Armstrong Atlantic State University Office of Sponsored Programs

Proposal Writing Tips

 General Thoughts 

• tenths of a point can separate successful and unsuccessful proposals.  Make yours stand out.
• applications that address community needs, vs. “cookie-cutter” proposals, are more desirable.

 Getting Started: 

• Have an idea/plan before finding programs and their deadlines.
• Assess organizational talents/strengths…do you have the right staff on board? If not, get them in place.
• Determine community needs & prioritize them.
• Forge partnerships if required/needed.
• Research available programs and deadlines; contact your Office of Sponsored Programs.
• Make sure your proposal addresses ALL invitational priorities listed in the funding announcement.

 Consider Becoming a Peer Reviewer: 

• Submit your resume to an agency.
• You’ll be assigned to a panel of 3-5 members.
• You’ll score between 5-15 proposals in a week
• Some agencies will let you do this from home
• Your expenses paid, and some agencies might offer an honorarium
• As you provide constructive feedback, you will GAIN INSIGHT TO THE GRANT-WRITING PROCESS; learn how to write them better yourself
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 The Funding Announcement/Notice:

• Read it THOROUGHLY.
• Note application workshops – many agencies/programs will give FREE workshops with insight into the application process/writing.
• Get in touch with Program contact person, ask them questions, and let them get to know you.  Many sponsors will note that an application is forthcoming, and it will receive a different status than those that arrive without advance contact. 

 Key Program Questions: 

• What is the award amount per grant, how many projects will be funded?  Do your own cost-benefit analysis to see if it’s worth submitting, if, say, only 10-15 proposals will be awarded.
• Who is the program contact?  Politely harass them with questions and for advice. 
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 Writing the Proposal:

• Establish definite timelines.
• Suggested recipe: 2/3 planning; 1/3 writing.
• Develop a writing strategy: consider a team of writers, 1 to do the budget, 1 to do the evaluation section, 1 to do a needs assessment, an editor to put it all together.
• Build an organization bio (boiler-plate) and use information from other departments (HR, Institutional Research).
• Detail the costs that will be involved.
• Make the proposal a “Monetary Road Map:”

   Ø     Be clear, concise and detailed.
   Ø     Use up-to-date research and statistics.
   Ø     Align it with your institution’s mission/purpose.
   Ø     Plot the life of the grant.
   Ø     Show how you will achieve project goals.
   Ø     Address all the priorities in the program announcement.

• It’s okay to say, “without these funds….” and describe negative possibilities, but reviewers tend to prefer a proposal that focuses on positives.

• Applications should NOT raise questions without providing answers; the application should BE an answer.
  

• Ensure that budget items are

   Ø     Allowable: permitted or not specifically prohibited by regulation.
   Ø     Allocable: necessary for the Project’s success, not the success of the university.
   Ø     Reasonable: costs that would be incurred by a “prudent” person. 

• Federal Awards: you can’t hire administrative staff, and you can’t budget for office or general supplies, operating expenses, construction, etc.

• Consider the Inverted Pyramid way of writing when you have page limits:

   Ø     Prioritize information, so that most crucial is at the beginning, and later paragraphs have issues of decreasing importance
   Ø     This method also allows for easier editing

• Visual Aids – charts, tables, maps and graphs:

Ø     Show the “management plan” – plotting the life of the grant.

Ø     Maximize space

Ø     Emphasize main points

Ø     Allow for quick comparisons

Ø     Be careful with colors: they make no sense in black & white copies

Ø     Ensure symbols are clear for copying

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·        Remember and address Selection Criteria - examples: 

Ø     Need (significance)

Ø     Plan of operation

Ø     Quality of personnel

Ø     Quality of project evaluation

Ø     Adequacy of resources

Ø     Budget

·        Project Need: 

Ø      Typically sets the tone for the proposal

Ø      Show the need not through emotion, but though hard facts

Ø      Use most recent statistics – utilize the US Census data (www.census.gov) and their American Factfinder Tool: you can get data on population, income, and education & track patterns by decade (right down to the zip code you live in)

Ø      Census Bureau (office in Atlanta) has teams that will travel to you, train you, and help learn to make sense of the numbers

Ø      Compare your target area with the region and nation

Ø      Avoid emotion and excessive or overly elaborate rhetoric

Ø      Need must be clearly linked to the purpose of the grant

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·        Quality of Project Design 

Ø      Should be appropriate to meeting the stated need

Ø      Should reflect the life of the grant project

Ø      Detail recruitment & retention of target population

Ø      Show a varied means of addressing the need

Ø      Community outreach & sustainability – use relationships with companies in the community, if they will participate and give substantive efforts

Ø      Have contingency plans 

·        Quality of Project Evaluation 

Ø      Think about it from the beginning: with what tools will you evaluate goals & objectives

Ø      Stay realistic – be ambitious but make your goals attainable

Ø      Make sure you can do the project – it is possible to lose funding or be debarred (in extreme cases)

Ø      Goals & Objectives should be measured annually

Ø      Have periodic reviews, monthly & quarterly

Ø      Evaluation should be achieved through services

Ø      Evaluation should meet the need

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·        Have a colleague or neutral third party review your proposal.

    Ø      Ask for constructive criticism on continuity, clarity and reasoning.

Ø      Check for unsupported assumptions, jargon, or excessive rhetorical language.

 ·        Grantee responsibilities

    Ø      Achieve goals & objectives annually

Ø      Submit annual performance reports

Ø      Use grant funds only for grant purpose

Ø      Maintain detailed financial records for at least 3 years after

Ø      Conduct non-federal audit if institution expends $500,000 or more annually in federal award funds

 Reminders:

     Ø      The seeds of success are planted in failures: the success rate is not usually that high, but it is zero if you do not submit

Ø      Keep trying, getting better, improving your writing & knowledge of the process

Ø      Implement reviewers’ comments; they should always be available

Ø      Ask for review comments if they don’t send them to you…even if you were successful, you can always learn from them

Ø      Request copies of sample successful proposals from Program Officer or agency contact

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