Preparing Great Grant Proposals!

Dr. Kristi H. MartinesDirector of Grant Development

NKU, Research, Grants & Contracts

NKU Routing Form Mandatory (handout 1)

http://rgc.nku.edu see “routing form link” at bottom

1. BUDGET CONTACT Mary Ucci (x5768) – after her approval

2. Signatures of Chair AND Dean are required3. Return form to RGC so that Signature of

Authorized Institutional Rep. (Dr. Carole Beere) is obtained by RGC)

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DAY THE PROPOSAL IS DUE TO CALL RGC!

Types of Proposals

• Letters of Intent to Apply• Letters of Inquiry • Pre-proposals• Full Proposals

*REGARDLESS of the TYPE of proposal, read the funding agency’s guidelines before you prepare anything!

Funding Agencies• Agencies differ on their method of:

– Submission• NSF requires FastLane• NIH is working on NIH Commons

– Required forms• All Federal sources require several forms

*You can not wait until the last minute to put these forms together – RGC will provide help in filling in and answering these forms!

The Overall Plan of A Proposal

• Develop the Idea• Establish the Need• Develop a Problem Statement• Plan to address the problems with goals

and objectives (which relate directly to the...

• Action Plan• Evaluation• Budget• Letters of Commitment (NOT SUPPORT)

Developing an Idea!

• What kind of project would you like to conduct?

• What are your funding priorities?

Research: what does that mean? Instruction/Training Service Equipment

Finding A Funding Source

• Where to look?

• Go to http://rgc.nku.edu (look at “Funding Opportunities, then “External

Sources”)

SPIN SMARTS (handout 2)

Finding A Funding Source (2)

Grant Select

RGC : contact the RGC office for searches specific to projects you

would like to conduct

Does that source fit your project. The #1 complaint among reviewers is that the PI didn’t read the directions – wasting your time and theirs!

Finding A Funding Source (2)

NOW, DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Does your project, it’s goals and your plan fit what the agency wants to fund?

Once You’ve Found A Source...

•Breakdown the requirements of the grant into bullet (or outline) format – review several times so as not to miss anything.

•Use THEIR wording in your headings (e.g., if they say “objectives”, don’t give them “goals”

Establishing a Need

*What is your “target population”? Who do you want to serve? –

regardless of your project, the organizations funding you want to know how they will be helping others?

They will also want to know what they are getting out of it (more later).

Establishing a Need (2)

• Once you know who you want to help, you will have to find proof that the target population needs help!

• RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH

• RGC has some info on Kentucky and the US.

• Check with Office of Institutional Research for NKU-specific numbers

Problem Statement

Now that you have an idea of what you’d like to accomplish, who it will help, and how it will help, you can make a “problem statement” (a paragraph) that sums this up!

Goals & Objectives

• Many grant proposals label the same items in different ways… but in your plan to address the problem, you will state your goals and objectives and what specific actions you will take to address these. This is a good place for a summary table (handout 3).

Action Plan

• Action Plan must match the goals/objectives!

• Can not be too ambitious, it must be attainable and it must be measurable (next class!).

Effective Writing

You must mean what you say and say what you mean. Every person (at least on the 3rd draft) feels as though their writing is poetry – it’s NOT!

Have another two or three people read for content, language, spelling, grammar, and nonsense!

The 15 minute Test

Persuasiveness and Active Voice

• The grant needs to sound active and proactive.

• Weak writing, with too many unnecessary words

leaves the reviewer dozing off.

• Keep it lively, with graphs and charts.

• Leave page limit to a minimum!

The World Today • Money is tighter than ever before

– your proposal must stand out!• There is a growing demand for

projects dealing with Homeland Security Bioterrorism Math and Science Education “Bridging the Gaps” in All Types of

Education Among Others...

Always remember... Make the

program officer your friend!

ASK QUESTIONS!

Sometimes when you finish a grant, you feel like Webster - Don’t get discouraged

Formative vs. Summative Evaluations

• Formative Evaluation: Making progress toward achieving its objectives.

• Summative Evaluation: Achieving its objectives at the end of the project period.

External Evaluation

• What is an external evaluation?

• Why is it important?

Sustainability

• How will your project continue after the money dries up?

• There are few if any grant programs (public or private) who will NOT ask this question.

• How will you sustain your project?

Sustainability

• Saying that you will “apply” for more grants is not enough!

• Buy in – NKU, others??

Budget Development

• What EXACTLY are you looking to accomplish. You should answer this before you start looking for a funding agency!

• If you know what you want to accomplish, you can find an agency who matches your goals as well as your budget!

Budget Development• What can you ask for?

– Reassign time (and benefits)– Equipment– Research supplies– Travel– Student Stipends– INDIRECT COSTS

• RGC has examples (and spreadsheets for budgets)

Budget Development

• What are fringe benefits:Staff = (salary x 0.15) + 3864Faculty = (salary x 0.19) + 3864

• And when you factor in summer, it gets more confusing!!!

• SOLUTION…

Budget Development

• CALL Mary Ucci to get an idea of what your reassign time is worth!

• After you have a budget together, you will need to review it with Mary Ucci before your chair, dean, and the authorized institutional representative will sign off on your proposal!

Budget Development

• The authorized institutional representative is Dr. Carole Beere, Associate Provost of Outreach and Dean of Graduate Studies.

• She will approval a proposal to leave NKU (to be submitted) only after RGC has reviewed it.

Budget Development

• Matching policy

–Mandatory

–Documented evidence that matching monies will increase the chances of grant approval

Why all the paperwork?• There are many federal and Commonwealth

laws – of which NKU rules (for external funding) are based on.

• Some include the inability to use federal dollars as matching dollars for federal projects!

• All rules that come out from NKU RGC are based on laws and best practices.

The Abstract

• Also called the “Executive Summary” is the last thing you write.

• It is a 1-3 paragraph description of the project that succinctly describes the project.

• It easiest to write it last after you have all of the specific details ironed out.

• To write a successful grant, one of the most important things is to have a “unique” idea or a novel project. (See ornithologist example!)

• Finding the right funding agency (best fit) is as important!

Top 13 Reasons Why Grants Receive Unfavorable Reviews13. Typos 12. Poor grammar11. The use region-specific assumptions:

You know what you’re talking about – unfortunately, they don’t! (bridge example)

10. Unclear writing! Too tired to hunt – reviewers can’t understand how the project you propose relates to the actual guidelines

Top 13 Reasons Why Grants Receive Unfavorable Reviews…9. Budget does not relate to proposal

objectives, budget too high, budget too low

8. Sloppy work7. Establishing a need for the project6. Evaluation – or lack thereof5. No sustainability plan4. Proposed project does not fit RFP –

call Program Director

Top 13 Reasons Why Grants Receive Unfavorable Reviews…3. Unreasonable goals 2. Duplication of efforts 1. LACK of PLANNING AHEAD:

writing, etc

The use of region-specific assumptions

• You know what you’re talking about, but do they?

“This program is aimed at working with people north of the Bridge.”

“The CPu projects directly to the MFB, which projects finally to the SNpc”

• It is vital that you know who your audience is!

• Never assume that a “local” audience will understand

Unclear writing

• Too tired to hunt – reviewers can’t understand how the project you propose relates to the actual guidelines

– Match wording in program solicitation with proposal headings (handouts)

– Uses “evaluation criteria” as best model

– Comments from NKU faculty who have reviewed proposals

Unclear Writing

• NSF’s new requirement:(1) the intellectual merit of the proposed

activity; and (2) the broader impacts resulting from

the proposed activity.

Effective Writing

You must mean what you say and say what you mean. Every person (at least on the 3rd draft) feels as though their writing is poetry – it’s NOT!

Have another two or three people read for content, language, spelling, grammar, and nonsense!

Unreal Budget

• While some granting agencies have salary caps, it is important to remember that the purpose of the grant money is to accomplish the project! (not necessarily to provide one with 50% reassign time)

• Never undersell! Shipping, handling, per diem (rats), etc.

Sloppy Work• Believe it or not… several reviewers have

commented on the low level of professionalism displayed in some proposals– Mislabeled figures, tables, appendices– Missing text – Section headers on last line of a page– No consistency in margins, spacing– Varying font type and size

Need

What is your “target population” ?

Who do you want to serve? – regardless of your project, the organizations funding you want to know how they will be helping others?

Funding agencies will also want to

know what they are getting out of it.

Need • Once you know who you want to

help, you will have to find proof that the target population needs help –or-

• Proof that your project will be useful to science and society !

• RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH

Evaluation• Many proposals do not have an adequate

evaluation plan.

• Formative Evaluation: Making progress toward achieving its objectives. Measures throughout the project.

• Summative Evaluation: Achieving its objectives at the end of the project period.

Evaluation

•What is an external evaluation?

•Why is it important?

Sustainability

• How will your project continue after the money dries up?

• There are few if any grant programs (public or private) who will NOT ask this question.

• How will you sustain your project?

Sustainability (programmatic)

•Saying that you will “apply” for more grants is not enough!

•Buy in – NKU, others??

Project does not fit the solicitation

•Trying to be sneaky! - CCLI

•Very, very important to discuss your project with a person at the funding agency before you write it up...

Duplication of Efforts • Important to determine if any local agencies

have grants or contracts to do similar work - may need to reconsider submitting if duplication of effort is perceived.

• If significant differences or improvements in the proposed project's goals can be clearly established, and a collaboration developed, chances for receiving funding increase.

And the #1 reason why grants proposals are not

funded...

Lack of Planning

Always remember...

Make the program officer

your friend!