Grantwriting Resources

HOW TO WRITE A GRANT PROPOSAL

These tutorials help both new and experienced NIH research investigators plan, write, and apply for NIH grants. The site contains information and links to Tutorials in Specific Areas related to grant writing, and funding; Grantwriting Resources by Career Stage, Sample Grant Applications, NIH Grant Cycle and Submission Timelines, and much more. Much of the information and advice provided on this site is useful to anyone who wants to learn about or improve their grant writing skills.

When you arrive at this website developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), you may think that it's unrelated to grant writing. But scroll down and you'll find lots of useful articles. Naturally, there's an emphasis on preparing science-related grants, but many of the articles will be useful to everyone. I especially like the series on "How Not to Kill a Grant Application."

Here you'll find useful information on eight steps to take before you actually begin writing.

Grant writing does not just encompass the narrative (written) part of your proposal. You'll also need to prepare and submit a budget as part of your grant application. The Foundation Center's online course on Budgeting is designed to help with the basics of developing a project budget. Contents include: basic components of a project budget; types of financial documents often required for proposals; how overhead costs and fringe benefits may be incorporated within the budget; and how to access resources on the Web that provide templates of project budgets

If you are preparing a grant proposals for funders or foundations affiliated with grant-making organizations located in specific states or regions, you may be able to use their standard formats to simplify the process of preparing and submitting your grant applications.

An overview of the five most important review criteria for NIH grant applications ,and how to avoid making mistakes related to each. The five criteria are: significance, approach, innovation, investigator, and environment. Some, but not all of these common mistakes will apply to other funders, so it's worth a look.

An article from the Non-Profit Times with tips on how to strengthen your proposals.

Read this article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy to find out the common reasons why so many proposals don't get funded. You should also take a look at some of the grant writing articles listed in the right-hand column (e.g., Handbook for Writing Grant Proposals, Guide for Crafting a Grant Proposal, and more).

National membership association for all persons involved in the grants industry. Offers many membership benefits, hosts an annual national conference, and has chapters and a credential program.

On the left side of the page, click on "Grants and Grantwriting". You'll find several free and inexpensive online grantwriting courses, including Basic Grantwriting, Grant Writing for Beginners, Program Plan, Needs Assessment, and Logic Models.

This is a terrific tutorial. Although it was prepared for drug abuse researchers seeking government grants, it is a great tool for anyone involved in grant writing. The tutorial takes you step-by step through five modules: Formulating a Question, Your Proposal Team, Writing the Proposal, After Your Grant is Submitted, and Fatal Flaws and Common Pitfalls. A unique feature of the tutorial is ithat is allows you to prepare an actual outline of your grant application by asking you questions as you proceed.

Several PowerPoint presentations on grant writing and research from the Florida State University Office of Research. Lots of good topics here.

Tony Poderis, an expert in fund-raising, explains what you should do before you engage an outside grant writer, how to pay a grant writer, and how to evaluate a grant writer's work. There's lots more information on this site about various aspects of grant development and fund-raising.

Unlike a research proposal where an investigator is delving into the unknown or testing a hypothesis, an outreach grant proposal presents a road map for a project in which the applicants know where they are going and how to get there, and anticipates bumps in the road. Outreach grants are often called "demonstration programs," "service delivery programs," and grants for "program development." This article from the Chroncle of Higher Education explains how to find funding resources and the information you need to prepare your proposal.

Many foundations ask potential grant recipients to submit inquiry letters. This site tells you what you need to include when preparing such letters, and provides some examples. You'll also find some useful information on research, proposal preparation, advice from funders, and more.

Here's a site where you can practice writing a grant proposal one step at a time. In each step, an actual grant proposal example is provided for you to compare against and find out how you are doing in the process. Also, you will have the chance to go back and check the relevant information needed on each step, as well as to review the important tips to help you enhance your proposal writing.

Guides and tip sheets for learning about and preparing NIH grant applications.Includes information on identifying and applying for a grant, preparing a grant proposal and application package, the grant review process, and more.

Innovation Network's Point K Learning Center offers collaborative tools and resources for assessment, planning, and program improvement. This online community features: an Organizational Assessment Tool that offers a snapshot of organizational strengths and challenges; a Logic Model Builder and Evaluation Plan Builder which work together to help clarify the connections between what goes into a program and how that program makes a difference; and a wide selection of online resources for evaluation and capacity building, including a section devoted to advocacy evaluation.

The exercises and questions in the seven worksheets that make up these Proposal Enhancement Tools from Purdue University are designed to help you effectively identify and describe the target audiences for your proposal, the anticipated impact of your efforts, and the measures you propose to evaluate your success. You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view, download and use these tools.

Another useful NIH guide. It focuses on Planning Your Application, the Project Summary / Abstract, Research Plan, Budget and Justification, Assurances, Human Subjects, Resources and Environment, and more. The text is very dense, but you'll find a lot of valuable information here. It's also a .pdf file.

Improve your grantwriting with these tips from me and others.Read the comments too - some are very useful.

An article written by a Program Director at the National Science Foundation.

This site at University Reviews Online contains a wealth of grantwriting resources divided into various categories including: Comprehensive Grantwriting Sites, Sites for Federal Grant Writing, Blogs, Resources, Tutorials, Tools, Getting Volunteers, Specialty Sites, Guides, Books, Federal Grant Application Sites and Private Grant Application Sites

Here you can find out how to use two different types of data in your proposals -- hard data, which are usually in the form of statistics, and soft data, which are often presented as quotes and anecdotes. Both types of data are often used in successful proposals.

A listing of ten elements shared by winning proposals.

Here are 15 solid recommendations that will help you increase your chances of success in winning competitive grants.

This article was originally written as part of the Minnesota Council on Foundation's Guide to Minnesota Grantmakers. It gives an excellent overview of the key components of a standard grant proposal with tips on how to present your case effectively. And no, you don't have to be writing a proposal for a program in Minnesota. Everyone can benefit from the information presented here.

Resources and information on budgeting, as well as links to sample grant budgets.