Ingredients    

1. Excellent match between the grant proposal and the donor’s priorities
2. Answering the “so what” question of your research
3. Simple prose and white space on the paper
4. Examples of the approach
5. A clearly written proposal
6. The grand finale: the significance of the results

Preparation

Read the entire RFP, from top to bottom. Once you clearly understand the directions that the donor provided, you can begin to put the pieces of the proposal together. Double check that you and your organization are eligible for the grant you are seeking, and that your project or research aligns with the donor’s mission. This makes certain that the match is made between yourself and the donor, and preparation of the pieces of the proposal can begin. These segments will be the product of extensive research on your part to move in the right direction. The pieces are:

1. Abstract – This will take careful preparation since it is the most important part of the application. It is the first impression, the precise summary of the entire proposal, and the evidence that success is possible.
2. Introduction – This is where you will present the problem or question to be addressed. The “so what” question for your project or research must be apparent, and should begin or lead into the narrative.
3. Need Statement/Statement of Significance – This is where the convincing argument for the project takes place. You will tell your impressive story, citing research and examples with enthusiasm and clarity.
4. Plan of Operation/Methodology – This is the heart of the proposal. Your plan should be tightly structured and consist of the goal (or hypothesis), objectives (or Specific Aims), and activities. Each segment will clearly illustrate the way your proposal will unfold in a logical manner. The evaluation follows, which should be clearly outlined in the incremental measurements of each activity – and these will be used to ensure your success in meeting your goal.
5. Outcomes and deliverables– This will be the section that demonstrates how the outcomes have unfolded, and what you are delivering to your constituents and the donor. In short, this is the resulting product of your proposal.

Presentation

Your presentation should be memorable. Don’t assume that reviewers will overlook sloppiness because your idea is phenomenal. You can achieve a superior presentation with images, graphs, and Gantt charts, which are easy to understand and memorable. Most importantly, if your proposal will make a significant impact, it should be stated as such. For instance, provide examples of how your work will make a difference, change the field, save lives, or set the stage for future change. Whether the presentation necessitates the elegance of a fine dining restaurant or the simplicity of a well-prepared meal at home, the true mark of success lies in what was expected and what has been delivered in an impressive manner.

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Once, when I worked for a small, under-resourced organization, we created a project that perfectly fit a community need, was structured for efficiency, and had a large return on investment from donors. I approached an eager donor who was familiar with our efforts, our successes, and our available resources. I asked him for $1.3M. He told me he loved the project, was thrilled with our design, and really wanted to give us the gift. Then, he said, “unfortunately, your organization doesn’t have the ability to receive a gift as large as $1.3M.” I was dumbfounded. We had done everything right in evaluating, justifying, and planning a strategy to meet an essential need in our community. Yet, as an organization, we didn’t have the operational structure to receive a large donation. In that instant of excitement and disappointment, I realized that all fundraising efforts should only start after a close examination of an organization’s situation, their board, their staff, their infrastructure and their standing in the community. Each of these will influence an organization’s potential for raising funds.

The key steps in the process of assessing your fundraising capacity are: understanding how your organization is perceived internally and externally, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and prioritizing your efforts and resources. Likewise, a solid market analysis is essential in developing a diversified and successful fundraising strategy.

After these initial strategic considerations, the next level of capacity building is to determine the size of your potential donor database. Once you identify these donors, begin making the match between you and them and solicit funds to develop projects of mutual interest.

Specifically, the steps to build your organization into a financial success are:

1. Know your organization by creating:
   1. Strategic plan
   2. Market analysis
   3. Needs assessment
   4. Current assessment of potential donors
2. Build a successful board consisting of:
   1. Community leaders
   2. Business leaders
   3. Political leaders
   4. Philanthropic leaders
3. First level fundraising strategies consist of:
   1. Classic and contemporary media presence, from local news to social media
   2. Regularly scheduled newsletters and updates
   3. Direct solicitations to the donors you already know
   4. Building member databases
      1. Collect emails at public events
      2. Provide free membership while sharing emails
      3. Use current members to introduce new members
   5. Annual appeal letters to donors
      1. Tell a story
      2. Explain how the potential donor can help
      3. Ask for the money
   6. Exploring area philanthropies & corporate donors from
      1. Community foundations
      2. Local businesses
4. Second level fundraising strategies consist of:
   1. Grants
   2. Small to medium-sized special events
   3. Planned giving programs
5. Top level fundraising strategies consist of:
   1. Capital campaigns
   2. Large scale events

Fundraising strategies vary from one type of organization to another. If the organization is small, it is best to employ a strategy that builds your supporter database and directly solicits them for cash donations. In contrast, a large, established organization may be in the perfect position to host a sizable gala.

When your organization has a track record of successes, strategic efforts should be made to attract the most powerful and influential board members. These board members will bring credibility to your organization as you begin to seek larger donations. As your board stature grows, so will your options in fundraising.

An honest assessment of your organization and your place in the community will help you understand the best approach to take to effectively secure funds. Thus, with broad community recognition, a strong track record of success, financial efficiency, and influential board members, you’ll be able to employ a large diversity of effective fundraising strategies.

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The best way to collect information about the problem is for you to conduct and document both a formal and informal needs assessment for your program in the target or service area. The information you provide should be both factual and directly related to the problem addressed. Areas for you to document are:

• Purpose for developing the proposal – what need you identified or what problem will be solved. You also have to address why you identified this particular need and why you and your organization are credible and able to make a substantial difference in terms of the solution.

• Beneficiaries – who they are, how they will benefit, how they were chosen, how many were chosen and how you came up with this approach must be documented and specifically addressed.

• Social and economic costs – who and what will be affected and by how much. Here you will need to address the percentage of change you expect and why. Obviously, cost is always a consideration, and if you can demonstrate that your intervention will save institutional and individual costs, this will be to your benefit.

• The nature of the problem – provide as much hard evidence as possible. This will be accomplished via the literature review, your past experience, surveys, and past and present data that demonstrate your past and anticipated future success with the targeted beneficiaries.

• Objectives – the specific way you will solve the problem, including the resources needed, how they will be used, and to what end. The goal and objectives will be the “heart of your proposal” that together will constitute your plan of operation.

• Sustainability plan – explain what will happen to your project when funding has been exhausted. If there is a way to institutionalize the approach  (e.g. train the trainers), this will demonstrate that the donor’s funding will make an ongoing difference, not just a one-time intervention.

There are several types of data you might want to collect, depending on the project: historical, geographic, statistical, as well as studies completed in your field. Unless otherwise specified, a mix of qualitative and quantitative data usually works best.

The need statement will ultimately be about an area of concern, a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to be eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature that requires understanding and deliberate intervention. Making the need and your credibility to solve the problem clear to the donor, will make the difference between being funded and rejected.

The post The Core of Your Proposal: The Problem Statement appeared first on Grant Training Center Blog.

Steps You Must Take to Promote Your Idea to a Foundation

• The first step to determining how best to approach a foundation is to do your research. You can begin with their website, which in many cases includes what they do, what they fund, who they fund and what they believe are important problems that need to be solved.
• To avoid speaking a different language than the donor, research the foundation’s history. How they evolved and who they are today will shed light on their core values and the issues that are important to them. Once you have identified these elements, make a chart that includes: the foundation’s name, funding priorities, geographical funding region, and how your request parallels their vision.
• Review the foundation’s tax returns (990PF) to identify who they funded, how much money they gave and the purpose of their funding. This will give you a more comprehensive view of how your request compares to what they support.
• Understanding the makeup of the foundation’s board and leadership will give you excellent insight into the approach you will need to take in making your request. If, for example, you are submitting a proposal to a foundation that funds issues related to health disparities and the board is made up of physicians, business persons, and patients, your language should be such that your proposal speaks to all of them at the same time.
• Once you have done your research, you will need to customize your “elevator pitch” using language that the donor understands, and frame your work as an opportunity for the donor to fulfill their mission. Here you will need to align your mission, values, and vision in a manner that makes you a credible partner.

Let us look at some examples of what foundations want and what they expect from grant seekers. Starting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the first thing that we see on their website is what they believe to be their greatest priorities in the U.S. and abroad. Specifically, they describe those as follows:

The path out of poverty begins when the next generation can access quality healthcare and a great education.In developing countries, we focus on improving people’s health and wellbeing, helping individuals lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, we seek to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—can access the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.

They emphasize their values, mission, vision and priorities throughout the website. This information, along with further research, will give you an understanding of whether you are a good fit, and if so, how you should align your proposal to speak the same language.

Turning to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation website, we immediately see the words “We believe” with a description of what they fund:

We believe in supporting and building upon the mindsets, methods and modes of change that hold promise to advance children’s best interests generally, and those of vulnerable children in particular.

They further explain where they focus their resources:

Concentrating our resources on early childhood (prenatal to age 8), within the context of families and communities, offers the best opportunity to dramatically reduce the vulnerability caused by poverty and racial inequity over time.

At the end of the day, your grant proposal should complement a foundation’s mission and vision. You will best succeed if you speak the same language, fit into the same culture, and present a plan that promises mutual future success.

The post Do You Speak the Private Donor`s Language? appeared first on Grant Training Center Blog.

Why do you want to do this? The immediate answer should be because you care about the idea, which will serve either a specific population in need or fill an important knowledge gap in the field. Another important reason for your desire to do this is your passion for the subject. This is a key element in grant writing that should be expressed in an honest and convincing manner. Unfortunately, this is a major pitfall for many investigators who have been taught to write manuscripts, which require a dispassionate writing style that utilizes a passive voice.

Why does it need to be done? Your own hunch is the first step in answering this question. You probably have worked in the field and noticed over and over again that something is missing and needs to be corrected. The next step is a thorough review of the literature that will address what is absent in solving the problem that you propose to tackle. It might also be that you have made a thorough investigation of what your population needs via questionnaires, observations, and discussion. Their answers will lead to the intervention and the reason you are about to apply for a grant. At this point, you will need to address the significance of your project in an innovative and transformative way.

Why should we believe that you can do it? If your project is feasible, focused and persuasive, the next step will be to convince your donor that the project is worth doing and that you are the best person to do it. The single most persuasive item that you can provide is evidence of your credibility via your extensive experience in the field, your academic training, publications, synergistic activities, and if the donor requires, letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, partners and mentors. The same would apply to your team and organization. In other words, is your team credible, and is your organization supportive?

How are you going to do it? This will be your business plan, which will be logically written in the prescribed format that the donor requests. The “how” requirements can vary from grant to grant. For project grants, it will include the goal and the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives. For a research grant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it will include your hypothesis, specific aims and methodology. For others such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), your intellectual merit and broader impacts will delineate how you will do it. This section will require specificity, creativity and a keen understanding that there may be obstacles along the way, but that you are prepared to address and solve them when you encounter them.

Where have you gone for the information? The steps you have taken to understand the need for your project will be shown by the literature review and the preliminary data. For example, have you thoroughly researched the problem? Did you address the “so what” question? Did you seek evidence-based information? An example of the latter might be the best evidence for diagnosis, treatment and prevention options for health disorders that are tailored to the characteristics and context of the individual patient and the resources of the provider.

What distinguishes winning proposals are the answers to the above questions, which ultimately translate to your thorough understanding of the problem and your passion and fervor in undertaking the project. Your credibility as the director of the project and the credibility of your institution will also be key contributors to a successful proposal. At the end of the day, the pathway to being funded will depend on clear writing, a thorough literature review and a detailed and focused business plan that walks the donor through the actions that you will take to succeed.

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Lack of significance

To help reviewers better understand the significance of an application, investigators should make an effort to address the following questions: Why is the work important? How will it push the field forward? What is the potential long-term effect that this research will have on science and public health? If an applicant does not clearly articulate these points, reviewers will likely lose enthusiasm for the application. Ultimately, the applicant must present a convincing case that the proposed research is worthy of reaching the top of the competition.

Lack of original ideas

Even senior investigators may fall prey to the criticism that their proposal does not demonstrate innovation. When applying to the National Science Foundation (NSF) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant seekers should look at examples of what these agencies consider to be paradigm shifts in science. As a consequence, showing that you will address the current knowledge gaps in the field will go a long way in convincing the reviewers that you are making a real contribution.

Overambitious problem

Limiting your application to only a few Specific Aims/objectives keeps you clear of the very common mistake of being overly ambitious. It’s much better to think small and propose less than to do the opposite. Start broadly with an emphasis on significance, and then focus on your specific hypothesis, to be followed by methodology that the reviewers can readily assess. While you could design a project around two to four Specific Aims/objectives, most researchers recommend three.

Investigator does not have experience

Your qualifications lay the foundation for your grant-seeking efforts– whatever you write in your application is immaterial unless the reviewers deem you able to complete the work you propose. They will scrutinize your application for your credentials, publications, and presentations at scientific meetings to determine whether you are a new investigator or an experienced one breaking into a new field. You may need outside collaborators to round out the technical expertise that your research demands.

Lack of direction

Once you have developed your Specific Aims/objectives and you are confident that they are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound), what will be the experiments necessary to address those Aims/objectives? Note that your experimental design should convince the reviewers that you can reach your Aims/objectives. It will greatly help if you carefully consider the following questions: who, what, when, where, and how much money will you need to achieve your goal? Also, it is key to consider potential pitfalls or alternative approaches to your methodology.

In summary, to write a successful research proposal you need to: present a clear plan for carrying out your research, including your methodology and resources; and specifically address significance, innovation, direction, focus and experience.

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What Is a Research Problem?

Generally speaking, a research problem is a situation that needs a solution and for which there are possible solutions. Everyone wants to be young, and nobody wants to age. Aging seems like a problem that needs a solution. But there is no possible solution. People must age. Thus, research on how to stay young forever makes little sense. On the other hand, a solution to a problem that fills a gap in the existing knowledge is a good basis for a research problem. An example might be that obesity among adolescents can be reduced via healthy eating and regular exercise. Here obesity is the problem, and there are possible solutions. A good problem will originate from a research question formulated from observation, a literature review, a study of previous experiments, and your own preliminary data.

What Is a Problem Statement?

The description of the issue that currently needs to be addressed will be the problem statement. This will be the focus of your research, provide the context of the study and generate the questions that your research will answer. Your problem statement, written in one sentence, will establish the issues and information you will be discussing, and will be what the rest of the proposal hinges upon. You might also want to think of the problem statement as the goal of your research under which everything will unfold. This means that in subsequent sections of the application there should be no surprises. If it can’t be found in the problem section, then it either does not belong in the study, or the problem statement itself needs to be re-written.

The following example establishes the totality of what will subsequently unfold: “Dietary behaviors are still being formed in grade school and middle school children; thus, changing unhealthy eating behaviors to healthy ones can go a long way in addressing the problem of childhood obesity”¹. While this problem statement is just one sentence, it should be accompanied by a few paragraphs that elaborate on the problem.

What Are Key Components of the Problem Statement?

The problem statement should “hook” the reader and establish a persuasive context for what follows. You need to be able to clearly answer the questions: what is the problem and why should this problem be studied? At the same time, the problem statement limits the scope by focusing on some variables and not others. It also provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate why these variables are important.

Problem statements often contain the following three elements:

1. The problem itself should be stated clearly and with enough contextual detail to establish why it is important. An example might be: “The hazards of being overweight or obese in childhood and adolescence have been well researched. The Bogalusa Heart Study found that 60% of the overweight children by the time they reach 10 y have at least 1 biochemical or clinical cardiovascular risk factor and children 25% or more overweight have more than 2.”¹

2. The method of solving the problem is often stated as a claim or a working thesis. For example, under the auspices of school-based interventions, “increasing fruit and vegetable intake, controlling portion sizes, and limiting sweetened drink consumption along with regular exercise and behavior modifications are very important parts of strategies aimed at combating childhood obesity.”¹

3. The testing of the problem will take place via the objectives such as (a) examining if the reduction of certain behaviors can lead to changes in eating habits, which in turn combat childhood obesity, and (b) establishing that school-based interventions are a major channel for behavior modification in exercise and eating habits.

All proposals will require a problem statement, which will explain to the reader the goal of the study, how the goal will unfold and be tested and what types of studies or literature will be referenced. Without the problem statement, the reader may become lost in technical terms and may just skip sections trying to find the purpose of the study. It is essential that the problem statement is presented immediately and clearly, so the reviewers recognize and understand the importance and purpose of the proposal.

[1] Sharma, M. (2015). Dietary Education in School-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs. Advances in Nutrition, 6(5), 2075. Retrieved from http://advances.nutrition.org/content/2/2/207S.full.pdf+html.

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• An idea that is clearly defined and focused, is well researched, is needed, has a broad impact, and can be accomplished within the lifetime of the grant should be the main focus of your proposal.

• A Statement of Need/Significance that makes a strong argument for funding is an integral component proposal component. You will need to specify how this need for was identified. If you are writing a research grant, your preliminary data should justify your argument for further research. If you are writing a project grant, utilize your literature review and experience to make the case for why you should be funded.

• Examples of how your project will unfold and how your team will work together are of critical importance for the donor to understand the specific implications of your project. Also, describing real-life scenarios is an approach that gives emphasis and meaning to the project you are undertaking.

• A Plan of Operation that presents the specifics of your proposal in a logical manner is your business plan. The donor must understand what you intend to do throughout the lifetime of the proposal. You should include a clear goal, measurable objectives, activities that can easily be budgeted, and outcomes that clearly parallel and are related to the objectives.

• A narrative that is written in positive terms should be utilized throughout the proposal. Some writers believe that if they describe how bleak a situation is, someone will give them money to solve the problem. This is not true. Funders prefer backing proposals that describe worthwhile programs that will meet identified needs and match the criteria set forth by the granting agency.

• Clearly written prose that does not overuse jargon or acronyms is a key ingredient for success. The use of language that is unknown to the reader is a distraction that could easily work against you. After all, you may use terminology that is specific to you on a daily basis, but that may not be the case for the reviewer.

• A budget that matches each activity of the proposal will demonstrate that you paid close attention to detail. All bases must be covered. If you are going to purchase hardware, have you purchased software? If you plan to offer training, how long will it be, who will conduct it, how much will it cost?

• Strong dissemination components signal that you will give back to your community what you learned throughout the lifespan your grant. This section is often extensive in some proposals that require broader impacts to address education, while in others it might be a presentation at a conference or a publication.

• Directions that are followed precisely will ensure your stewardship. If a scoring rubric or evaluation checklist is given to you, read it and follow those directions. Also, ensure that the margins, font size, and formatting are exactly as requested in the Request for Proposal (RFP).

• Professional presentation requires excellent grammar, concise sentences, a mixture of graphics and narrative and well constructed arguments for funding. It will translate into the impression you make on the reviewers.

Extensive preparation should take place before you begin writing a proposal. You need to determine exactly what you want to do, describe why your project is important, make the match with the donor’s interests, and then decide what should be included in your grant. This will be the conceptualization of your grant, and will initially involve the design of your project, not the writing. By carefully designing your project first and writing second, you will set in place the key elements that will make for a winning proposal.

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Below I outline six major differences between the two contrasting styles and clarify how the two approaches require different skills:

Purpose

Academic writing is:

• A scholarly pursuit for publication in peer-reviewed journals that is centered on the theory and thesis of the idea. Attention is on the complexity of the subject and the effectiveness of the methodology that was used to prove the hypothesis. Ultimately, it is a scholarly publication that proves the ability and innovation of the individual author.

Grant writing is:

• Constrained by the Request for Proposal (RFP) and/or the sponsor. It is a plan that is centered on the goal, objectives, activities, evaluation and anticipated outcomes of the project. It becomes a business plan centered around the donor’s mission and goals.

Writing

Academic writing is:

• Expository and informs the reader about what has occurred that resulted in the publication. The text is organized around one topic and developed according to a pattern or combination of patterns.

• Written in the past tense, since it is research that has been accomplished. This often leads to writing in the passive voice.

• Not limited by length constraints, and if it is, it is not restricted by the number of spaces or words.

• Written in an impersonal tone, which is objective and dispassionate.

• Rewarded when it is written in difficult prose, which utilizes jargon, long paragraphs and numerous acronyms. It is assumed that the difficult prose is meant to be understood by the sophisticated reader.

Grant writing is:

• Written in persuasive language that it is meant to sell the idea to the sponsor. Innovative and transformative ideas are meant to be convincing through the “so what question”, preliminary data, and literature review.

• Written in the present and future tenses, since it is work that will be accomplished and proven via the hypothesis, objectives, and outcomes.

• Strictly constrained by the requirements specified in the RFP.

• Written in a personal tone that conveys salesmanship, passion, and impact.

• Encourages easy language that is written in short and precise sentences and paragraphs. Jargon and acronyms are highly discouraged, since those who review the proposal do not have the time to interpret what the prospective grantee is saying.

Ultimately, academic writing is primarily individualistic, whereas grant writing is a team effort that can include colleagues across disciplines. The transition from one set of skills to the other is not an easy one, since most academics have not been trained in the art of selling a product. This certainly does not mean that learning grant writing skills is an insurmountable task. It simply implies that a transition needs to be made in the presentation and description of ideas.

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1) Dates and Submission Procedures

Knowing and adhering to the deadline for proposal submission is critical. This section will also contain directions on where to submit the proposal, which in most cases will be through Grants.gov. If directed to submit through this venue, understanding how to do so is extremely important, otherwise it can be a difficult and taxing experience.

2) Eligibility

RFPs contain very specific parameters specifying who is eligible to submit proposals and who is not. It is vital to follow these requirements. One of the worst rejection reasons you can receive is that you are not eligible for the competition in the first place. This will occur if you or others on your team did not do their homework.

3) Instructions on Details of the Proposal

In this section you will find the instructions for formatting, organizing, and submitting your proposal. Whether or not including appendices and other components is allowed will also be described here. It is not unusual to see as many as 50% of submitted proposals rejected due to applicants not following these directions. It is highly frustrating to be eliminated for using the wrong font or incorrect margins.

4) Statement of Work

The RFP will define the goal and, in many cases, the objectives of the project. What the agency wants to fund and in what areas will be spelled out in this section. If your own goals and objectives do not exactly fit, you should have a conversation with the program officer to ensure that your approach will be allowed.

5) Budget

The amounts and categories for the request will be clearly outlined in the RFP, including matching requirements, amounts that can be charged for administration and other related categories. This will also be the section where you are told how to format your line items, what your budget justification should include, and what forms need to be completed.

6) Scoring Criteria

These are the criteria that determine how your proposal will be scored. When reading this section, look for the scoring method, score weighting and evaluation process. Knowing how your proposal will be assessed will give you an understanding of where to direct your efforts and how best to write your narrative. Ultimately, by understanding these criteria, you will be able to write in a way that reviewers can easily locate the areas for scoring. At all costs you should avoid making the reviewers work.

These six elements are the major sections of the RFP that pertain directly to writing the proposal. There will, however, be other information you will need to know and complete, such as certifications and various forms. The RFP tells you what the federal agency wants and expects in the grant solicitation. It is then up to you to inform the federal agency how you will carry out the program. Becoming a student of the RFP and paying attention to all the specifics will ensure that you will not be rejected because of minor details such as an incorrect font, or in the worst case scenario, for not being eligible for the competition in the first place.

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