PROPOSALS THAT SELL

Understand What You Need to Write

Know Your Audience

Line Up Editors

Plan Your Writing

Make Your Proposal Easy to Read

Hook People!

Get to the Point

Introduction/Overview

Provides a framework for the reviewer

Emphasizes important points up front

Communicates your excitement!

Introductory Writing Tips

Summary and introduction are key May be all reviewers read Must excite and grab the attention

Reviewers will assume errors in language and usage will translate into errors in the science

Don’t be overly ambitious in what you propose, but convey credibility and capacity to perform.

Introductory Dos and Don’ts DO write an exciting and compelling

summary and introduction

DON’T send a proposal with typos and errors

DON’T be overly ambitious in what you propose

DO write for an intelligent audience but not for an expert;

DON’T use a complicated, technical style

The Right Ingredients

Use more active voice

Use power verbs and adverbs

Use words of certainty

Put main ideas at the start

Avoid too much technical talk

Line up Editors

Look for colleagues

Talk to them early

Ask colleagues to review your detailed outline

Look for people who will be brutally honest

Backgrounding Funding AgencyQuestions to Ask

What is their culture like? What procedures do they use to review

proposals and make funding decisions? What are their review criteria? How are they organized? Who are the personnel and what is their

background? What have they funded in the past? What is their budget?

Backgrounding the Funding Agency:Questions to Ask

What are its mission and goals? What are its investment priorities, strategic plan? What time horizon are they aiming for? How do they get their funding? What procedures do they use to notify the

community of funding opportunities? Who influences their planning and goals? What language do they use?

Preliminary Data

Understand the expectations of the agency and program How much preliminary data is expected? Higher risk research will require more preliminary data Less experienced researchers will generally need

more preliminary data Preliminary data should strengthen reviewers’

perception of your chance of success

Following agency guidelines Read solicitation and/or proposal guide carefully

for formatting requirements and follow scrupulously Font and font size Page limits Biosketch formats Citation format

Avoids disqualification of your proposal Avoids irritating reviewers

Must Convince Reviewers… Your proposed research should be funded

It’s important and supports the agency mission and program goals

It’s exciting It has a good chance of succeeding

You are the person who should conduct the proposed research You are knowledgeable and well-qualified You have the support and resources required

Proposal Sections: Examples Project Summary Project Description/Research Narrative

Goals/Objectives/Specific Aims Introduction/Overview Background and Significance Approach/Methodology Research Plan Preliminary Data Broader Impacts (NSF)

Literature Cited Budget Budget Justification Biosketches Funded Projects Equipment and Facilities

Summary May be the only thing the reviewer reads Must “grab” the reviewer Should communicate concisely:

Intellectual framework of proposed project The goals and signficance of the proposed project Who will be conducting the project and, briefly, their qualifications Project outcomes

Must communicate excitement Check for additional requirements

E.g., intellectual merit and broader impacts in NSF proposals Project name, category, etc.

Goals/Specific Aims

State specific, measurable goals of your project

Tie to program/agency mission and goals If hypothesis-based research, state your

hypothesis Discuss expected outcomes

Background/Literature Review Spend some time researching this This section should tie closely to your proposed

research What are the holes in current knowledge that your

work will fill? How does your research extend and advance

knowledge in the field? Do not be dismissive of previous research Be thorough in citing important work but be

concise

Significance

Explain explicitly why proposed research is important Tie to agency and program goals Relate to review criteria

Make this easy to find

Preliminary Data/Previous Work Be aware of expectations regarding amount of

preliminary data Varies by agency Varies by program Varies by discipline Higher risk projects may require more preliminary

data Discussion of preliminary data must connect

clearly to proposed project

Approach/Research Plan/Methodology Be very clear about how you will accomplish

your stated goals and objectives Include details

What, specifically, will you do when you get the money?

Schedules and milestones may be helpful This is especially important if you are a relatively new

researcher Address any potential dead ends, roadblocks,

show-stoppers and how you will deal with them Avoid ambiguous terminology – be very specific!

Connect narrative text to budget Budget categories are defined by the funding

agency Be sure activities discussed in narrative are

reflected in budget Connect narrative text to the budget to ensure

appropriate balance and proportion, If a budget justification section is requested, use

it to complement and deepen the narrative detail

Beware of Boiler Plate

Thinking of proposal narrative as “boiler plate” will result in a mediocre, disjoint proposal

Begin each proposal as a new effort, not a copy & paste

Be very cautious integrating text inserts Strong proposals clearly reflect a coherent,

sustained, and integrated argument grounded on good ideas

Outcomes or deliverables

Develop short, hard-hitting lists off-set by bullets or other typographical formats

Relate outcomes to goals and objectives

Outcomes should be specific and measurable

Timelines and schedules with milestones can orient reviewers and provide a quick overview of how program components fit together