Pursuing Funding from Private Foundations and Corporations Lucy Deckard Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC Proposal Development Workshop UT San Antonio April 13, 2015 Copyright 2015 Academic Research Funding Strategies. All rights reserved

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Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC Our goal: To help your institution, faculty and staff to develop the skills they need to compete successfully for research funding. 3

Lucy Deckard Lucy Deckard Founder and President, Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC (2010) Nine years in research and proposal development at Texas A&M University as associate director of two research development and grant writing offices BS/MS Materials Science and Engineering Junior Faculty Initiative, CAREER, instrumentation, research, education, Center-level proposals NSF, NIH, DOE, DoD, DoED, IMLS, Foundations Research Engineer (16 years in applied research, with extensive proposal writing experience to NSF, DARPA, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, DOE)

Characteristics of Private Foundations Large (e.g., Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) Small (e.g., Reef C. Ivey II Foundation) Open and Transparent Small and Quirky Global National Geographically limited (e.g., only awards grants one county or state) 5

Important! Check with your Development Office They know which foundations have already been approached Can provide info on foundations If you’re thinking about applying to a foundation’s competitive grants program, you’re probably fine Otherwise, work closely with your Development Office 6

Steps to Analyzing a Foundation What kinds of grants to they fund? Implementation Research Art or cultural projects Fellowships Policy Do they fund faculty? What is their agenda? How do they decide whom to fund? 7

Examples of Foundations that Fund Faculty Research Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Russell Sage Ford Foundation Rockefeller Foundation Spencer Foundation Social Science Research Council Aspen Institute Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation American Heart Association W.K. Kellogg Foundation 8

What is the Foundation’s Agenda? Foundations will generally only fund research that fits their established agenda This agenda can change Program Officers may have a lot of discretion depending on the size and type of foundation What product do they want? (Your product is mainly publications – are they interested in that product?) If your research doesn’t fit, look elsewhere 9

Whom do they fund? Some foundations fund only a small cadre of favored researchers Some foundations fund only within a specific geographic area (e.g., county, city, state) Do they accept unsolicited proposals? Do they have standing grant programs? Program Officers typically have a lot of discretion Do they have special small grants for early career researchers? 10

Information Sources Foundation website Colleagues Foundation Center 990 Finder990 Finder Schedule I Part II (Grants and Other Assistance) Lists grants awarded and recipients Foundation Program Officers 11

Talking to the Program Officer Especially important when unsolicited proposals are accepted Can be difficult to contact them but try! Try to them and establish a time to talk Look for them at conferences Talk to them about their agenda and specific focus areas Be concise and have a clear project plan Connect your project to their agenda 12

The Process There may be a specific call posted on their website (larger foundations) They may accept unsolicited proposals Talk to the P.O. P.O. may ask for a white paper (or preliminary proposal) if interested Detailed abstract, budget, timeline If they like the white paper they’ll ask for a full proposal Don’t send a full proposal unless invited 13

The Review Process Can vary significantly depending on the foundation May have a first stage programmatic review Then second round with detailed reviews For bigger foundations, may have external reviews For some foundations, you may get no reviews 14

Tips If you’re new to the foundation keep your project and budget modest If you are an early career faculty, you may want to collaborate with a more senior researcher Network at meetings to find out what foundations are funding your type of research, who has money, etc. Set out to become known to the people at the foundations and establish yourself in the field 15

If You Don’t Get Funded Best to move on unless encouraged to resubmit Look for other foundations whose mission and agenda fit your research 16

Why Bother? Foundations generally give smaller grants May be more flexible than federal funders May fund areas that federal funders don’t Often less paperwork If you fit you may have a good chance of winning Proposal process usually less onerous then federal grant 17

Resources Foundation Center List of Top 100 Foundations National Center for Charitable Statistics NC State Funding Databases Foundation Center 990 Finder990 Finder 18

Corporations Cutting back on basic research so looking to academia May fund education, social projects through a corporate foundation May fund projects on an ad hoc basis May team with faculty researchers to pursue funding (e.g., DOD, DOE) 19

Types of Funding Grants Gifts Contracts 20

SBIR/STTRs Funded by all federal agencies that fund extramural research Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) PI’s primary employment with small business (< 500 employees) Phase I (Proof of Concept) - $150K for 6 months (NSF) Phase II (Development) - $750K for 2 years (NSF) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Research institution performs at least 30% of R&D, SBC at least 40%; PI can be at research institution Phase I - $225K for 1 year (NSF) Phase II - $750K for 2 years (NSF) 21

Most Corporate Funding for Research Results from Networking Present at industry-focused conferences in your field Keep a good webpage Keep contact with your students who go to industry Talk to your colleagues and program officers Let your Development Office know what you do Explain your research in an accessible way

If you get corporate funding Understand the expectations Contracts vs. grants Follow the rules of your institution Keep your funder informed Involve your students

Planning Your Project Start with your great idea  Translate it into a project What will your outputs be? How long will it take? What will your approach be? What have you done so far? How does this advance your line of scholarship? 24

Formulating Clear Objectives/Aims Objectives should support your goal(s) Outcomes should be clear Often tied to research questions/hypotheses or theory of change Avoid ambiguous terminology Beware too many objectives!

Common Mistakes Mismatch with funder Too theoretical if funder is looking for applied research Outcomes not clear Insufficient impact or significance Do not tie clearly to goals

Grantsmanship Things to Keep in Mind

It’s not about you… It’s about the funder Understand what the funder is trying to accomplish by giving this grant Explain how funding you will help them to accomplish those goals

A Proposal is Not an Academic Article Must be persuasive Must communicate passion Must communicate impact Must be easy to understand by readers with various backgrounds Must tie research to the goals of the funder Focuses on future, not past Must inspire confidence in researchers’ abilities and resources

Make Your Proposal Easy to Understand and Easy to Read Use figures, flow charts, tables, bullet lists, etc. Use heading and subheadings to help reviewers locate the information Bold, italics and underlining (used judiciously) can help reviewers find important points No tiny fonts or illegible figure labels

You must convince the reviewers… This is a project that should be done It supports the goals of the agency and program It will yield significant results It is more important (or cooler or more significant) than other proposed projects You (and your team) are the right people to do it You have the skills and resources to be successful You have thought through the project And most importantly, you must….

Intrigue the Reviewers

Now to the Nitty Gritty… Writing

Get to the exciting stuff here! The Project Description: Getting Started Reviewer’s Attention Level Generic Intro Long, unconnected background Strong, Unique Intro Concise background that provides context Get to the exciting stuff here!

Put Your Project in Context The Big Question or The Big Need Preliminary WorkFunded project 1Further work Project Goals/Specific Aims  Outcomes

What is the kernel of your great idea? What you will accomplish The approach you will use The problem you’re addressing New tools or resources you’ll bring to the problem Put it up front!

Introduction and Overview Provide reviewers with an outline of your proposed project which you will fill in later (1 – 2 pages) 37

Tell Your Project Story 38

Concept Paper or White Paper This will be your entire paper Perhaps with rough budget and timeline Additional info depending on funder

After the Intro & Overview Reviewer should be intrigued and excited Should have a basic understanding of your project and why it’s important Should be convinced that this research is a great idea Will just be looking for details to confirm you can do what you say you’ll do (see Handout)

Describing your Project Plan 41

This is where things get complex!

Have a clear structure For example…

Example Flow Charts Task 1: description Task 2: description Task 3: description Output of task 1 Task 4: description of how it all comes together in this task Project Outcomes Output of Task 3 Output of Task 2

Schedule and Milestones What do you expect to have accomplished after 6 months? After 1 year? After 18 months? Etc. Provides easy-to-find synopsis of your approach for reviewers Demonstrates that your project is properly scoped Shows that your project is well thought out

Example Flow Charts and Schedules Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5 Objective 1: Development of the hoosits Integration and calibration Optimization of frumpits measurement methodology Objective 2: Assess XYZ XYZ spectroscopy MOA microscopy ABC testing Pandax studies Objective 3: Integrate hoosits with XYZ Instrument integration Instrument testing Demonstration

Budget Understand the expectations of the funder Understand the post-award rules Explain clearly how each item will be spent Think through the logistics of your project Start early on your budget! 47

Questions? 48