Overview
On this page, we offer some ways of thinking about grant proposals and advice about the process of planning and writing a proposal. We consider grant proposals; overall purposes, audiences, and expectations in order to make this information applicable across a range of contexts. However, this general approach has important limits. First, you will need to get more tailored advice about grant writing within your specific discipline or sphere. Second, you’ll need to follow very carefully the exact instructions about proposals from the granting agencies to which you are applying.
Talk with professors, mentors, previous grant recipients, the funding agency/group you are applying to, and trusted advisers in your field to learn more about what successful grant proposals look like in your situation and to get feedback on your plan and on your drafting process.
Before you start writing your grant proposal, you’ll want to make sure that you:
- develop a specific, meaningful, actionable plan for what you want to do and why you want to do it;
- consider how your plan will achieve positive results;
- locate a granting organization or source that funds projects like the one you have in mind;
- research that organization to make sure that its mission aligns with your plan;
- review the organization’s proposal guidelines; and
- examine sample proposals from your department, peers, and/or the organization.