Grant Writing Services & Guides

Grant Writing Guide

Guides

PowerPoints®

  • Grant Overviews - This PowerPoint® illustrates the basic format for writing a grant.
  • Grant Writing Guide - This PowerPoint® places special emphasis on how to write an effective grant.
  • NSF Merit Review - This PowerPoint® takes you through the steps of writing a successful proposal at the National Science Foundation.

Proposal Preparation

  • Begin to collect relevant background documents.
  • Identify partners to participate in project (if appropriate).
  • Consider project staffing needs.

Writing the grant

  • One page summary (abstract)
  • Background and significance of project
  • Goals and objectives
  • Planned activities
  • Resources (staff and facilities)
  • Evaluation plan (relate to objectives)
  • Budget (all aspects of project)
  • Appendices (e.g., letters of support, resumes)

As a general rule, this is a good guide to follow. Specific grant programs may have a specific format to follow.

Final Editing

Work with Sponsored Programs Office on a regular basis during the final writing stages.

Proposal Approval Form

In accordance with University policy, every grant application must be submitted through the appropriate University channels before being sent to the proposed sponsor. A Transmittal Checksheet will accompany the proposal or application to record the appropriate signatures, indicating approval of the proposed project. The form is used for internal review and approval and data management purposes, but is not submitted to the proposed sponsor. Sponsored Programs is solely responsible for initiating this internal process.  The completed form includes the following signatures:

  1. principal investigator / project director and, if applicable, co-principal investigator / co-project leader
  2. director, Sponsored Programs
  3. administrator (appropriate dean, director, vice president)
  4. controller
  5. vice president, Academic Affairs
  6. president

Proposal Submission Process

University Review and Approval

It is required that Sponsored & Academic Programs Support (SP) review all sponsored project proposals prior to their submission to the funding agency. A complete and final copy of the proposal should be submitted to SP at least one week prior to submission to assure that the proposal adheres to Federal regulations, if applicable, University policies and procedures, and the requirements/guidelines of the funding agency. The one week requested by SP ensures that all other University approvals are in order and that there is sufficient time to make any needed changes to the proposal. It is the responsibility of both the PI and SP to assure that all proposals are complete and accurate.

Required Copies of the Proposal

SP requires a complete copy of the proposal and guidelines to retain in its files. The number of copies necessary for the submission to sponsors is often noted in the sponsor's guidelines. The number of copies varies with each sponsor. SP will be responsible for preparing the necessary number of copies.

Sponsor Deadlines

Deadline dates are strictly enforced by the sponsor. Sponsors require that the proposal either be postmarked by the deadline date, or received by the sponsor by the deadline date. Sponsors rarely make exceptions. If the proposal does not meet the deadline requirements, it will be returned to the PI. SP can provide the PI with the deadline dates upon request, or the PI can find them on the sponsors' websites.

Electronic Submission

More and more sponsoring agencies are moving toward online submission of proposals and applications. Although online submission has a number of benefits, there are a number of barriers that are unique to electronic proposal submission:

  1. Each proposal submission system may be different and offer special challenges.
  2. There may be file conversion issues, internet interruptions, or file uploading problems.
  3. Many systems require that the principal investigator have a user I.D. and password codes to use the system.
  4. Once the files are uploaded, will the documents contained in each section of the proposal be viewed by the sponsor the same as they are viewed locally?
  5. There may be sponsor system "overload" as the application deadline approaches.
  6. Deadlines may be missed.

Multiple Submissions

Identical proposals may be submitted to more than one sponsor at the time, provided each sponsor is advised that this has occurred. Each sponsor should be given the name of the other recipients of the proposal and the amount of funds requested. In instances where all sponsors are given the same total project budget, it should be specified as to how much of the total budget is being requested of each individual sponsor and for what purpose those funds will be used.

Note: Careful attention must be paid to the restrictions some sponsors have on the submission of identical proposals to other sponsors, including some (e.g., National Institutes of Health) that prohibit multiple submissions.