1. Thoughts on Development/Partnerships Mary Sandy Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, 2006

2. How We Have Grown Started with 2 Space Grant FTE’s in 1990 Negotiated agreement in 1991 as Enterprise Center with ODU Research Foundation for IDC cost allocation. ▪ Enables discretionary funding pool. ▪ Use primarily for staff costs. ▪ Allows cushion for NASA funding delays. Began seeking external funding in 1991. Sources have been primarily federal and state. Limited foundation and industry funds. Still have 2 FTE’s in our Space Grant budget plus 8 on- site staff and 3 off-site personnel on grant, contract or discretionary funding.

3. Pros and Cons of Our Approach Pros --Allows for program growth. --Allows the Consortium to undertake projects at its own discretion/go beyond Space Grant constraints. --Builds staffing and capabilities. --Builds contingency funding. Cons --Development is hard work and very time intensive. --Constant pressure to ensure that the dollars continue to flow in to continue to support existing personnel. --Be careful to know when to say no!

4. Some Sources of Discretionary Funding Indirect Cost Allocation Registration Fees Firm Fixed-Price Contracts Contributions Space Grant Foundation Accounts/Projects Fees for services What else?

5. Typical Proposal Components Project Summary Goals and Objectives Evaluation Project Description Project Management Plan and Timeline Team – Roles, credentials, biosketches or resumes Sustainability Budget and Budget Justification Others: Innovation, intellectual merit, impact, prior relevant work, references. Letters of support

6. Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned Gauging Potential for Success/Help in Refining Concept Gauge probability of success so your time is not wasted. Be sure your idea fits the funder’s goals. Talk to program manager. Take advantage of preliminary proposal opportunities. Talk to people who have served on funder review panels. Be knowledgeable about what has been funded. Request copies of successful proposals through FOIA. Volunteer to serve on review panels. Great experience! Get help from your Sponsored Programs office.

7. More Proposal Tips/Lessons Learned Manage the Process Write the abstract first! (roles, measurable goals and objectives, clear deliverables). Address everything the RFP asks for. Follow all guidelines. Call or email funder when uncertain. Use the MS Word tracking tool in a coordinated way. Do everything you can to engineer the proposal process (set schedule, do outline, assignments to each partner, meetings/audiocons, plan for inevitable deadline workload). Give your team all the lead time possible. Nice when can get professional help. Conduct a “red team” review.

8. Yet More Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned Build on existing programs/play to demonstrated success wherever possible. --Document previous success. --Use good impact data. --Play up relevant previous products, services, and partnerships. Use formatting that makes your proposal easy to review. Some funders, such as NSF, can take several submissions to be successful. Use the critical feedback Even unfunded proposals have value. –Process builds partners and relationships. –Can often recycle proposal elements.

9. Additional Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned Proposals are almost always challenging. More partners means more logistical challenges. –Bureaucratic partnerships are more cumbersome but often worthwhile. Allow more time and patience! –Like to limit core number of partners except for organizations like our Space Grant network.

10. Finding Partners Choose them carefully. Your reputation will be coupled with theirs. –Don’t do wholesale “who wants to participate” approach. –Select for mutual interests, capabilities and ability to deliver. Partnerships always have to be win/win for all. Build networks in your niche areas of interest –Affiliate interests and capabilities –State agency interests and needs –Tie to national or state goals/trends –Statewide committees, advisory committees, boards Communication among partners is key and so is recognition. Incorporate minority serving partners when you can. Build relationships --Leverage resources --Partner on proposals --Seek funding from appropriate partners

11. Some Niche Interest Areas for VSGC STEM educator professional development –teachers of blind and deaf –Institutes and workshops/with VDOE and others Center and industry internships Student mission opportunities Geospatial and remote sensing technologies for classroom use, applications and workforce development Research collaborations Encouraging girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM Distance learning programs with NASA and other partners STEM Workforce Development

12. FUNDING SOURCES: Community of Science: http://fundingopps.cos.com/ Grants.Gov: http://www.grants.gov/ FedGrants DoD: http://www.dodtechmatch Fed BizOpps: http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ NASA-NSPIRES: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/ National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/ NASA Innovative Partnerships Program: ipp.nasa.gov U.S. Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/fund/landing.jhtml?src=rt U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov/forresearchers.htm National Center for Environmental Research (EPA): http://es.epa.gov/ncer/ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): http://www.darpa.mil/baa/ U.S. Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda SBIR World: http://www.sbirworld.com/ National Institutes of Health: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/index.cfm Strategic Environmental Research & Development Program (SERDP): http://www.serdp.org/