TheKeyIngredientsofaGood

GrantProposal
DrJocalynClark
Senior Editor, PLoS Medicine
SeniorEditor,PLoSMedicine
Consultant,GrandChallengesCanada
February2012

KeyIngredients
1. Clearstatementofneed
2. Explicitlinktofunder
3. Easylanguage
4. Whitespace
5. Upsidedowntriangles
6. Nosillymistakes

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 KeyPoint
Alotoftheworkhappensbeforeyoubegin
writing:
iti
Determiningexactlywhatyouwanttodo
Statingexactlywhyyourprojectisimportant
Definingexactlyhowyourprojectfitswiththe
funderspriorities
Decidingexactlywhattoincludeinyourgrant
Thisistheconceptualizationofyourwork
Itinvolvesthinkingnotwriting

1.Clearstatementofneed
Youroverallprojectobjectiveandrationale
Statestheproblemyouaregoingtoaddress
Sometimesyourprojectwillhavemultiple
goalsandobjectives
Butyoushoulddefineanoverarching
statement of need in one sentence
statementofneedinonesentence

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 NeedStatement
Example:
Tohelpimproveprimaryschoolchildrensreading
levels,speed,andcomprehension,weproposea
noveleducationalprogrammethatcombines
assistivereadingsystems,trainingforteachers,and
aninnovativeincentivescheme.

2.Explicitlinktofunder
Aneffectiveproposalmakesitcleartothe
reviewer that the project matches the funders
reviewerthattheprojectmatchesthefunders
priorities
Readrequestforproposalsandinstructions
carefully
Rereadtheinstructionsandhighlight:
Keywordsthefunderemphasizesoruses
frequently
Statementsthatmatchyourprojectsfocusand
goals

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 LinkstoFunder
Readaboutotherprojectsthefunderhas
supported
Makenotesofhowyourprojectfitswiththe
fundersstatedprioritiesandrequirements
Incorporatethesenotesintoyourgrant
proposal,especiallyinanysummaryitems
Coveringletter,abstract,executivesummary,
conclusion
Usethekeywordsthefunderuses

3.Easylanguage
Manygrantreviewersaregeneralistsrather
th
thanspecialistsand/ormaynotbeexpertsin
i li t d/ tb t i
thespecificfieldofyourproject
Theymaynothavespecifictechnicalor
methodologicalknowledgeforyourproject
Effectivegrantproposalsarewrittenineasy,
Effective grant proposals are written in easy
conversationallanguage
Writeitplainly

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 EasyLanguage
Shortwords
Shortsentences
Shortparagraphs
Nojargonandnoclichs
Avoidfiguresofspeechandidioms
Activebetterthanpassive

Passivevs.Active
Passive:
Researchhasbeencitedtodemonstratethatan
estimated20%ofprimaryschoolchildrenare
developingreadingproblems.

Active:
Researchersestimatethatupto20%ofprimary
schoolchildrenhavereadingproblems.

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 Writeitplainly
Notthis:
Scintillate,scintillate,diminutivecelestial
body

This:
Twinkle,twinkle,littlestar

Writeitplainly
Notthis:
Nothingofgreatsignificanceisachievedby
becominglachrymoseoverprecipitately
departedlactosefluid

This:
Don'tcryoverspilledmilk

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 Writeitplainly
Notthis:
Basedupontheplethoraofpreviousresearchconductedacrosssuch
diversefieldsaspsychology,sociology,highereducation,andbusiness
andourownpilotstudiesundertakenatthehighlyprestigious
academywhereourinnovative,novelsystemshavebeentestedand
validated,childrenenrolledoverthecourseofourstudywilllikely
demonstratestatisticallysignificantimprovementsonscoresdesigned
totestchildrensreadinglevels,comprehensibility,readingspeed,and
attentionspansbasedonpsychometrictestingwithinayearofthe
programbeingimplemented,whichwillallowthemtodevelop
readingskillsthatwillpreparethemformiddleschool,highschool,
and university education
anduniversityeducation.

This:
Weexpectchildrenexposedtoournovelreadingsystemtoimprove
readingperformancewithin12months,whichwillreadythemfor
successfuladvancededucation.

4.Whitespace
Donotfeelobligedtofilleveryspaceinthe
grant application or maximize the word limit
grantapplicationormaximizethewordlimit
Readabilityforthereviewerisimprovedwith
somespacesbetweenparagraphsand
sections
Carefuluseoffontsize,subheadings,indents,
andbold/italics/underlinecancomplement
d b ld/it li / d li l t
theuseofwhitespace

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 Whitespace
WelcometoGrandChallengesCanadasonlineproposal
WelcometoGrandChallengesCanadasonlineproposal WelcometoGrandChallengesCanadasonlineproposal
developmentresource.Aspartofourmandatetofundbold developmentresource.Aspartofourmandatetofundbold
ideasthatimprovethehealthandwellbeingofpeoplein ideasthatimprovethehealthandwellbeingofpeoplein
developingcountriesbyintegratingscientific,technological,
developingcountriesbyintegratingscientific,technological, developingcountriesbyintegratingscientific,technological,
businessandsocialinnovation,GrandChallengesCanadahas businessandsocialinnovation,GrandChallengesCanadahas
developed resources to assist applicants with preparing their
developedresourcestoassistapplicantswithpreparingtheir developed resources to assist applicants with preparing their
developedresourcestoassistapplicantswithpreparingtheir
grantsinresponsetoourrequestsforproposals.Thisonline
grantsinresponsetoourrequestsforproposals.Thisonline grantsinresponsetoourrequestsforproposals.Thisonline
resourceisintendedtocomplementtheinpersonworkshops
resourceisintendedtocomplementtheinpersonworkshops resourceisintendedtocomplementtheinpersonworkshops
weofferforspecificprogramsbyinvitationonly.Recognizing
weofferforspecificprogramsbyinvitationonly.Recognizing weofferforspecificprogramsbyinvitationonly.Recognizing
thatwecannotreacheveryonewithourspecificinperson thatwecannotreacheveryonewithourspecificinperson
workshops,wehopethisresourcewillhelpresearchersand
workshops,wehopethisresourcewillhelpresearchersand workshops,wehopethisresourcewillhelpresearchersand
innovatorsaroundtheworld,whatevertheirareaofstudy,
innovatorsaroundtheworld,whatevertheirareaofstudy, innovatorsaroundtheworld,whatevertheirareaofstudy,
developtheirprojectproposalsandmaximizetheirchancesof developtheirprojectproposalsandmaximizetheirchancesof
successseekingfunding.GrandChallengesCanadais successseekingfunding.
committedtosupportingcapacitybuildinginlessdeveloped
settings.Theonlineproposaldevelopmentresourceoffers
settings.Theonlineproposaldevelopmentresourceoffers GrandChallengesCanadaiscommittedtosupporting
generaladvicethatisapplicabletograntwritingbeyondthe
generaladvicethatisapplicabletograntwritingbeyondthe capacitybuildinginlessdevelopedsettings.Theonline
specificfundingprogramsofGrandChallengesCanada.We proposaldevelopmentresourceoffersgeneraladvicethatis
encourageuserstoview,share,andbuildontheseproposal
encourageuserstoview,share,andbuildontheseproposal applicabletograntwritingbeyondthespecificfundingprograms
developmentresourcestoaccommodatetheirneeds.All ofGrandChallengesCanada.Weencourageuserstoview,
contentisfreelyavailablefordownloadinganddissemination.
contentisfreelyavailablefordownloadinganddissemination. share and build on these proposal development resources to
share,andbuildontheseproposaldevelopmentresourcesto
Theonlineresourceisdividedintothreeparts:Previously
h l h l accommodatetheirneeds.Allcontentisfreelyavailablefor
successfulapplicants discusstheirexperienceswritinggrants downloadinganddissemination.
forGrandChallengesCanadaandaffiliatedprograms.
forGrandChallengesCanadaandaffiliatedprograms.
Mechanicsofwriting professionalwritersandeditors
provideadviceonhowtoeffectivelycommunicateand
provideadviceonhowtoeffectivelycommunicateand Theonlineresourceisdividedintothreeparts:
organizeproposalsforfunding.Perspectivesofmentors
organizeproposalsforfunding.Perspectivesofmentors Previouslysuccessfulapplicants discusstheirexperiences
experiencedgrantwritersandreviewersoffertheirviewson
experiencedgrantwritersandreviewersoffertheirviewson writinggrantsforGrandChallengesCanadaandaffiliated
whatmakesasuccessfulproposalandtheirtoptipsfor
whatmakesasuccessfulproposalandtheirtoptipsfor programs.
grantwriting.

5.Upsidedowntriangles
Writingiseffectivewhenthereaderknows
where they are going
wheretheyaregoing
Themainbuildingblockofapieceofwritingis
theparagraph
Effectiveparagraphsbegin withatopic
sentence
Note: Academicorpassivewritingstyles
usuallydictatethatourparagraphsendwith
thetopicsentence

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 UpsideDownTriangles
Morereadable,andthuseffective,paragraphs
b i ith t i
beginwithatopicsentence
t
Thesearelikenewsstories:
Storyinthefirstline;expandslightlyonthestory;givethe
evidenceforthestory;givethecounterview.

UpsideDownTriangles
Effectiveparagraphsare Passivewritinguses
modeled after news
modeledafternews academicparagraphs
academic paragraphs
stories

Topicsentenceattop

Topicsentenceatbottom

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 Example
Overthreequartersofschoolagechildreninlow Weproposetotestandvalidateanovel,assistive
andmiddleincomecountrieshavebeenshownto readingsystemsinruralIndonesia.Assistivereading
demonstrateinadequatereadingperformance.This systems,whichinvolvecomputertechnology,
deficiency has the potential to reduce the possibility
deficiencyhasthepotentialtoreducethepossibility reading specialists and training for teachers and
readingspecialists,andtrainingforteachersand
ofchildrencontinuinginschoolandreachingtheir parents,havebeenshowntoimprovestudents
fulldevelopmentalandemploymentpotential. readingperformanceinCanada,buttheyhavenot
Variouseducationalinterventionshavebeenshown yetbeenwellstudiedinlow ormiddleincome
tohelpschoolchildrenincreasetheirreadingspeed countries.Thereisenormouspotentialfornovel
andcomprehension theseincludecomputer interventionsintheIndonesianschoolsystem
softwareandhardware,accesstoreadingspecialists, becauseover75%ofchildrenarereadingattwo
andspecialisedtrainingforteachersandparents. levelsbelowtheirgradeandcouldbenefitfrom
Buttheseinterventionshavemostlybeenstudiedin tailoredassistancethatcanmaximizetheirabilityto
developedcountrieslikeCanadaandtheUS.They continueinschoolandreachtheirfull
havenotbeenwidelystudiedinresourcepoor developmentalpotential.
settingsoutsideofNorthAmerica.InIndonesia,the
problemofreadingskillisparticularlyworrisome
bl f di kill i ti l l i
80%ofschoolchildrenmaynotbereadingatcorrect
levels.Becauseofthisgreatneedresearchis
warrantedtounderstandwhetherassistivereading
systemscanhelpschoolchildreninruralIndonesia.
Weproposetotestandvalidateanovel,assistive
readingsysteminruralIndonesia.

6.Nosillymistakes
Mostgrantproposalsarewrittenforfunders
whoholdacompetition
h h ld titi
Mosttimesthecompetitionisfierce onlya
smallproportionofallsubmittedgrantswill
befunded
Whyreduceyourchancesofsuccessby
Why reduce your chances of success by
makingsillymistakes?

10
 Sillymistakesinclude:
Typos
Wordcountsthatexceedlimits
Pagecountsthatexceedlimits
Usingabbreviationsthatareunknownor
undefined
Notfollowinginstructionsabout:
Informationtoincludeineachsection
Thestructureorheadingstouse
Fontsorotherstylerequirements

Avoidsillymistakes
Readinstructionsagaincarefully
Useyourcolleagues,coapplicants,and/or
spouseaspeerreviewers
Askthattheyreadyourproposaltospotany
typosorareaswhereyoucancutwords
Spelloutoravoidabbreviations
Spell out or avoid abbreviations
Takeabreakfromyourproposalandreturnto
itfreshforfinalediting

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Goodluck!

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