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Information For Recipients

DO

• Find out what you can about the granting agency. Read and follow its guidelines carefully.
• Learn what you can about the agency’s review procedure. If non-specialists are included among the reviewers, be sure to communicate to them as well as the specialists. It is common practice to include at least one reader with special competence in the research design and methodology of the field among the reviewers. Therefore, the proposal should include sufficient detail in these areas.
• Find out the criteria for proposal evaluation. This information tells you what needs to be given special attention in proposal preparation. The most critical factors are those that are heavily weighted and those that might have relatively greater variability among proposals.

DON'T

• Request funds for projects outside the geographical restrictions or the stated purposes of the agency.
• Exceed the sponsor’s typical range of project funding, especially if this is your first project.

DO

• Provide all requested information and answer all questions asked, in the format indicated, no matter how irrelevant such requests may seem to you or to your project.
• Stay within the agency’s limits for length and type size. In the absence of such guidelines, present information as clearly as possible, with helpful headings and subheadings that will enable readers to locate the information they want quickly.
• Use appendices to provide auxiliary information and to avoid losing the focus by crowding detail into the main body of the proposal.
• Provide a detailed table of contents for longer proposals. Reviewers often use the table of contents as a guide to the proposal.
• Underline and use bullets, boldface type, and headings to call attention to the key points in your proposal. Emphasize how your project is unique.
• Be concrete and specific. Tell the reader exactly what research activities are proposed and how these activities are to be carried out.

DON'T

• Give so much detail that all flexibility is eliminated from the plan. Reviewers realize that only rarely can all details be anticipated. The secret to success is to find the appropriate balance.
• Be pretentious or pompous. No single project will solve all possible problems or answer all possible questions. Have and document a good track record. Sponsors want grants and fellowships to lead to articles, books, and other concrete results. They tend not to fund the thinking of great thoughts, or the beginning of vast projects.

DO

• State your main aim early, preferably in the opening paragraph. Readers want the most important question answered immediately: ``What is this getting at?`` Draw the reader into the proposal by describing the problem, setting it in context, indicating its importance, and showing the relevance of your study to it.
• Describe the study in detail sufficient to convince the reviewer (1) that the problem is worth investigation and (2) that you, the researcher, have the ability to handle it.
• Summarize pertinent research by citing and discussing several sources of special importance. Show the proposed study in relation to previous and ongoing research.
• Indicate how your study will extend the body of knowledge about the area. Point out how your proposal will be distinctive in comparison with previous research.
• Clarify the study’s theoretical base and demonstrate a mastery of literature in the field.
• Show that the approach to the field is cumulative and systematic.
• Indicate the broader significance of the proposed project. Point to the ways in which the project addresses larger theoretical issues in addition to the particular problem circumscribed by the project itself. It should be clear that you, as the researcher, are aware of these implications.

DO

• Articulate a well-circumscribed project. State the boundaries of the project both intellectually and temporally. Sponsors hope for a concrete product at the end of a fixed amount of time and money.
• List objectives that are specific, concrete, and achievable. Use a sentence or two for each in approximate order of importance or potential contribution. Make sure that the objectives flow neatly from the statement of the problem and that the section on procedure adequately encompasses all of the objectives.

DON'T

• Prejudge the results of the project. A certain amount of tentativeness is permissible.

Project Design

DO

• Describe the procedural steps in detail to bring the project down to earth in operational terms. Be sure to include specific information about population and sample, design, instrumentation and data collection, analysis, work plan, and expected end product.
• The work plan, or time schedule, is often used as a sign of how carefully and realistically the project has been developed. Some readers turn to it first to get an overall perspective on the project. It is often helpful to lay the plan out graphically in a flow chart or diagram that indicates the sequence of work and shows interrelationships among the different parts of the study.
• Less detailed work plans are appropriate for exploratory projects where the steps of the process cannot be anticipated. Offer evidence that you are qualified to undertake and complete the proposed project.
• Demonstrate both capability and reliability. Present the qualification of other key staff members, and show how the mix of expertise fits the project’s requirements. Put vitae in an appendix and keep them brief.
• Make each person`s assignment clear. An organizational chart is helpful for large projects.

DO

• Consider carefully a plan for both ongoing and end-of- the-project evaluations, and think of the evaluation as a key part of the project, not simply as a chore to satisfy an agency. Design an evaluation plan that allows for continual reassessments and strengthening as well as final judgment. Ideally, an evaluation plan will entail internal review of processes and outcomes by the people directly involved in the project, in addition to an external review by objective authorities. The evaluation should include both quantitative assessments (How many people were affected? How many courses were designed?) and qualitative judgments (How good were the services or courses?).

Budget

DO

• Pay close attention to the budget. The overall budget, as well as the individual items it contains, reveals much about how carefully an applicant has planned a project. List nothing in the budget that is not described and justified in the narrative. The budget justification should clearly explain what each budget item is for.
• The budget should be as realistic and complete as possible. Sponsors will be unwilling to provide funding for a project with a budget that appears inadequate or padded.
• Provide explanations of unusual requests. Any single item that appears incongruent can cast doubt on the whole project.
• Keep the total budget within the typical funding range for your target agency or program. Request the agency’s annual report or other documents summarizing recent awards to get this and other valuable information.
• In developing a budget, do not forget to include such research expenses as travel, telephone, postage, copying, secretarial services, research assistants, equipment maintenance or repairs, fringe benefits, and indirect costs.
• If possible, allow time to have a draft of the budget reviewed by SFA`s Office of Research & Sponsored Programs before you submit the proposal. This can help avoid last minute delays due to miscalculations.
• Double check your addition and subtraction!