The wonderful world of grant writing Kristina Ward, Grants Development Specialist

The Research Enterprise at Ohio State Different types of opportunities Funding to individual researchers (fellowships, residencies) Funding to organizations (sponsored research projects Diverse group of sponsors Federal agencies State agencies Private not-for-profit (corporate and foundation) Industry

Proposal Development Strategy

Proposal Development Timeline Courtesy of the Office of Research

Planning Used to assess your research and the field Does your project address an important problem for which you have a solution? Will knowledge be advanced and sustained? Does it build upon or expand current knowledge? What are your goals, objectives, and outcomes and how will they be evaluated? Opportunity Summary to assess particular funding opportunity Logic Model Help you identify program goals and objectives, identify “gaps” in the logic of a program and resolve them Refer to W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide

Sample Logic Model

Stages 1. Prewriting 2. Writing 3. Revising Freewriting Brainstorming Clustering – drawing the thinking process Voice memo 2. Writing Use outline with required sections based on Request for Proposal (RFP), Call for Proposal (CFP), Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Request for Information (RFI) 3. Revising How easily can the project’s success be measured? Is the idea competitive? Do the activities lead toward accomplishing the goal? 4. Editing Check for awkwardly worded or unclear sentences and typos – read aloud Check for consistency with terms and references Is each paragraph and sentence properly situated in the structure of the narrative Text formatted to guidelines?

Narrative Style Write for the reviewers, helping them understand something new Keep the language clear and concise Use active voice rather than passive Keep subject at the beginning of the sentence in the topic position New, important (exciting!) information should be at the end of the sentence in the stress position Avoid jargon and field-specific terms and acronyms

Narrative Style Porter, Robert. “Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant Proposals,” The Journal of Research Administration XXXVIII, 2007, 162.

HELP! Office of Research Research Commons Ohio State Office of Research Funding opportunities Training for researchers Proposal Library Research Commons Consultations (copyright, data management, funding opportunities) Space for collaborative research Office of Foundation Relations U.osu.edu/historyfundingopportunities News and Updates Elsewhere NIH “All About Grants” Grants.Gov NORDP “Resources” Grantspace “Tools”