Download Goals and Objectives

Chapter 20
Building Grantsmanship Skills
© 2006 Thomson-Wadsworth
Learning Objectives
• Outline the general process for
preparing a grant proposal.
• Conduct the foundational work needed
to generate a grant proposal.
• Develop a grant proposal.
• Analyze grant proposals and identify
their strengths and weaknesses.
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Introduction
• Community nutritionists increasingly
find themselves seeking extramural
funding for program activities and
interventions.
• Grant seekers need well-honed
grantsmanship skills to capture grant
dollars for their organizations.
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Introduction
• All proposals are designed to
convince a grant sponsor to
provide the services, goods,
and/or money the grant recipient
needs to achieve the objectives
stated in the grant proposal.
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Introduction
• Regardless of the length of the
proposal, the development of
proposals can be divided into three
steps:
– Laying the foundation
– Building the grant proposal
– Assembling the final product
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Laying the Foundation for a
Grant
• Writing a grant proposal is like building
a house in that it needs to be built on a
solid foundation.
• The foundation work for grant writing
includes the following:
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Generate ideas
Conduct a literature review
Describe goals
Identify funding sources
Identify potential collaborators
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Generate Ideas
• Proposal preparation begins with
generation of an idea that may come
from a variety of sources:
– A legislative initiative
– Implications for research included at the
end of journal articles
– Social trends or needs in the community
– Brainstorming with colleagues
– Reviewing statistical data
– A grant sponsor
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Literature Review
• Once an idea is formulated, the next
step is to review the literature for at
least the last five years.
• The literature search should address all
facets of the idea.
• Helps grant seekers assess the value of
an idea and adjust its focus to more
clearly describe their goals.
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Literature Review
• Helps identify other professionals
who could be sources of advice
and/or potential collaborators.
• Provides the background data
needed to write a compelling
needs statement for the proposal.
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Literature Review
• At the conclusion of the literature
search, grant seekers should be
able to describe:
– Their idea
– The uniqueness of the proposed
project
– Why it is likely to succeed
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Literature Review
• The most successful grant writers
are:
– Up to date in their subject matter
area.
– Well informed about current trends
and activities.
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Describe Goals
• Grant seekers know that they
improve their chances of receiving
funding if they focus on addressing
important goals.
– Goals - broad statements describing
desired long-range improvements.
• Healthy People 2010 goals and
objectives can help grant seekers
narrow the list of possible goals.
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Describe Goals
• Goals should be:
– Congruent with the grant seeker’s
mission
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Describe Goals
• Goals should:
– Be a priority of the grant seeker’s
organization
– Be stated in Healthy People 2010
– Be achievable in a timely manner
– Answer specific questions
– Address the impact on the target
group
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Describe Goals
• Successful grant seekers:
– Choose worthwhile goals that match
their organization’s mission and
interests.
– Address important needs that can be
met in a meaningful and timely
manner.
– Sharply focus their goals.
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Identify Funding Sources
• Finding a funding source takes two
forms:
– Generating an idea in response to a
grant sponsor’s request
– Finding a grant sponsor to fund the
grant seeker’s idea
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Identify Funding Sources
• The grant seeker may generate an
idea in response to a grant
sponsor’s Request for Proposals
(RFP) or Request for Quotation
(RFQ).
– Both of these invite grant seekers to
submit proposals.
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A Request for Proposal
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A Request for Quotation
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Identify Funding Sources
• RFP - tends to be much less
specific in regards to the activities
that can be proposed.
• RFQ - tends to be very specific
about the activities that the grant
recipient must engage in.
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Identify Funding Sources
• Funding sources might include:
– Government or community agency
– Industry trade group
– Food or drug company
– Local business
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Identify Funding Sources
• Community nutritionists can find
out about grants by:
– Networking with colleagues.
– Contacting granting agencies.
– Calling local businesses to seek small
grants.
– Searching Web sites of potential
funding sources.
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Identify Funding Sources
• For success, the needs of the grant
seeker must be in tune with the
needs and interests of the funding
source.
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Types of Grants
• Block grant - A grant from the federal
government to states or local
communities for broad purposes as
authorized by legislation
• Capitation grant - A grant made to an
institution to provide a dependable
support base, usually for training
purposes.
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Types of Grants
• Categorical grant - A grant similar to
a block grant, except funds must be
expended within specific categories,
such as maternal and child care.
• Challenge grant - A grant that serves
as a magnet to attract additional
funding.
• Conference grant - A grant awarded
to support the costs of meetings,
symposia, or special seminars.
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Types of Grants
• Demonstration grant - A grant,
usually of limited duration, made to
establish or demonstrate the feasibility
of a theory or an approach.
• Equipment grant - A grant that
provides money to purchase equipment.
• Formula grant - A grant in which
funds are provided to specified grantees
based on a specific formula, prescribed
in legislation or regulation, rather than
based on an individual project review.
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Types of Grants
• Matching grant - A grant that requires
the grant recipient to match the money
provided with cash or in-kind gifts from
another source.
• Planning grant - A grant made to
support planning, developing,
designing, and establishing the means
for performing research or
accomplishing other approved
objectives.
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Types of Grants
• Project grant - The most
common form of grant, made to
support a discrete, specified
project to be performed by the
named investigator(s) in an area
representing his or her specific
interest and competencies.
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Types of Grants
• Research grant - A grant made
to support investigation or
experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of
facts, the revision of accepted
theories in light of new facts, or
the application of new or revised
theories.
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Types of Grants
• Service grant - A grant that
supports cost of organizing,
establishing, providing, or
expanding the delivery of health or
other essential services to a
specified community or area.
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Types of Grants
• Training grant - A grant awarded
to an organization to support costs
of training students, personnel, or
prospective employees in research,
or in the techniques or practices
pertinent to the delivery of health
services in the particular area of
concern.
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Identify Funding Sources
• Key questions:
– Do the grant sponsor’s funding priorities
include the project’s goals?
– Are sufficient grant funds available for the
grant seeker’s organization to achieve the
goals in a successful and timely manner?
– What will this grant sponsor fund?
– Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
– Can the grant seeker’s organization meet
any special requirements of the grant
sponsor?
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Identify Funding Sources
• Key questions (continued):
– When is the application due?
– What are the guidelines for writing this
proposal?
– Is information available on the type of
projects the sponsor funded in the past?
– What are the credentials of the grant
reviewers?
– Is it possible to contact the sponsor before
preparing the proposal?
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Identify Funding Sources
• The most successful grant seekers:
– Select a grant sponsor before writing
a proposal.
– Follow the grant guidelines, forms,
and formats exactly.
– Observe all deadlines.
– Write the proposal using terminology
familiar to the grant reviewers.
– Sometimes experience failure.
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Identify Funding Sources
• Avoid chasing grants.
• Don’t jump from topic to topic just
to capture the latest stream of
grant funding.
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Identify Potential
Collaborators
• Collaboration is usually the rule, rather
than the exception, when developing
grant proposals.
• Collaborators may come from within the
grant seeker’s organization or outside.
• Collaboration may be critical to the
success for novice grant seekers or
those who are changing their focus.
• Proposals that are multidisciplinary
and/or multi-institutional are often
given bonus points.
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Identify Potential
Collaborators
• The best collaborators are those who:
– Know what is expected of them and when.
– Are excited about and committed to the
project.
– Willing to follow through on all
responsibilities related to the project.
• Select collaborators carefully, and try to
get them involved as early in the grant
writing process as possible.
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Building the Proposal
• The goal is to write a document
that is:
– Clear
– Complete
– Concise
– Compelling
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Components of a Proposal
• Letters of Intent
• Transmittal Letter - a brief,
friendly communication addressed
to the individual designated on the
call for proposals.
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Components of a Proposal
• Title Page, including:
– Project title
– The grant program the proposal is being
submitted to
– Proposed start and end dates of the project
– Funds requested
– Project director’s name and contact
information
– Legal name of the organization to which the
award should be made
– Authorized organizational representative’s
name and contact information
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Components of a Proposal
• Abstract - outlines the proposed
project and appears at the beginning of
the proposal.
– Contains a needs statement and describes
the main goals of the project.
– Some contain the project methods, time
frame, and budget.
– Should be written after the final proposal
draft has been completed.
– Grant reviewers form their initial impression
of a project from the abstract.
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Components of a Proposal
• Grant narrative, including:
– Needs statement
– Goals and objectives
– Methods
– Project design
– Participants
– Evaluation plan
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Components of a Proposal
• Grant narrative, also including:
– Measurements
– Data analysis
– Dissemination
– Time and activity chart
– Capability
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Components of a Proposal
• Budget
• Budget narrative
• Appendixes
– Placed at the end of the proposal.
– May contain carefully selected
materials that directly support the
proposal.
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Grant Narrative
• Needs Statement - a clear,
concise, and well-supported
problem statement with a review
of the current literature related to
the problem.
– Conveys a sense of urgency
regarding the problem and its
resolution.
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Grant Narrative
• Goals and Objectives - describe what
the grant seeker plans to achieve.
– Project objectives should be much more
specific and measurable than the goals.
– Once all objectives are written, they should
be placed in a logical sequence, either
based on chronological order or in order of
importance.
– The goals and objectives are the heart of
the proposal and they are the reason why
one seeks the grant sponsor’s help.
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Grant Narrative
• Methods - describes, in detail, and
justifies the procedures for achieving
the objectives, and explains why the
plan is likely to work.
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Project design
How success will be measured
Participants who will be involved
Sequence and time frame of activities
Duties and capabilities of the project staff
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Project Design - describes the overall
organization of the proposed project.
• Participants (sample) - describes the
characteristics of the sample, including
how many will be involved, how they
will be involved, what they will be asked
to do, and how they will be recruited.
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Evaluation Plan (Study Design)
– Explains how the grant seeker proposes to
measure the outcomes or impact of the
project and determine whether the
objectives have been met.
– Grant seekers need to carefully consider
how formative, summative, and impact
evaluations can be addressed in the
evaluation plan.
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Measurements
– There may be several measurements
used to generate needed information.
• Examples: tests, questionnaires, clinical
examinations, food recalls, observations,
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Measurements (continued)
– The measurements selected will depend on:
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The purpose and scope of the evaluation
The resources available
Measurement precision needed
The burden to participants
– The best measurement choices are:
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Feasible
Justifiable
Valid
Reliable
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Data Analysis - describes how the
data collected will be analyzed to
determine the success of the project.
• Dissemination - describes how
interested audiences will learn about
the project and its outcomes.
• Time and Activity Chart - breaks the
entire project into manageable steps
that clearly shows how the project will
proceed.
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Grant Narrative – Methods
• Capability
– Establishes credibility of the grant
seeker, including project staff, and
the organization’s ability to complete
the proposed project.
– Project staff credibility and capability
can be established by including
curricula vitae for all key project
personnel.
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• 3 fundamental ethical principles for
acceptable conduct of research
with human subjects:
– Respect for persons
– Beneficence
– Justice
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Respect for persons - recognizes
the personal dignity and autonomy
of individuals
– Requires special protection of
vulnerable groups
– Researchers must get full consent
from individuals
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Respect for persons (continued)
– Subjects must be informed about the
research purpose and procedures, as
well as its risks and benefits
– Subjects must have a chance to ask
questions and must be able to
withdraw from the research at any
time
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Beneficence - the obligation to
protect persons from harm by
maximizing benefits and
minimizing possible risks
– Appropriateness of involving
vulnerable populations must be
clearly demonstrated
– Consent process must thoroughly
disclose risks and benefits
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Justice - the benefits and burdens
of research be distributed fairly
– Subjects should not be selected
simply because they are readily
available or because they are
vulnerable
– Research should not overburden
individuals already burdened by their
environments or conditions
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Practice - interventions designed solely
to enhance the patient or client wellbeing and to have a reasonable
expectation of success
• Research - any systematic gathering
and analysis of information designed to
develop or contribute to generalizable
knowledge
– Must adhere to Belmont Report’s principles
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Basic Principles of the Protection
of Human Subjects
• Research includes:
– Interviews, surveys, tests, or
observations that are designed to
gather non-public information
– Studies of existing data where the
identity of individuals is known
– Studies designed to change subjects’
physical or psychological states or
environments
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Budget
• The budget is one of the most
important parts of the proposal.
• Grant seekers should carefully review
the grant guidelines to determine
exactly what expenses can be charged
and which are excluded.
• All project costs must be incurred
during the proposed period of time.
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Budget
• The most successful grant
proposals have budgets that are
totally consistent with their grant
narrative.
• Every budgeted expense must be
clearly related to the project goals,
objectives, and methods.
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Budget
• Budget Categories:
– Direct Costs - concrete project
expenditures that are directly listed
line by line.
• Include personnel, equipment, supplies,
and travel.
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Budget – Categories
• Indirect Costs
– a.k.a. overhead
– Include administrative costs and
facilities costs.
– Not specifically listed on budgets.
– Usually calculated as a percentage of
the direct costs.
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Budget – Categories
• Cost Sharing - the costs that the
grant seeking organization agrees
to contribute to the project.
– a.k.a matching
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Budget Narrative
• Follows the budget in the proposal
• Purpose = to explain or justify all
expenditures.
• The most useful budget narratives
show the basis for all calculations.
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Assembling the Final Product
• When all the proposal parts are
finished, the next step is to
assemble them into a complete
package.
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Assembling the Final Product
• Characteristics of inviting proposals:
– Clear, cohesive, highly readable writing
style
– Plenty of white space
– Appropriate vocabulary
– Appropriate margins, typeface, headings,
and subheadings
– Numbered pages
– Illustrations, graphics, and charts that are
clear and enhance understanding
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• The grant sponsor organizes the
proposals submitted and
distributes them to grant
reviewers.
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• The role of grant reviewers is to:
– Review each proposal.
– Compare it to the sponsor’s priorities and
criteria.
– Judge the relative merit of the project and
its likelihood for success.
– Assess whether the project staff and
organization can deliver what is proposed
within the timeframe specified.
– Evaluate the adequacy of the budget.
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• Successful grant seekers will need
to apply management and
budgeting skills so that they will:
– achieve grant goals expertly,
– on target,
– and on schedule.
• Many funded grants are
resubmissions.
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• Common reasons why proposals are not
funded:
– There were problems with planning and
time management.
– The proposal did not follow the guidelines.
– The deadline for submitting the application
was missed.
– The proposal lacked a well-conceived plan
of action or idea.
– The proposal had errors in the budget
estimate.
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• Many government grant sponsors and
some private sponsors provide grant
seekers with a written summary of the
reviewers’ comments.
– These comments can help grant seekers
learn how to improve future proposals.
• Another way to improve grant-writing
skills is to become a grant reviewer.
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Review of the Grant Proposal
• Grant writing takes time and effort.
• The most successful grant seekers
demonstrate four critical qualities:
– Diligence in researching and identifying
grant sponsors.
– Creativity in matching project goals with
those of sponsors.
– Attentiveness to detail in proposal
preparation.
– Persistence in revising and resubmitting
proposals to sponsors.
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Teamwork Gets Results
• Team - a small number of people
with complementary skills who are
committed to a common purpose
for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable
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Teamwork Gets Results
• Number of people on a team can range
from 2-16
• People chosen to be on the team should
be selected carefully so that the team
has balance, variety, and essential
expertise
• Achieving the team’s goals requires the
cooperation of every team member
• Team members are mutually
accountable for results
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Teamwork Gets Results
• Team leader is responsible for:
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Preparing the meeting agenda
Raising important issues
Asking questions
Keeping the discussion on friendly terms
Maintaining order during the meeting
Steering the team toward its goal
Recording the team’s accomplishments
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Teamwork Gets Results
• Conflict
– Conflict usually emerges because of
differences in attitudes, values, beliefs, and
feelings
– Appreciating and being sensitive to such
differences helps establish a climate of
cooperation
– Team leaders work to pinpoint the
underlying cause of the conflict
– They resolve the differences through open
negotiation
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