Knowing the common weaknesses of grant proposals, searching for new competitions, and discovering how to predict upcoming funding priorities is an important part of becoming an effective grant writer. The Center for Minority Special Education (CMSE) developed this page to provide advice and tips for beginning grant writers.
Table of Contents
Grant
Writing Guides on the Internet.
Grant Writing Guides on the Internet.
- NIH Grant Application Writing. NIH Grant Writers Workshop Guide.
- CMSE's Special Education Research Proposal Development Guide and Model Demonstration Proposal Development Guide.
- The Foundation Center's Proposal Writing Short Course.
Start Researching Your Project Now.
It is important for you to begin planning and developing a proposal before final grant competitions are announced. This gives you the time to research the field and develop your ideas, before beginning to write your proposal.
- See the CMSE Concept Paper Development Guide to focus your ideas.
- See Disability Information and Resources for up to date information on your subject.
- Do literature searches using ERIC.
Beginning Your Grant Writing.
- Become familiar with funding sources. Who should be contacted, when, and preferred form of contact. What the agency or foundation supports. What is the level of support.
- Compare your project with the purposes/objectives of the funding source.
- Ensure that you, your project, and/or your university or organization are eligible.
- Be aware of campus and funding agency's application requirements, procedures and deadlines.
- Obtain and review the current or last year's application form and/or guidelines. Follow guidelines assiduously.
- Utilize campus resources (Library and Grants Office).
- Discuss your project and seek review of your project with knowledgeable colleagues when possible, especially those who may have applied to the same sponsor or who are known to be successful proposal writers.
- Persist, persist, persist. Expect to be successful. Revise and resubmit until funded.
Ways to Watch for Upcoming Agency Priorities.
- Proposed priorities. Often agencies will
announce proposed priorities asking for public comment
(See the
Federal
Register). The final priorities or grant competitions
are usually announced a few months later.
- Published Reports. Many competitions are
developed after reports or studies determining need have
been published and disseminated (See the
Eighteenth
Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 1996).
Also, peruse foundation reports and studies.
- Previous Research Projects. Some competitions are announced based on recent findings of previously funded research projects. (Check the agency web pages to read about past research projects.)
Finding the Grant Announcement.
- See Agency Grants Pages (Grant Funding Information and Resources)
- Review the Federal Register.
- Sign up for e-mail grant updates by joining EdInfo (a free, weekly, U.S. Department of Education e-mail news/information service); and for grant opportunities at other federal agencies, FEDIX OPPORTUNITY ALERT sponsored by the Federal Information Exchange, Inc.
- Constantly check association, foundation and other web pages for new grant priorities.
Information Grant Announcements Provide.
- Aims desired by agency. The background and critical need for the competition.
- Possible scope of the project. Specific information and priorities that must be met by the proposal.
- Details on the components or selection criteria of the proposal.
- The number of points and/or weight allotted to each component.
- The due date for specific competitions.
- Page limits for the narrative.
Thoroughly Review the Grant Announcement.
Determine:
- If your project fits the competition.
- If you can adapt your idea to meet the priorities of the competition.
- The proper questions to ask the project officer (feel
free to e-mail the project officer).
Don't forget to consult with colleagues!
Increasing Your Chances for Funding $uccess.
Begin a dialogue with the agency personnel and learn as many important facts as you can about the competitions. Competitions with a high probability of success are often competitions where:
- Few proposals are submitted.
- New competitions.
- Projects for low incidence populations, e.g., Severe Disabilities.
- Technology.
- Many proposals are funded.
- There is a high ratio of projects funded to submissions.
Develop proposals related to:
- Your professional strengths.
- Your current activities.
- The strengths of your institution.
Common Proposal Weaknesses
- Vague constructs and weak background references. [KNOW THE LITERATURE! Be aware of related research. Make sure the background (literature review) is strong with references to previous related work.]
- Too many variables. (Specify the key variables in the proposal.)
- Too Simple framework. (Why do this? Is the proposal just a routine application of known techniques?)
- No specific hypotheses. (Does each hypothesis in the proposal add new information? Is the question being addressed clear?)
- Lacks alternate hypotheses. (KNOW THE LITERATURE.)
- The fatal flaw: Errors in design or feasibility.
- Incomplete proposals: Not enough detail.
- Serious human subject concerns.
- The proposal seems to be attempting too much for the funding requested and the time-scale envisioned.
- Source of the funding for major items aren't defined, aren't in the budget, or major items in the budget aren't discussed in the narrative.
The significance of your proposal will be established on the basis of:
- Literature background and context for the problem;
- Anticipated outcomes or processes (make sure the outcome of the research is clear);
- How well you convince the reviewer!
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