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Successful Grant Writing Tips
One: Build your proposal around the priority funding areas
The Community-Academic Partnership Fund gives the highest priority to applications that advance the Wisconsin Partnership Program’s Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles, and the goals of the State Health Plan, Healthiest Wisconsin 2010. Proposals will be judged based on how well they address these two priority funding areas. Applicants are encouraged to also look at the implementation objectives in the State Health Plan as a resource for building their proposals around priority funding areas. The entire State Health Plan including all the implementation objectives, templates and logic models, is available in the Healthiest WI 2010 section of our Web site.
Two: Follow the application guidelines
The most successful proposals clearly fulfill the application guidelines as described in the Request for Partnerships (RfP). External reviewers evaluate several proposals at one time. Proposals that are easy to follow, use clear, straightforward writing, and are consistent with the application guidelines are more likely to receive higher scores. If you do not understand any portion of the RfP, including the guidelines and forms, please contact the program staff.
Three: Include your academic partner early in planning your grant proposal
Proposals that are viewed as the most competitive demonstrate a strong community-academic partnership. Faculty and academic staff will be more engaged in your program if you include them in the planning of your grant application. Meet with your academic partner early and often. This will help to establish the roles and responsibilities of the academic partner and result in a stronger partnership. For more information on identifying an academic partner, see the Academic Parnters section on our Web site, or contact program staff for additional assistance.
Four: Research your topic well and document the need
Priority will be given to applications that demonstrate a high need for their project and clearly describe the nature of the health problem being addressed. The use of objective information and data legitimizes the need for the program. When possible, applicants should use community-level health data, population-based studies, community surveys, state, national or Census data, or research studies. Your local and state health department and academic partner are good resources for identifying this information.
Building on one of our key guiding principles – “efficacy”, applicants should also describe how their program or intervention has shown consistent, positive outcomes in other communities or populations. The use of research validated; evidence based or best practice knowledge will help support the development of your proposal. For more information, see the Evidence Based Practices (EBP) section of our Web site. Your academic partner can also be a good resource for finding this information.
Five: Review and address all of the application narrative and evaluation criteria
Proposal guidelines, including the application narrative and evaluation (review) criteria, are listed in the RfP to provide applicants with more guidance on expectations for proposal content and how proposals will be evaluated. Proposals that are viewed as the most competitive are easy to follow, honest and respond to the information requested. It is very important that applicants carefully review and address the application narrative guidelines. If you do not understand the narrative guidelines or evaluation criteria, call the program staff.
A major portion of the narrative should be devoted to the program description, including the goals and objectives that will answer how the program will respond to the need. Many people misunderstand the difference between goals and objectives. Goals describe in general terms the intended actions and outcomes you hope to accomplish. They should be significant but feasible. Objectives are more specific, describing the activities or strategies to accomplish the goals, how many people will be served, and in what timeframe. Objectives can be powerful statements on behalf of your proposal. They tell what you expect to do and what will change as a result of your program activities. They should be realistic, focused, and measurable. Here is an example of weak and strong goals and objectives:
WEAK:
Goal: To reduce adolescent smoking.
Objective: To provide educational workshops at area high schools.
STRONG:
Goal: To reduce adolescent tobacco use rates in Chatham County.
Objective: To provide a series of 12 peer educational workshops targeted at 500 Chatham County high school students by June 1, 2007.
Outcome objective: By December 31, 2008, the number of high school students who use tobacco products in Chatham County will decrease by 25%.
Because objectives outline what you expect to accomplish over time, they are often the basis used to evaluate your program. Evaluation is a key component of good program development and management, but often the weakest component of grant proposals. A strong evaluation section shows that you have confidence that your program will work and you are willing to be held accountable for those activities. For more information on program evaluation, see the Evaluation section on our Web site. Your academic partner can also be an excellent resource in designing your program evaluation.
Six: Obtain clear letters of commitment from collaborators
Building a proposal that legitimately involves other collaborators with promising ideas are often evaluated very highly. Make sure you describe the commitments from any collaborators clearly, providing sufficient details on the roles of each. Attach letters of commitment that come directly from collaborators in their own words. Avoid the use of pre-written or form letters of commitment.
Seven: Clearly describe your organizational capacity and experience
A final, but important planning effort is to provide sufficient information regarding your organization’s background. Your proposal should establish that your organization has the capacity and experience to plan or implement your proposed project. When describing your organization’s history, include how long it has been in existence, the mission, and a brief summary of the services or programs that you provide. Emphasize your expertise in providing services for the target population or community described in your proposal. Additionally, you may want to include information on your organization’s leadership including board, administration or agency director.
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