Basics of Successful Grant Applications
Karen Klein, M.A., E.L.S., GPC
Director, Grant Development and Medical Editing
Biomedical Research Services Administration
3/4/15
Overview
A whirlwind discussion of the world of grants!
We’ll cover:
Differences: foundation and other funders
“Grantsmanship” principles
Helpful resources
Your questions!
First, Foundation Grants
Or, to lump them together, let’s call them “private-sector funders”
All Foundations Are Not
Created Equal
• Corporate (e.g., Lilly, Alcoa)
• Family/personal bequest (e.g., Doris Duke,
Susan G. Komen)
• Regional (e.g., Winston-Salem Foundation)
• “Big business” (e.g., Robert Wood
Johnson, MacArthur)
Projects That Private-Sector
Funders Like:
• Things that address their mission (social good)
• Projects with a demonstrable human element
• Ideas that are “not ready for prime time”
• Programs too small or not qualified for NIH or
other federal funding
Pluses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Short applications (10 pages)
+++ Less time to write
+++ Can send same idea
to >1 place at a time
+++ Sometimes can submit
several ideas to a funder at once
Pluses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Quicker funding cycles
+++ Permits better budgeting,
going to Plan B if Plan A
doesn’t work
Pluses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Personal contact
+++ Learning opportunity
for you and them; if not for
this proposal, the next one
Pluses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Geographic advantage
+++ Foundations care
about where they live
+++ Many will only fund within a
restricted geographic area
Pluses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• A way to get infrastructure
funding
+++ If you need things that
are hard to get via the NIH
(e.g., new building, recruiting new faculty,
or overall support of a center or program)
Minuses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Short applications
--- If your idea is complex,
you won’t do it justice in
a brief document
Minuses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Usually, smaller awards
--- Mostly $50,000-100,000
(with some exceptions)
Minuses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• They may have an agenda
--- They “fund from the heart”,
so you need to care about
what they care about
--- They can be quirky,
especially the family-
bequest foundations
Minuses of Private-Sector Proposals:
• Economic fluctuations
--- Foundation funding
depends on their investment
portfolio
--- May have fewer opportunities or smaller
awards since 2008-09 recession
--- But most are still in the grants business
First Step in Applying:
• A “Letter of Intent” (LOI): brief summary
of your idea
• Anywhere from an abstract to 3-5 pages
• Your best chance to impress and to
assess their interest
• Most are online – speeds process for
them and for you
Letter of Intent: Key Elements [Useful concepts for any type of proposal]
• Goals of research project
• Why it’s important
• How it’s relevant to their mission
• How it will benefit them
• Estimated cost (no details)
• Location; any advantages
You Get a Green Light:
So your next step is…
a full application
• Your odds of success?
50% or better, instead of 2-3%
• Why? Enough detail in the LOI for them
to buy into your idea – now it’s just a
question of approach, details
Application Template:
• http://www.nng.org/assets/Common_Grant_Application.
doc
Common Grant Application
Currently >2,100 “active users” per their
web site
Always check with the agency first re
their preferences (some may be vague)
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Executive Summary (1 page)
• Same as Abstract
• Write for a general audience
• Active, lively prose
• Enthusiasm and reliability
(can-do attitude = will do the work)
General Application Outline: (again, good outline for any kind of proposal)
Statement of Need (2 pages)
• What is the problem?
• Why is it a problem?
• Cite thought leaders, or quote patients or
families with the disease (“human touch”)
• How does your idea fit with the agency’s
interests?
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Project description (3 pages)
• What you’ll do, and how
• Cite prior experience – even if limited
• Timeline of work
• Use graphics to tell the story
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Project description (3 pages)
• Organizational/community
participation is key
• Be specific about their role(s)
• Doesn’t have to be $$ (“in-kind”)
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Budget (1 page)
• Line items only
• Follow their rules!
• Ask only for what you need (be careful
about “double-dipping”)
• List in-kind support
• Overhead costs low, or zero (cite as institutional support for your research)
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
About Your Organization (1 page)
• Start broad – begin with institution,
then more specific depts.
• Cite prior experience
• Use facts and figures – they may not
be familiar with the institution
• Brag! State what’s great, unique
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Appendix (optional, if allowed)
• Include previous publications
• Consider letters from bigwigs,
community leaders
• But make sure the letters are
substantive: pick quality over quantity
General Application Outline: (if agency has no guidelines)
Conclusion (1 page)
• Hit high points of everything before
• Restate “fit” between your project and
their goals
• Mutual benefit: you’re giving them a
chance to help you do good work
Timeline for Review Process: (in general)
• Depends on their schedule
(some rolling, some once/year)
• After Letter of Intent:
2-4 weeks (or less)
• After proposal: 6-8 weeks
Review Process:
Corporate – Business and/or
content experts
Regional – Local leaders
Family/personal bequest – Family
representatives plus some of the above;
sometimes lay people
“Big business” – Content experts, models
NIH study section process
“Grantsmanship” Tips
Reviewers are
content experts who
are also:
Overworked
May not know as
much about the
topic as you
It’s your job to
explain why your
idea is a winner
Secrets to a Winning Grant (from a non-scientist who reads a ton of drafts…)
Read the application instructions!
NEVER assume reviewers “know what you
mean”
Don’t use jargon and watch the abbreviations.
Your reviewers may not be scientists
Review the literature selectively
Explicitly state the proposal’s hypotheses
More Secrets to a Winning Grant
Design clear figures and tables, so reviewers
grasp your main messages quickly
Revise, revise, revise
Others’ thoughtful feedback on drafts is an
essential element of success
Grant writing = planned repetition. If it’s key, say
it more than once
Procrastination sinks many promising proposals
So What Should You Not Do?
Enough of my advice!
Here’s what a sample of 5 NIH employees told
me about common mistakes that you can avoid
NIH-specific but germane to any proposal
Top 10 Ways to Get a Poor Score
10. No original or new idea
9. Diffuse, unfocused research plan
8. No familiarity with relevant published work
7. No experience with methodology
6. Uncertainty about future research questions
5. Questionable reasoning in experimental approach
4. No scientific rationale
3. Unrealistic workload
2. Insufficient experimental details
And the #1 Way to
Get a Poor Score
1. Uncritical approach to the problem
In Summary…
You can’t start your application too soon.
Procrastination = a poor proposal
This is key to your ability to submit a stellar
application
Evolution toward briefer applications
underscores the importance of clear writing
Online and in-person resources will help you
immensely – see my handout
Learn about the process–knowledge is power
Web Sites to Bookmark:
Foundation Center – www.fdncenter.org
Full site is subscription-only. But sign up for free email
updates for new RFPs (Requests for Proposals)
The RFP’s are all you’ll really need – they link to sites of the
funders for full information.
HHMI/AAAS: http://www.grantsnet.org. A joint site from the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the American Assn
for the Advancement of Sciences. Lots of useful links.
Guidestar – www.guidestar.org. has a huge list of nonprofits.
A place to start; you’ll need to do more detective work.
In Summary: Seeking private-sector funding requires unique
strategies
• How to find potential funders
• Funders’ priorities
• Size and types of awards
• Degree of personal contact
• Negotiability
In Summary: • The Letter of Intent is your proposal in
miniature.
• A good one enormously improves the odds of
a full application and subsequent funding.
• The principles behind a good LOI, and a good
grant to a foundation, are germane to other
types of funders as well.
Questions?