Showing What Really Matters

One of the great challenges in grant-writing is conveying a large amount of important information and plans clearly and succinctly. One way of doing this is figuring out what is most important and highlighting that message. But, how does one show what's most important in her/his grant? The following are some ways to show reviewers what's most important in your grant.

Put it in your budget
In a recent ORDE seminar on developing an NSF CAREER grant, we developed the budget mantra: "Put their money where your mouth is." This was in reference to the importance of including the education component of your CAREER grant in your budget to show its significance to the project.

This can be used in other types of grants to show your reviewers your financial investment in significant project components. Although, it is true that sometimes there are significant project components that do not require large funding portions, it's worth looking at your budget to see if someone who was looking at it in isolation would understand your priorities.

Say it upfront
We tend to remember what we read first, and along with that, we expect what we read first to be important. Thus, the most significant component of your project should be talked about early on.

Reinforce it
Not only should you say what's important upfront in your grant, but you should also say it more than once. If it's truly significant to your project, say it soon and say it often. Not that you need to repeat word for word the same idea in each section, but finding ways to offer the information in different ways that reinforce it's essentiality is a good idea.

Assess it
When something is important, then it is likely important to measure. This applies to our earlier example of the NSF educational component. If your educational component is important, then you likely don't want to allow for loose ends. Instead, you want to show your outcomes and effectiveness with a clear assessment component. The same can be said for any significant component of your proposal, showing what the component does and how you will show the efficacy.

Resources:
How Not to Kill a Grant Application Summary - Science Careers
So What?: How Not to Kill a Grant Application - Science Careers