Basics of Successful Grant Applications

Karen Klein, M.A., E.L.S., GPC

Director, Grant Development and Medical Editing

Biomedical Research Services Administration

kklein@wakehealth.edu

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?