GOOD GRANT PROPOSAL?

• Your proposal should be clear and should flow well. You should state the objectives of the research and exactly how you plan to attain them.

• Ensure that all the objectives directly relate to your hypothesis. Thus, the grant committee will understand the clear thought behind the proposal.

Clarity

Ask yourself:Is my proposal well presented?

1. Clarity

• Most grant agencies expect proposals to be holistic. A proposal whose impact can extend beyond research labs and benefit a larger group can likely get accepted.

• If your proposal can bring about collaboration between disciplines, have multiple uses, influence students’ learning, or inspire further research, it has chances of getting endorsed.

Ask yourself:Does my proposal have sufficient impact?

Impact

2. Impact

Realistic

• Your proposal should provide a logical and realistic account of the methods you intend to use, the estimated timelines, and the resources required.

• A proposal promising to deliver precise results may not get a positive response. Instead, grant makers may prefer a proposal that can provide interesting results even if all the objectives are not met.

Ask yourself:Is my proposal realistic?

3. Realistic approach

WHY ARE GRANT PROPOSALS REJECTED?

• Your idea may have been innovative and great. But if it does not match the scope and needs of the funding institute, the reviewers may decide to reject your proposal.

• Every agency/institute has its own goals and priorities, and these will be the deciding factors for all the proposals submitted to it.

!

1. The proposal is not suitable for the agency

• Usually, grants have to be written according to the guidelines and requirements of the agency you apply to. You should also ensure that your proposal is well structured, well edited, and free of grammatical and linguistic errors.

• A haphazardly written proposal that disregards guidelines and lacks editing might be ignored by funding bodies.

2. The proposal is badly written

• Your proposal should be written such that the grant committee is convinced about the potential high impact and importance of your proposal. Providing a background for the idea and citing research that prompted your idea would give a solid foundation to your proposal.

• You should cite literature wherever required and provide statistics, which will help set your idea in a proper context.

3. The proposal is not persuasive andlacks citations

• If your grant proposal gets rejected despite taking all necessary steps:

Read the reviewers’ comments carefully. They may have pointed out some problems in your proposal you had not foreseen.

Check with the grant committee ifresubmission of the proposal is possible.

If resubmission is not an option, find some other agency that isbetter suited for your proposal.

Ultimately, treat the grant application processas a learning experience.

What should you do if your proposal is rejected?

Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_(money) • http://chronicle.com/article/How-Your-Grant-Proposal/47471/ • http://chronicle.com/article/RejectionIts-Discontents/139403/?

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