proposals that sell
DESCRIPTION
Proposals that Sell. Understand What Y ou N eed to Write. Know Your A udience. Line Up Editors. Plan Your W riting. Make Your P roposal E asy to Read. Hook People!. Get to the Point. Introduction/Overview. Provides a framework for the reviewer Emphasizes important points up front - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
PROPOSALS THAT SELL
Understand What You Need to Write
Know Your Audience
Line Up Editors
Plan Your Writing
Make Your Proposal Easy to Read
Hook People!
Get to the Point
Introduction/Overview
Provides a framework for the reviewer
Emphasizes important points up front
Communicates your excitement!
Introductory Writing Tips
Summary and introduction are key May be all reviewers read Must excite and grab the attention
Reviewers will assume errors in language and usage will translate into errors in the science
Don’t be overly ambitious in what you propose, but convey credibility and capacity to perform.
Introductory Dos and Don’ts DO write an exciting and compelling
summary and introduction
DON’T send a proposal with typos and errors
DON’T be overly ambitious in what you propose
DO write for an intelligent audience but not for an expert;
DON’T use a complicated, technical style
The Right Ingredients
Use more active voice
Use power verbs and adverbs
Use words of certainty
Put main ideas at the start
Avoid too much technical talk
Line up Editors
Look for colleagues
Talk to them early
Ask colleagues to review your detailed outline
Look for people who will be brutally honest
Backgrounding Funding AgencyQuestions to Ask
What is their culture like? What procedures do they use to review
proposals and make funding decisions? What are their review criteria? How are they organized? Who are the personnel and what is their
background? What have they funded in the past? What is their budget?
Backgrounding the Funding Agency:Questions to Ask
What are its mission and goals? What are its investment priorities, strategic plan? What time horizon are they aiming for? How do they get their funding? What procedures do they use to notify the
community of funding opportunities? Who influences their planning and goals? What language do they use?
Preliminary Data
Understand the expectations of the agency and program How much preliminary data is expected? Higher risk research will require more preliminary data Less experienced researchers will generally need
more preliminary data Preliminary data should strengthen reviewers’
perception of your chance of success
Following agency guidelines Read solicitation and/or proposal guide carefully
for formatting requirements and follow scrupulously Font and font size Page limits Biosketch formats Citation format
Avoids disqualification of your proposal Avoids irritating reviewers
Must Convince Reviewers… Your proposed research should be funded
It’s important and supports the agency mission and program goals
It’s exciting It has a good chance of succeeding
You are the person who should conduct the proposed research You are knowledgeable and well-qualified You have the support and resources required
Proposal Sections: Examples Project Summary Project Description/Research Narrative
Goals/Objectives/Specific Aims Introduction/Overview Background and Significance Approach/Methodology Research Plan Preliminary Data Broader Impacts (NSF)
Literature Cited Budget Budget Justification Biosketches Funded Projects Equipment and Facilities
Summary May be the only thing the reviewer reads Must “grab” the reviewer Should communicate concisely:
Intellectual framework of proposed project The goals and signficance of the proposed project Who will be conducting the project and, briefly, their qualifications Project outcomes
Must communicate excitement Check for additional requirements
E.g., intellectual merit and broader impacts in NSF proposals Project name, category, etc.
Goals/Specific Aims
State specific, measurable goals of your project
Tie to program/agency mission and goals If hypothesis-based research, state your
hypothesis Discuss expected outcomes
Background/Literature Review Spend some time researching this This section should tie closely to your proposed
research What are the holes in current knowledge that your
work will fill? How does your research extend and advance
knowledge in the field? Do not be dismissive of previous research Be thorough in citing important work but be
concise
Significance
Explain explicitly why proposed research is important Tie to agency and program goals Relate to review criteria
Make this easy to find
Preliminary Data/Previous Work Be aware of expectations regarding amount of
preliminary data Varies by agency Varies by program Varies by discipline Higher risk projects may require more preliminary
data Discussion of preliminary data must connect
clearly to proposed project
Approach/Research Plan/Methodology Be very clear about how you will accomplish
your stated goals and objectives Include details
What, specifically, will you do when you get the money?
Schedules and milestones may be helpful This is especially important if you are a relatively new
researcher Address any potential dead ends, roadblocks,
show-stoppers and how you will deal with them Avoid ambiguous terminology – be very specific!
Connect narrative text to budget Budget categories are defined by the funding
agency Be sure activities discussed in narrative are
reflected in budget Connect narrative text to the budget to ensure
appropriate balance and proportion, If a budget justification section is requested, use
it to complement and deepen the narrative detail
Beware of Boiler Plate
Thinking of proposal narrative as “boiler plate” will result in a mediocre, disjoint proposal
Begin each proposal as a new effort, not a copy & paste
Be very cautious integrating text inserts Strong proposals clearly reflect a coherent,
sustained, and integrated argument grounded on good ideas
Outcomes or deliverables
Develop short, hard-hitting lists off-set by bullets or other typographical formats
Relate outcomes to goals and objectives
Outcomes should be specific and measurable
Timelines and schedules with milestones can orient reviewers and provide a quick overview of how program components fit together