The Grant Writing Process
A grant proposal also known as a grant application is a document that is submitted to an organization with the intention of securing funding for a social service project. The grant writing process differs across the different funding projects. For example, the research intended for epistemological purposes (philosophy or the arts) rests on very different assumptions than research intended for practical applications like social policy research or medicine. This copy attempts to provide a general introduction to the grant writing across all disciplines.
Before you begin writing your proposal, you need to know what kind of research you will be doing and why. You may have a topic or experiment in mind, but taking the time to define what your ultimate purpose is can be essential to convincing the funder to fund your project. Although some scholars in the humanities and arts may not think about their projects in terms of research design, hypotheses, research questions, or results, grant reviewers and funding agencies expect you to frame your project in these terms. As the grant writer, you may also find that thinking about your project in these terms reveals new aspects of it to you.
Writing successful grant applications is a long process that begins with an idea. While many people think of grant writing as a lined process (from idea to proposal to award), it is a circular process with revisions, additions, subtractions and more editions. Many people start by defining their research question or questions. What knowledge or information will be gained as a direct result of your project? Why is undertaking your research important in a broader sense? You will need to explicitly communicate this purpose to the committee reviewing your application. This is easier when you know what you plan to achieve before you begin the writing process.
The figure below illustrates gives an overview of the standard grant writing process
Applicants must write grant proposals, submit them, receive notice of acceptance or rejection, and then revise their proposals. Usually, unsuccessful grant applicants revise their proposal and resubmit them in the next funding cycle if grant offers for the same projects are available. Successful grant applications and the resulting research lead to ideas for further research and new grant proposals.
Nurturing positive relationship with funding agencies may lead to additional grants down the road. To ensure this, file progress reports and final reports of your project in a timely and professional manner to the grantor. Although some successful grant applicants may fear that funding agencies will reject future proposals because they’ve already received “enough” funding, the truth is that money follows money. Individuals or project awarded grants in the past are more competitive and thus more likely to receive funding in the future.
