What goes into having a grant?

  • Background research about the funder's priorities and proclivities
  • Relationship and consensus building among your team
  • Writing and re-writing
  • Budgeting and re-budgeting
  • Forms and pieces (each funder/proposal is different)
  • Submission processes - EHHD's required Letter of Intent and MSU Office of Sponsored Programs' required electronic Proposal Clearance Form (ePCF). (Find descriptions of these on the Key Rules & Procedures page.)
  • Coping with rejection (proposals are rarely funded the first time out)
  • Responding to reviews (resubmitting)
  • Contract negotiation/establishment (allow 6-12 months from proposal to contract)
  • Budget and project management
  • Reporting
  • “Care and feeding” of the Funder (share stories, photos etc. supplemental to required reporting)

Elements of most proposals:

  • Abstract/Project Summary
  • Project Narrative
    (NIH: Specific Aims and Research Strategy)
  • Budget with Justification/Narrative
  • Logic Model (possibly)
  • Timeline
  • Evaluation
  • Human Subjects description and risk/benefit justification (if relevant)
  • CVs or Biosketches
  • Facilities and Resources description - how will the institutional environment support success?
  • Forms and Statements (e.g., Lobbying Disclosure); use OSP's Information Sheet!
  • Cover Letter (possibly)

Proposal development timeline:

How long writing a proposal takes can depend on:

  • Number of people involved
  • How long you’ve worked together
  • Whether you’re starting a whole new project
  • Complexity of the project (how many moving pieces)
  • Complexity and length of the required narrative
  • How well and how quickly you write
  • How limited your Funder’s budget allowance is

Fastest could be: 7-10 days

Could take 1 year for a successful first try

Average: 4-8 weeks when not too complicated

But Remember!  Your deadline is 3 days ahead of the Funder's deadline, because that's when the MSU Office of Sponsored Programs needs you to have it ready to submit.

Proposal development checklist with your internal deadlines

Recommendation: develop your own preparation checklist based on the particular RFP's requirements and your own situation.  Here's a template.