10 Critical Tips for Writing a Grant

You will want to WOW the grant reviewers with your compelling research question, your knowledge of the subject area...

Projects are evaluated by funding sources using various criteria. Of primary concern is how valid, interesting and relevant the project is as proposed in the grant and how qualified you and your team are to complete what you propose. 

Wow the Reviewers

You will want to WOW the grant reviewers with your compelling research question, your knowledge of the subject area and your unique qualifications to conduct the investigation from start to finish. Show that you are aware of all aspects of the research design and methods, the potential impact of the results and how they fit into the big picture. The most important way to do this is:

• Have a truly interesting, original and conceptually sound research plan
• Convey all of this to the reviewers! 

Grant reviewers are often bombarded with inappropriate, late, unrealistic, vague, and incomplete proposals.  Make sure your proposal will stand out as an excellent opportunity for the funding agency.

The Ten Critical Steps

NEDARC has compiled 10 critical tips to successful grant writing to help guide you through the process from beginning to end:

1. Read the instructions.  This may seem obvious, but failure to follow the instructions may mean that your application will never even be read. Make sure your application is on time and has ALL the required documents and elements, including type-size, punctuation, margins, headings, capitalization, sequence, etc.  A professional-looking and complete application reflects significantly on your capacity and ability to cost effectively utilize, apply and manage the funding that you may receive. 
2. Start early.  You're setting yourself up for trouble if you plan to start your grant writing two weeks before the submission deadline. Give yourself plenty of time (several months) to go through the writing and rewriting process, and allow time for others to proofread and critique.
3. Make sure your grant idea is logical and sound.  Even the greatest writers cannot make a bad idea sound like a good idea. Take the time to look for potential obstacles to success and make sure they are addressed in your narrative. 
4. Clearly define the problem and its significance.  A common weakness in proposals is that they address a problem nobody cares about, or don't define the problem well enough to show its importance. You need to convince the reviewers that a significant problem exists and that your interventions will help provide a clear resolution. This problem must be established by real data, whether from literature reviews, community or government data, or preliminary work by the applicant. 
5. Write as clearly as possible.  Don't assume your readers know much about your subject area. Explain everything so clearly that it would be impossible to misunderstand. Avoid jargon, spell out acronyms, and provide adequate background to your subject. Even the most brilliant and innovative ideas will seem ridiculous if you don't convey your project with clarity. Remember the aphorism "Easy reading is hard writing."
6. Make the steps as sequential and visual as possible.  Keep each step or event in a clear sequential order. In addition to your textual explanations, include graphs, figures, and timelines to help readers understand and visualize the progress of your project. 
7. Include specific evaluation measures.  Reviewers must see that there is a measurable way to define the effectiveness of your program. This is a vital component that will show whether or not your project is feasible and worth funding. Instead of saying, "We will look at how many more kids wear bike helmets," say, "We will count the proportion of kids wearing bike helmets at 10 junior high schools in suburban Salt Lake County, five that participated in bike safety activities, and five that did not." 
8. Be realistic.  Overly ambitious work plans make you look inexperienced and thus make funding less likely. Be realistic in describing what can be accomplished in the first year, second year, etc. 
9. Get multiple reviews from others.  Have fellow peers and outside institutions (such as NEDARC) review your grant application to proofread and critique. This is often the most valuable step in the writing process. Embracing the comments of others will almost always improve the clarity of your work. 
10. Follow the directions!!!  Once again, this is a fatal mistake that is often ignored. Do exactly what they tell you or you can forget about your funding.

rev. 08-Sep-2011