Last week, ORDE hosted a talk by NEH Program Officer, Dr. Judy Adkins. She shared lots of information on the NEH, but beyond this she offered several key grant development tips that are useful for grant proposals well beyond those for the NEH.
I've captured her grant development tips here:
Start early: Grant proposals with all their ancillary parts almost always take longer to put together and write than we think, and competitive proposals definitely do! As soon as you identify an opportunity you think is a good fit, you should map out a timeline with what seems like extra time for each step!
Read the Program Announcement: I am a bit of a broken record when it comes to telling PIs to read the program announcement, so I was so excited when Dr. Adkins, dare I say, harped on this point as well!
Watch the program-specific webinars: Grant-making agencies oftentimes offer applicants a variety of resources to help them hone their proposals for the program. Be sure to review all of these resources, including any webinars the agency has produced.
Contact the Program Officer: Dr. Adkins was a very welcoming example of a Program Officer, but she impressed on us the importance of discussing your project and proposal with a PO to make sure it's a good fit and to get feedback from the PO.
Respond to evaluation criteria: Before you begin work on your proposal, make sure you have identified how your proposal will ultimately be evaluated by reviewers and be sure to center those criteria in the case you're making in your proposal.
Remember your audience: Know who is going to review your proposal. Dr. Adkins made the point that for the NEH you will have experts in your field reviewing as well as those outside your field, so you need to write your proposal (jargon-free) for both.
Resources:
Can We Talk? Contacting Program Officers - Bob Porter
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comment; it will be posted shortly. - Naomi