The Fountain of Funding: Strategies for Securing Financial Support for your Project February 27, 2007 Keenan Dungey, Associate Professor, Chemistry Deb Koua, Coordinator, Grants and Contracts Pamela Salela, Assistant Professor, Library Instructional Services & Coordinator, Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center, Brookens Library Stacey Willenborg, Director of Development, Corporate/Foundation Gifts University of Illinois at Springfield

Corporate and Foundation Relations  Find matches  Conduct research on funders  Set-up and attend initial meetings  Serve as a general resource to help you find funding

Proposal Preparation  Faculty and staff know their projects best  Tailor to your audience  Use your contacts  Talking points are helpful  Ask for assistance

University of Illinois at Springfield Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center Pamela M. Salela, Assistant Professor CINRC Coordinator Brookens Library Pamela M. Salela, Assistant Professor CINRC Coordinator Brookens Library

Affiliations  Foundation Center –Publications –Training –Reference Guide for Researchers  Donors Forum of Chicago – Partner –Publications –Workshops (Chicago) –20% discount UIS

Resources  Databases –Foundation Directory Online campus only! –Foundation Grants to Individuals Online campus only! –Illinois Funding Source campus only! –Campus Only! – but… VPN client  Reference Materials –Directories –Manuals –Budget tools

Select Bibliography of Directories  Directory of Research Grants AS911.A2 D  Annual Register of Grant Support: A Directory of Funding Sources AS911.A2 A  The Grants Register: The Complete Guide to Postgraduate Funding Worldwide AS911.A2 G  The Europa International Foundation Directory HV7.I  Grants for Higher Education AS911.A2 G

Workshops  Community  Course specific  Faculty/Staff

Services provided by G&C Office  Identification of external funding sources  Interpretation of sponsor guidelines and requirements  Assistance with all stages of proposal development  Official submission of proposals to outside sponsors, including electronic submissions through grants.gov, Fastlane, etc.  Assistance with protocols for research involving human and/or animal subjects  Assistance with intellectual property issues  A webpage with links to relevant information, and downloadable forms

Where to look for funding  IRIS  SPIN (coming in FY09)  Google  Association listserves, funder newsletters, etc.  Grants.gov  Colleagues

UIS Provost Funding  Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Grant Program (SCRGP)  Strategic Academic Initiatives Grant (SAIG) Program  Collaborative Project Seed Funding (CPSF)  Scholarly Presentation Support Program

UIS requirements for proposals & awards All proposals submitted to external sponsors by UIS faculty, staff and students require internal approval using the UIS Internal Clearance Form. All awards must be officially accepted by the campus, and must be signed by the proper authority.

Proposal Writing Tips DO:  Follow directions  Learn as much about your funder as you can  Use language that is simple and direct  Repeat the funder’s language back to them  Include tables, flowcharts and diagrams when they are useful

Tips continued …  Proofread  Have someone not familiar with your work read your proposal  Prepare a detailed and justifiable budget  Talk to staff at the funding agency if possible  Ask for reviewer comments

Tips continued… DO NOT:  Go over the number of pages allotted  Pad your budget with items that can’t be justified  Assume that reviewers are experts in your field  Wait until the last minute – to write or to submit  Send the same proposal off to multiple funders  Get discouraged!!

How to get your project funded (1 faculty perspective) Keenan Dungey (CHE) University of Illinois at Springfield

Writing the Proposal  Clear hypothesis/goals –State the importance of the project  Clear statement of resources/personnel needed and timetable –Make the case that you can do the project  If your project involves students, describe their learning goals  Be considerate of the reviewers –Correct format, excellent language skills

Help for Writing the Proposal  Get copies of proposals that were funded by the agency  Volunteer to serve as a proposal reviewer for the agency You make contacts and learn first-hand about the grants that get funded  Pre-”peer review” –Send a copy of your proposal to a colleague before the submission deadline

Start Now  Set goals and deadlines for yourself  Contact program officers at granting agencies –find out more information about their program –learn from them what has worked in the past  Don’t wait –Submit a proposal and get feedback. –Some programs give preferences to new faculty.

Finding Funding  Resources at UIS –All of the above –Center for State Policy and Leadership  Professional Organizations –Council on Undergraduate Research  Colleagues –Attend professional meetings

What if you don’t get funded?  Don’t be discouraged by the failure rate –Some NSF programs have a 10% funding rate  Always pursue comments on why you were not funded; –even gather comments on why you were funded so that you know what you did correctly

KED Grant Proposals Written Agency and ProgramProposal TitleAmount Funded The Camille and Henry Dreyfus FoundationPhotochemistry of Confined Transition Metal Complexes$10,000 Research CorporationSelf-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO 4 ) 2 Nanocompositesdenied Council on Undergraduate ResearchSelf-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO 4 ) 2 Nanocomposites$3,500 UIS Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Award Self-assembly of Gold/Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposites$1,500 The National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation RUI: Acquisition of a Powder X-ray Diffractometerdenied American Chemical SocietyDecorating the Gallery: Improving the Properties of Cobalt Hydroxide by Anion Intercalation denied Research CorporationSelf-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO 4 ) 2 Nanocomposites for Optical Applicationsdenied UIS Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Award Intercalating Anions into Cobalt Hydroxide$1,000 American Chemical SocietyNanometal Pillaring of Inorganic Layered Compoundsdenied Research Corporation Mesoporous Transition Metal Oxides for Energy Storagedenied The National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program Integration of Powder X-ray Diffraction Throughout the Chemistry Curriculumdenied American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund The 2D to 3D Magnetic Ordering Transition in Layered Double Hydroxides Mediated by Polyoxometalates denied NCUR/Lancy Initiative Summer Support for Exceptional Undergraduates Research Community for Water Literacy: Chemistry, Biology, Environment, and Policy denied Research Corporation Porous Heterobimetallic Oxides for Energy Storage$33,494 The National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program Collaborative Project Gemini XRD: Powder X-ray Diffraction in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses $92,179 The National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program Upgrading undergraduate education by the acquisition of a Gas Chromatograph- Mass Spectrometer (co-PI with Dr. Harshavardhan Bapat) denied Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program$60,000 The National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program Collaborative Project Gemini SPM: Scanning Probe Microscopy in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses pending

Suggestions for Success  Establish a track record with peer reviewed publications  Gather preliminary data on the project to demonstrate that you can do it  Show institutional support –List all available resources even if you haven’t tapped into them yet.  Find collaborators –Colleagues down the hall, at another campus –Attend professional conferences

Finding Time for Research  Schedule your academic week into blocks for teaching and research –reserve a day, or at least an afternoon, to your scholarship (no meetings, no committees, no classes)  Reserve summers for research  underload/overload semesters –Since contact hours are counted for the entire year, you can underload one semester to make time for writing.  Course-related research can lead to published articles