grant writing basics: finding funding opportunities

Grant Writing Basics: Finding Funding OpportunitiesKari Whittenberger-Keith, Ph.D.Proposal Development ServicesOffice of Sponsored Projects Office of Research, UW-M

Thinking about Funding• Specific persuasive form• Specific “physical” form• Audience-centered• “Dating” game

Universe of Funders

Internal

• Colleges and schools• Centers and institutes• Systems

External

• Federal• Foundations• Professional associations• Institutions

Award Types

Grants

• Multiple people• Multiple years• Equipment and supplies• Larger award size• Physical/biosciences;

education; some social sciences; large scale humanities

• Award made to institution

Individual Awards

• Single researcher support• One year or less• Salary support or

travel/access• Smaller award size• Humanities; arts; some

social sciences; students• Award made to individual

Funding Sources– Individual sponsor Web sites• Federal, state, foundations, corporations

– Free databases• Grants.gov, FedBizOpps (mostly federal grants)• Topic-specific

– Paid subscription databases• Pivot (UWM)• Wide net (gov’t; national foundations; global)• Extensive customization

– Other Services• OSP Research Updates• The Grants Library URL: http://guides.library.uwm.edu/grants

Finding Federal Opportunities• Sponsor Notification Emails• Free • Typically just a list with no functionality

(e.g., no searching, sorting, bookmarking)• Pre-determined frequency (weekly or bi-weekly)• Reliable, easy to use, accurate• “Hands-free” approach

Finding Federal Opportunities– Types of Free Sponsor Notifications• Government-wide• Federal Register• Grants.Gov• FedBizOpps

• Federal Agency-specific• Dept. of Education, National Institutes of Health, National

Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency• Public Service• ScanGrants

• Foundations• No free databases

Grants.gov Notice

NSF Notice

Finding Federal & Other Opportunities• Pivot Grant Opportunity Database• Formerly Community of Science (COS)• Most comprehensive, editorially maintained database of global

funding opportunities• By governments, private/corporate foundations• For research, fellowships, scholarships

• Search one database for funding in any discipline and country, rather than multiple sources or across Internet

• Receive weekly updates on saved searches you organize in your own folders

• Receive alerts when new matching opportunities match your saved searches

Pivot Notice

Call for Proposal = …• Request for proposal (RFP)• Broad agency announcement (BAA)• Funding opportunity announcement (FOA)• Request for information (RFI)• Information for bid (IFB)• Invitation to bid (ITB)• Request for quote (RFQ)

Purpose of Calls• Define the research need and the purpose of the solicitation• Research expectations• Project scope• Expected outcomes/deliverables• Schedules

• Outline competitive information• Eligibility• Number and size of awards• Conditions of award• Review process and timeline

Purpose of Calls (cont.)• Application instructions• Deadlines• Content requirements• Format requirements

• Page length• Margins/fonts• Headers/footers• Page numbers• URLs

• Completion of required forms• Sponsor contact information• Program officer and technical support

• Conditions of award/reporting requirements/deliverables

Analyzing a Call• Before you think about writing a proposal • Define project and funding needs• Determine fundable components• Research funding agencies and funding mechanisms/calls• Analyze specific calls and requirements

• Funding priorities• Agency goals• “Audiences”• Deadlines and application process• Requirements, including page and form limits• Past recipients• Proposal examples• FAQs and program officer contactsREMEMBER: Specifics vary by agency and program

Is This Opportunity Right for Me?• Can my work fit the call?• Can I do it in the timeframe?• Can I look competitive?• Do I have enough experience?• Do I have publications or other evidence?• Do I need collaborators or other team members?

• Can my project “match” the level of innovation?• “Revolutionary not evolutionary”• “Breakthrough not incremental”• “Basic research”

• Can I show I have the resources to accomplish the work?• On campus• Collaborations• Travel to resources

For More Information

Kari Whittenberger-Keithkariwk@uwm.edu(414) 229 4062

Michelle Schoeneckerschoene7@uwm.edu(414) 229 2747