| _____ 1. |
Decide where you want to send the grant. |
| _____ 2. |
Get their guidelines and the application form. Some are available online, others
must be requested by mail. Some funding agencies may not have a formal application
and others just have guidelines. But many—especially the federal
government—have long, complex applications published in a booklet. |
| _____ 3. |
Read the application and documentation carefully. Determine exactly what the
funding source is asking for. Understanding the guidelines is pivotal. |
| _____ 4. |
Find out more about the agency, foundation, association, etc., and learn what
kinds of programs they fund. Then gear your grant toward that information. You can
gather information by
(1) contacting them directly for information;
(2) asking colleagues who have experience applying to that agency or group;
(3) visiting libraries to research the organization or
(4) contacting the Foundation Center office in Washington, D.C., or visiting
them online at www.fdncenter.org. |
| _____ 5. |
Outline the steps included in the application to make sure you are clear on what
you need to do. |
| _____ 6. |
Know your purpose and be able to explain it. Usually the application asks you to
describe a problem that your research will address. You have to convince them there
is a problem. |
| _____ 7. |
Identify what you plan to do about the problem by defining your goals and
objectives. |
| _____ 8. |
Break the application into manageable pieces and do it one section at a time.
This will keep you from being overwhelmed. Don’t write your proposal in the
order in which it will be read—instead, start with the description of the problem.
Write the main information first—then go back and fill in the gaps. |
| _____ 9. |
Do a literature review and find out what has already been done in the specific
research area. |
| _____ 10. |
For research grants, explain how you will protect your subjects. (This would not
be necessary for a training grant.) |
| _____ 11. |
You might want to include a timeline. Explain what you plan to do during each step. |
| _____ 12. |
You almost always have to do a budget. Based on your objectives,
identify the individuals needed to accomplish them, along with their
salaries and their supplies. Your institution will help you with the
budget, especially the salary information. |
| _____ 13. |
Don’t forget that the institutional overhead has to be included in your
budget, and the institution has to sign off on the proposal. |
| _____ 14. |
In your proposal, state the expected outcome of your project. This will help
the funding agencies see what your goals are and will also help you assess how well
you met your goals when the project is completed. |
| _____ 15. |
Give specific details on how you will evaluate your research. |
| _____ 16. |
Recognize that the specific information you will have to provide may depend
on the funding source you are addressing. If you are writing a proposal for the
government, for example, they might want to know what will happen to your program
when their funding ends. Other agencies may be less concerned with this issue. |
| _____ 17. |
Ask an experienced colleague to read the application and critique it—but
don’t ask this of a close friend. Find someone who is objective enough to
tell you the honest truth. |
