Principles of Effective Grantsmanship, Part 4 of 5:  Planning for Success

Developing a competitive proposal requires a lot more than sitting down to write. Independent of writing the proposal narrative, there is considerable outreach, planning, and administrative work that will need to be accomplished by you as the investigator.

Even if you do not yet have time to focus intensively on your proposal narrative, start immediately on understanding the proposal submission process and get the administrative aspects of your proposal in place. You will much rather be spending the final days before the deadline perfecting the narrative and research plan than chasing down budget numbers or getting departmental or Office of Sponsored Programs reviews and approvals.  Contact these folks early!

Sketch out a plan that includes what you’ll need from others, a timeline with self-imposed deadlines for both the written components and administrative elements, and a list of potential reviewers/advisers who you can go to for questions and/or reviews of your proposal.

Who to Involve: The list below summarizes many of the participants in the proposal process, but your college may have different procedures for proposal development, approval, and submission.

• Colleagues and Peers (within and outside of your discipline) for project development and review.
• Department Chair and college Research Associate Dean for proposal approval and as a point of introduction to other CSU units.
• Office of Sponsored Programs for support in reviewing, approving, and submitting proposals; negotiating awards, material transfer, and non-disclosure agreements; and the administrative management of awards.
• Departmental/College Research Support for research, proposal, and budget development support.
• Central CSU Units, where applicable:
  • Corporate Relations (University Advancement)
  • Industry Partnerships (Office of the Vice President for Research)
  • Foundation Relations (University Advancement)
  • Office of Sponsored Programs (Office of the Vice President for Research)
  • Research Acceleration Office (Office of the Vice President for Research)

Recruit Reviewers and Determine Roles

There is a tendency to wait for “perfection” before sharing a proposal draft. It is highly recommended that investigators engage reviewers at several stages, such as the consideration of the initial concept, an early draft, and at completion of the “final” proposal. Your internal reviewers should provide multiple perspectives to effectively address the dimensions of successful proposals required for a diversity of external reviewers. For example:

Strategize

To strengthen a proposal, applicants should proactively learn as much as they can about the sponsor, the program officers overseeing their intended program, the competition, and the decision making process.

Talk to a Program Officer: Reach out to your program officer early in the application process. This will give you valuable information to shape your project and proposal or save you a great deal of time if the fit isn’t strong. Most public and private sponsors allow some level of access. Be aware of limitations on what they will discuss. Some program officers will only answer questions about the grant program and will not give feedback about your project idea. Even so, well thought out questions will inform your approach. Consider starting your engagement with a brief email, summarizing your interest in the program and your intended project focus, and then request a phone discussion. At the time of the phone discussion, have a one-page summary of your proposal idea ready to share with the program officer, as well as a list of specific questions that you would like to ask.

Read abstracts of recently awarded grants: Pay careful attention to what is emphasized and how it is presented. What are the outcomes being highlighted and the qualities of grantees? If similar grants have been funded, be sure that your proposal offers something new and clearly articulate these distinctions.

Seek out other information: Look around the sponsor website for press releases, reports, budgets, and other sources that will give you clues about unspoken organizational priorities and direction. Look for speeches or transcripts of panel discussions made by key personnel within the organization. There are quite a few on YouTube.

Look at the sponsor’s history at CSU and seek advice from past recipients. Request copies of successful proposals. Ask your department chair, research associate dean, OSP or unit research administrator, or advancement staff for their insights.

Workshops and Online Resources: Take advantage of workshops and online tutorials. Most major federal sponsors have their own tutorials and tip sheets, either specific to the agency or, in some cases, specific to the program to which you may be applying. There are also many good online resources on writing to private foundations.