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Grant Writing
 Funding Proposals
Funding proposals request money for research and related activities, and these sources generate a significant portion of many research institutions’ budgets. Writing a good funding proposal is important for securing support for research and dissemination of results.
Preparing to Write the Proposal
Choose the donor wisely. Ask questions like:
- What activities do they normally fund?
- Do you, your research, or your institution qualify to apply under their funding guidelines?
- Do they fund unsolicited proposals, or only invited proposals?
- Can institutions from the South apply?
- Do they fund academic research or on-the-ground research?
Get a copy of their program criteria, guidelines and application forms. Before you begin to write your proposal, it is important to thoroughly review and understand all of the potential funder’s program material.
Grant writing is persuasive writing, which is very different from academic writing.
The most important question to ask before you start writing is “Who is my audience?” The audience’s level of interest and knowledge about your topic and method of study will determine:
- The content of your proposal,
- The language of the proposal (i.e. how much jargon can be used),
- How complicated your argument needs to be,
- How much support you need to give to the hypothesis or research statement, and
- How interested they are in your subject.
Remember that your audience is not reading your proposal because they want to learn something; they are reading it to determine whether they should give you money.
The funder’s goal is to determine:
- Whether the project is viable,
- If proposed research or creativity is disciplinarily sound,
- Whether the project has measurable outcomes, and
- If the project can be completed in the proposed timeframe and with the amount of money awarded.
Be knowledgeable about your own organization and your research. Have a very clear idea about what it is that you want to do and why, and whether your organization has the capacity to conduct the research.
Determine whether you will be applying for funding individually, with your institution or as a partnership of institutions.
Give yourself enough time. Writing funding proposals is a time consuming process. It is advisable to write a first draft, put it aside, and read it again later to see if it makes sense.
Try to verbally explain to someone else (preferably someone who knows nothing about your work) the problem and how your research intends to solve that problem.
Pre-proposals
A pre-proposal is advisable. Funders must review hundreds of applications in a short time, and a pre-proposal helps them determine whether your project meets their eligibility criteria and is research that they are interested in funding. Many organizations require a pre-proposal and then invite a full proposal later.
The pre-proposal is a conceptual shell outlining what you are proposing to do. It is usually two to four pages long. Written in letter format on company letterhead, the pre-proposal includes the following headings:
- Summary---Summarize the entire proposal and its benefits. Include several short sentences about the amount of money requested, and your organization’s ability to conduct the research.
- Sponsor Appeal (where applicable)---Write one or two sentences on why you are approaching this funder.
- Problem---Summarize the current problem or research opportunity that your project will focus on.
- Solution---Summarize the approach you will take to “solve” your problem or conduct the research.
- Capabilities---Summarize your credentials (or your team’s credentials) to solve the problem or conduct the research.
- Budget---Detail the specific amount of funding sought and why.
- Conclusion---Identify the desired action you want the funder to take. Identify someone who has knowledge about the proposed project as a contact person.
In some instances, with private sponsors and foundations, the pre-proposal is all that is needed and is accepted as a proposal. In any situation, it is a good idea to draft a pre-proposal to use as a guide for the full proposal process.
Key Points of a Full Proposal
State the purpose of your project clearly and succinctly, using relevant background information to ground the project idea.
Use succinct language, clear sentences, and clearly define terms and concepts. Try to avoid jargon, as many applications are reviewed by non-experts.
Convey your enthusiasm, understanding and interest about the topic and your research. A proposal is an instrument of persuasion, not a description. While you need to describe the project, the goal is convince the funder to give you money.
Write a clear, well-focused formulation of the problem. A mistake is the failure to provide a clear statement of the proposed research. While you will not have all the answers until you have conducted the research, you must know what questions you are asking and communicate them effectively in writing. Otherwise the proposal will sound confused.
If your proposal is for a policy-based project, make sure to detail how the project’s research will be translated into policies. Make connections between the project’s research and the funder’s mission and work. Show that you understand the bigger policy context (e.g. at the local, national, or international level) that your research will be situated within.
Writing the Full Proposal
Structure your proposal logically, separating sections clearly. Ensure that you follow the format detailed by the funder. As a general rule, a proposal should contain the following:
Cover letter —This is the first thing that a funder will read and often determines whether a proposal is considered or rejected.
- The cover letter should briefly state the type of support requested, the goals of the project and how it meets the guidelines of the funder, the total budget and the names of other funders contributing to the project, if available.
Title page and table of contents
- Titles should be informative.
- Aim for a blend of interest with substance.
- Make the title catchy, but convey the main point of your proposal.
- Try to formulate a title with 10 words or less. Some granting agencies specify a title with less than 60 letters or characters.
- Avoid fillers and non-communicating devices such as “A Study of” or “An Exploratory Study to Determine”.
- State the major idea as quickly as possible, with the modifiers following, rather than preceding, the main category.
- Ensure that the information is attractively formatted.
- Provide your address, phone number, and institutional contact person.
- Date the title page.
- If required, sign the title page.
Executive summary ---This is the most important part of the entire document, because the executive summary is the sales pitch to convince the funder that your project should be considered for funding.
- The executive summary should contain:
- A problem statement- 1-2 paragraphs on the problem or the need that you or your team has identified.
- A solution - 1-2 paragraphs with a short description of the project, including how it will take place, who will benefit from the project, how and where it will operate, for how long, and who will staff it.
- If applicable, state how the research topic fits with the funder’s mission, activities, or the subject of the request for proposals, and how your project will contribute to their activities.
- Funding requirements - 1 paragraph explaining the amount of money required and how you will fund the project in the future.
- Description of your organization and its expertise -1 paragraph giving the name, history and purpose of your agency, emphasizing its ability to carry out the research.
- An executive summary is usually limited to 250 words.
The actual project proposal, composed of:
- Needs statement ---Describes and situates the research question.
- Describe the problem or opportunity or research question as specifically as possible.
- Whenever you can, quantify the problem.
- Accent the positive—instead of saying that current analysis has failed to incorporate the role of women in agriculture, present the failure as an opportunity for new, exciting research.
- Clearly outline the purpose of the proposal, being as specific as possible about what you or your organization plans to do.
- Show that you clearly understand the problem by describing its background. Things to include are the relationships or events that affect the problem and its solution. Situate the problem within the relevant discipline or industry.
- If applicable, review relevant literature to situate your question or problem in relation to the current state of knowledge.
- Describe the scope of the proposal, including what you do NOT propose to do.
- Describe the organizational resources that you will use to complete the project (e.g., research partners, access to research sites).
- Demonstrate that you or your team has the qualifications to complete the project. You must be able to persuade the funder that you can turn your idea into action.
- Define any key terms that will be used in the proposal.
- Goals and objectives ---Describe the goals of the project and the activities that you plan to use to reach them.
- Provide a description of the work you plan to do, including a history of the project (especially if you are applying for funding to continue an existing project).
- Detail your hypothesis and how you plan to test it.
- Are there one or more goals reflected in your project? If so, separate them clearly.
- Ensure that the objectives are realistic and appropriate in terms of the timeframe and funding being requested.
- State the objectives in terms of outcomes, not in terms of methods or activities.
- Specify which objectives of the project you expect to complete during the funding period.
- Methodology and timetable ---Describe the methods you plan to use to conduct your studies and how long they will take.
- Be specific; do not say “conduct research” or “gather and analyze data”.
- How will you gather the data and what techniques will you use to analyze it?
- Show that you know your subject and methodologies.
- Detail when and where the project will occur.
- Evaluation ---Details how you will measure the success of your project. Projects can be measured by product and process.
- Product evaluation measures results achieved by the project, as well as the degree to which the project satisfied its objectives.
- Process evaluation examines how the project was conducted, in terms of consistency with the stated plan of action and the effectiveness of the various activities within the plan.
- Describe the amount of time needed to evaluate the project, how the feedback will be distributed among the proposed staff, and a schedule for review and comment.
- Specify a start time for evaluations. Evaluation designs may start at the beginning, middle or end of a project. Starting evaluation at the beginning of a project is desirable for two reasons:
- Good evaluations require data collection before and during program operations; and
- If evaluation cannot be designed at the beginning of the project, then a critical review of project design may be needed.
- Budget --Conveys whether you have the capacity to manage and account for monies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
- Costs to consider are:
- Direct costs: costs specific to the project.
- Indirect costs: services, materials, personnel necessary for the project, and where they will come from. Many private funding sources do not fund indirect costs.
- Matching funds: funds that the organization applying for the grant agrees to match, either in money or in kind.
- Determine the project’s total cost, and estimate how money will be utilized during the phases of the project.
- Use a spreadsheet to structure the budget and to records all computations so that you can easily assess the impact of budget cuts.
- Determine whether the funder looks at institutional capacity for managing money, and consider partnerships between larger, well established institutions if your institution does not have a lengthy or solid money management reputation.
- Make sure to budget enough money to complete the project. Most funders are happy to let you keep any extra money, but they will not typically give contingency money.
- Detail how the project will continue to be funded after the grant period is finished.
- Appended information —includes information like project investigators’ resumes and organizational charts.
Organization, Grammar and Formatting
Structure the proposal well, guiding the reader through the material and highlighting important points. Tell the reader what is coming and indicate where they have been. Techniques for doing this include headings, marginal notes, sectional introductions and prefaces, summaries and appendices, outlines, charts and diagrams.
- Look for large blocks of text. Break them up using paragraphs and headings.
- Put a topic sentence in every paragraph. If an important topic sentence does not begin the paragraph, show where it is embedded with underlining, italics or boldface type.
- Use white spaces to provide visual relief and to frame the text pleasingly.
- Consider using a table of contents to allow readers to easily find or avoid information.
- Ensure that the margins are consistent throughout the document.
- Ensure that the page numbers are accurate.
- Use a consistent font and formatting of headers and captions, etc.
- Avoid unnecessary charts, tables, diagrams to reduce visual clutter.
- Review the proposal for spelling and grammatical errors.
- Use action verbs and simple sentence construction.
- Change passive voice to active voice. For example, "It has been reported by Dr. Singh that the cotton research proposal was found to be complex," becomes, in the active voice: "Dr. Singh found the cotton research proposal complex."
- Identify extra verbs and eliminate them. For example, "The argument of crop scientists was that irrigation is necessary," can be reduced to: "Crop scientists argued irrigation is necessary." Another example: "Reductions in excess verbiage were more noticeable than reductions in clarity," can become: "Verbiage declined more noticeably than clarity."
Peer Review
Ask someone you trust (ideally a person who has received similar funding) to review your proposal and suggest areas for improvement. Seek feedback throughout the process, not waiting until the end.
Proofread
Always proofread the application, paying close attention to spelling and grammar errors. Make sure that the funder’s name and relevant details are correct.
Pay close attention to the checkboxes—many funders have a list of requirements that must be met for the application to be considered. Explicitly address all requirements.
Proposal Rejection
If your proposal is rejected, one of the most important things you can do is request evaluations and reviewer comments. These evaluations indicate the weak points of your project, and they are valuable when submitting future proposals. Click here for Common Rejection Reasons
Resources for grant writing
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