Thursday, November 21, 2013

Grant Writing 101

Notes from a National Writing Project Annual Meeting Session (B12)
~Lynne Anderson-Inman, Oregon WP at University of Oregon

The funding is out there. The problem is having the time and the skills to write the proposal.

The Five Major Parts to a Grant Proposal:
1. Significance (May call it: Purpose, Need, Problem, Importance, Outcomes, Expected Impact, etc.)
-They are wanting to know: Why is this important?
-This is the MOST important part of the grant

2. Background (May call it: Content, Evidence, Research synthesis)
-Find out the context in which you are working. Is it a research project? Is it a professional development project and you've previously done similar things?

3. Plan of Work (Goals, Objectives, Activities, intervention, evaluation, measures, etc.)
-What are you going to do? What materials are you going to use?

4. Resources (Personnel, Collaborators, institutional support, matching funds, grant history, experience, etc.)
-Assure them that if they give you money, you will do a good job.

5. Budget
-How much money do you need?
-How are you going to spend it?

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1. Significance = Persuasive Essay
Goal is to persuade reviewers your idea should be funded

  • Create awareness of a problem you intend to solve
  • Take a position on how to solve it (thesis)
  • Present arguments for your position
  • Use evidence to support your arguments
  • Counter the arguments of opposing positions (Draw attention to how other people have approached this problem but has been inadequate or inappropriate)
  • Link your position/solution to your proposal
*Some problems are more compelling than others!
Don't do this:
-Our school is poor and needs money for computers. (Frankly, they don't care.)
Instead:
-Our students need 1:1 computer access to learn 21st century literacy skills. (That's something you can sell!)

Don't:
Teachers need more professional development in writing.
Do:
Students' writing scores in our district have not improved in five years.

Don't:
The number of English Learners is increasing every year.
Do:
Graduation rate for English learners is far below that of non-ELs.

Our turn: Write a problem you intend to solve.

*Using visuals can also be highly beneficial!

2. Background = Classification Essay
Goal is to provide reviewers with context for the proposal. Classification essay breaks complex subject into manageable parts.
  • Review existing knowledge or classroom practice
  • Organize existing knowledge into categories
  • Communicate the classification scheme
  • Present the evidence by category
  • Show how your proposal builds on this knowledge 
*Numbers are good! It provides a sense of authority on the content.

Example: Research Review:
Organize research by categories
-Related research has examine three major interventions...
-Existing research has revealed three major influencing variables...
-Work to date has addressed the needs of three different student populations...

3. Plan of Work = Technical Writing
Goal is to convince reviewers you can do this work.
  • Emphasis is on objectives and activities
  • Be specific: strategies, techniques, tools
  • Make an outline of information needed
  • Use language that is clear and concise
  • Go from whole to part
  • make effective use of lists
  • Explain all acronyms
  • Use charts, graphs, and tables
4. Resources = Expository Writing
Goal is to provide information about your site's capacity.
  • Break section into topics or subsections
  • Provide overview statement

Finding Funders
Federal (www.grants.gov is great for finding grant competitions)
-US Department of Education
-National Science Foundation

Institute for Education Sciences http://ies.ed.gov/funding

National Science Foundation http://www.nsf.gov/funding

National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/grants


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