1. Effective Strategies for Crafting Competitive Research Proposals for External Funding
Ms. Stephanie A. Korcheck
Research Coordinator for Proposal Development
College of Education

2. Workshop Objectives
Understand how crafting a research proposal is very different from creating other scholarly works
Learn the critical things you must do as you craft your proposal
Leave with specific, practical strategies to make your proposal more compelling to funders
“Proposal” = full application, pre-proposal, letter of intent, concept/white paper, three-paragraph to program officer, conversation with program officer
You must take the time to follow these strategies! It’s all about moving your proposal from the middle of the pack to the top!

3. All funded research begins with a good idea…
… but that doesn’t mean your good idea is fundable
If your good idea isn’t directly aligned with what you learn about a potential funder, you need to continue the search

4. Critical Considerations
Be passionate about your project
It’s all about the “so what?” for potential funders
Interdisciplinary approach
Think big! Think grandiosely!
Your project will change the world!
If you’re not excited, that will come through in your proposal
What significant problem does your project address? Who benefits? What’s the larger impact?
Bigger bang for buck
Grandiose – impressive due to uncommon largeness, scope, effect
Not just impact your direct participants… impact on San Marcos, Central Texas, state, nation, world!

5. What are the major differences between preparing a journal article and preparing a research proposal?

6. Bottom line – informational vs. sales pitch
Academic Writing
Grant Writing
Scholarly pursuit:
individual passion
Sponsor goals:
service attitude
Past oriented:
work that has been done
Future oriented:
work that should be done
Theme-centered:
theory and thesis
Project-centered:
objectives and activities
Expository rhetoric: explaining to the reader
Persuasive rhetoric:
“selling” to the reader
Impersonal tone:
objective, dispassionate
Personal tone:
conveys excitement
Individualistic:
primarily a solo activity
Team-focused:
feedback needed
Few length constraints: verbosity is rewarded
Length constraints:
brevity rewarded
Specialized terminology: insider jargon
Accessible language:
easily understood
Bottom line – informational vs. sales pitch
Porter, 2007

7. Stay Current Discover news and RFAs at the earliest possible time
Subscribe to funder newsletters, announcements, press releases
Attend webinars
Grant Resources Center (GRC)
Pivot
Serve as a reviewer
Hover over GRC and Pivot, right click, and open hyperlinks
GRC – txstate/awards

8. What is the first and most important rule of preparing your proposal?
Know your audience!
It’s actually the first, second, and last rule
Funder’s interest in writing a check, expertise level of reviewers, what has been funded
So, every strategy discussed in this workshop must be considered based on the funder(s) you will engage

9. Know your Funder Mission Strategic Plan Funding Priorities
Awarded Projects
Review Process and Panel Members

10. Digging Deeper – Awarded Projects
Federal RePORTER database
NIH RePORTER database
NSF Award Search
USDA Current Research Information System

11. Who’s Reading Your Proposal?
Often only three of full panel
Everyone else, ONLY Abstract/Project Summary
Seasoned grant reviewers will admit to
making up their minds on the first page
NIH Video - “Peer Review Revealed”

12. Preparing Your Proposal
Do you have enough time?
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Proposal Checklist
General Writing Style Guide tips.html
Better to not submit than submit unresponsive, poor quality proposal
General Guideline: begin at least 3 months before due date even though RFA may not be out until 6-8 weeks before deadline
Step 1: Carefully read application guidelines and instructions
Step 2: repeat Step 1
Step 3: follow guidelines/instructions
Research Coordinator in your College may prepare checklist IF sufficient time before submission deadline – I include strategic information about the funder

13. Before You Start Writing…
Create a Work Plan idea.html
List how your project directly relates to what you know about the funder using their language
Note repetitive words/phrases in program guidelines & application instructions
program officer a three-paragraph summary of your project’s “so what?”
Work Plan was discussed in previous workshop – scope of work must match budget request!
Funder’s strategic plan must be cited reference!
You want the funder to literally “see” themselves in your proposal… use funder’s words in your proposal
Contact program officer, if permitted
must be carefully crafted focusing on problem, benefit, broader impact
get immediate feedback on its merit
schedule call

14. What are the most important components of a proposal?
Project Title – first words reviewers will see; first impression
Abstract and 1st page of narrative
first things they read; they will mostly make up their minds; all panel members will read abstract, not all will read proposal
MUST grab ‘em! Let your passion and enthusiasm come through to get them excited about continuing to read!

15. Project Title
Identify words/phrases that emphasize project’s “so what?” and innovation
Use identified words/phrases to create several titles
10 words or less
Don’t waste words – “A Study of…”
Know your audience re: jargon
Look at titles of funded projects
Ask colleagues and family/friends to help winnow list and refine
Crafting – like a product tag line/slogan
Jargon – still, be careful; depending on funder, write for educated person but not specialist in your field
Colleagues in and outside your field as well as laypersons due to dissemination requirements

16. Project Title (continued)
Use Short Title in place of “this study” or “this proposal” in your narrative
Examples
Studies on the Development of Objective Techniques for Monitoring the Development of Visual Acuity in Infants
vs.
Visual Acuity in Infants: Objective Monitoring of its Development
Short Title: Visual Acuity in Infants
Project SUPERB: Scholars Using Psychology and Education to Reach Bilinguals
SoberCats Smartphone App to Decrease Binge Drinking in College Students
Short title – reviewers more likely to remember details about your project just by seeing it

17. Abstract and 1st Page Hardest, most time-consuming to craft
Must “grab” reviewers, create enthusiasm!
Succinct, compelling descriptions in abstract
Problem/need your project addresses and why it is important – situate in current literature
How you will conduct the research – research questions/goals, research design (methods, data analysis & interpretation)
Significance & impact (so what?) – inform the literature, benefit participants, broader impact by changing policy and practice
Again, craft vs. write
Remember, reviewers form an opinion at this stage of review
State importance of project in first paragraph
Literature – even better if there is none or very little!
Stress innovative approaches, methods
Prepare this last… use best wordsmithed language from narrative

18. Follow the Instructions!
If necessary, repeat Steps 1-3 on slide 12
Pay attention to the details – formatting requirements, page limits, required vs. optional documents
Narrative – present the required information in the order they request it
Even if you don’t like it, think it doesn’t flow well, or want to use a different order
Use their headings
Why?
Many funders look for any reason to reduce the number of applications that have to be reviewed – e.g., NSF margins
Will funders feel comfortable writing a $100,000 check to someone who doesn’t follow instructions?
Don’t want reviewers to have to think -- spoon feed them the required info
Narrative order/headers almost always aligned with evaluation form used by reviewers… don’t make them work to find required content

19. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Don’t use language that raises doubts about your ability to complete the project
Be confident, positive, and definitive about what you will do, how you will do it, what you will accomplish
SoberCats will examine…
We plan/intend to examine….
Project SUPERB’s findings will…
It is expected that Project SUPERB’s findings will…
Avoid conditional words – but, if, however
Use active voice – no forms of “be” (am, is, was, were, are, been)
passive: The project team is planning to…
active: The project team will…
Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

20. Important Tips Appearance and layout matter
white space – allows reader to “rest”
headings/subheadings – help reader mentally organize your project’s components
Use a footer, if allowed – see Work Plan and Style Guide for example
Bad/inconsistent grammar, spelling, and punctuation will distract reader from substance of proposal
Research Coordinator can proof final draft
White space – block paragraphs, if single-spaced; extra line between major headings
Suggested heading/subheading format provided in Style Guide – remember, this is not a journal article!

21. Most Common Mistakes Poor writing style
vague and unfocussed
too dense, “academic”
Mistakes in spelling and grammar
must have sufficient time to prepare application documents
assumption that sloppy errors will translate into research and/or award administration

22. Resources Colleagues who have been funded
College Research Coordinators
Office of Research Development
researchers.html
Proposal planning and writing resources
Do’s and don’ts of talking with program officers

23. Questions?

24. Presenter Information
Ms. Stephanie A. Korcheck
Research Coordinator for Proposal Development
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
College of Education