General
- Writing a competitive proposal takes time to do well
- Where do you begin? A good way to start is to write a brief (1-2 pages) concept paper with your goal(s), objectives, approach/methods, and target outputs and outcomes; get feedback from colleagues/mentor; revise and refine
- Now you are ready to draft the full proposal
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Organization
The Proposal Writing page is organized into topics referring to different parts of a typical grant proposal. The parts are: goals, objectives, and hypotheses; measurable outputs, outcomes, and impacts; building a compelling case; research design and methods, and abstract. Although each section is discussed separately, they must fit together seamlessly in the final proposal. Make sure to check that the proposal is internally consistent before submitting.
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Goals, Objectives, and Hypotheses
Goals, objectives, and hypotheses provide the outline of what you are trying to accomplish and what assumption(s) you will test. They are logically connected to each other; of reasonable scope to accomplish during the grant period; supported by statistical evidence and literature in the field; and are potentially of significant importance to advance a field or provide a substantial impact on a target group.
Goal - the long-term accomplishment of the program, usually broader in scope than the objectives.
Objective - what you will accomplish; a measurable step toward the goal (Not a method!)
Hypothesis - a testable assumption based on current data in the field
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Writing Objectives
Content
- What you will accomplish
- How much change you will deliver
- Identify target group
- Provide a time frame
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Tips
- Be specific- state exactly and quantifiably what you will accomplish
- Be realistic- don’t promise more than you can deliver
- Be logical- each objective should be a logical step toward the goal
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Examples
- By 2007, 35 small scale farmers will adopt IPM technologies in Hawaii Count
- By the end of the program, 80% of the adolescents will identify risk factors for drug addiction
- To identify Acacia koa varieties tolerant to high soil acidity
- To determine the maximum sustainable application rates of livestock wastes in tropical soils
- To increase minority student retention at the UH from first to second year by 10 percent by June 2007
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Hypotheses
Examples
- Use of IPM technology by small farmers will decrease their exposure to pesticides
- Drug addiction education increases adolescents’ knowledge of risk factors
- Acacia koa varieties can grow in high acid soil productively
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Resources
Online guides
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Measurable Outputs, Outcomes, and Impacts
Designing outputs, outcomes, and impacts that are measurable is essential for successfully obtaining funding. Grant makers want to be able to determine if their investment in your project is worthwhile. The most direct way to measure success is the attainment of project outputs and outcomes. In addition, designing measurable outputs and outcomes will expedite program evaluation for you and the granting agency.
Activities - how you are going to achieve the objective (method, service, event)
Outputs - product of the activities (workshops, experiment, and intervention) (Note: in the Logic Model activities and outputs are combined).
Outcomes - change in behavior, knowledge, attitude, or condition of target group
Impacts - used interchangeably with outcome, usually refers to a long-term outcome
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Tip
Make a table containing your objectives, activities, outputs, outcomes, personnel responsible for each, and timeline. This will serve as the blueprint for your proposal. |
| Objective |
Activity |
Output |
Outcome |
Personnel |
Timeline |
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Logic Model
The Logic Model was developed for extension work, but is useful for research projects as well. Learning the Logic Model is highly recommended to flesh out your project’s scope and draft well reasoned outcomes. For more information and a tutorial: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/evallogicmodel.html
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Building a Compelling Case
Proposals are ultimately evaluated on the significance of the problem to be addressed. Your job is to make a compelling case for your project. Scour the literature and find statistics that demonstrate that funding your project is essential to address a significant problem or gap in the field.
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Tips
- Establish the general significance of the project
- Describe and document the problem
- Review the current state of knowledge in the field
- Explain the rationale for the project
- Funnel the reader (general to specific)
- Answer the question why the project must be done
- Capture the attention of the reviewers
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Resources
- Statistics
- Literature search engines
- Peer review
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Research Design and Methods
The research design and methods should flow naturally and logically from the objectives. The quality of this section will likely determine whether the applicant will receive a favorable or unfavorable review. It is important to include the rationale for your approach and why you have chosen a particular method or approach over others.
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Content
- An overview of the experimental design
- The rationale for the proposed activities
- The hypothesis being tested
- A detailed description of specific methods to achieve each objective
- A description of any new methodology used and why it represents an improvement over the existing ones
- A detailed discussion of the process in which the results will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted
- A discussion of potential difficulties and limitations and how these will be overcome or mitigated
- Expected results and alternative approached that will be used if unexpected results are found
- A description of how the outcomes of the project will be evaluated
- A project time table which delineates the activities, outputs, outcomes for each objective
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Tip
- Give sufficient detail to allow reviewer to evaluate your methods, but avoid excessive details by citing publications (refer to your work, when possible)
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Abstracts
The importance of a well-written abstract cannot be overemphasized. It may be the only part of your proposal the reviewer may read. You must capture their attention, state the importance of the research, cover the main points of the entire proposal, explain what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, the expected results, and the impacts. It is a tall order for usually a short space. Spend sufficient time polishing your abstract.
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In General
- What do you intend to do?
- Why is it important?
- What has already been done?
- How are you going to do it?
- What do you expect to happen?
- What impacts will result?
- How much will it cost? (Depends on RFP and field)
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Content
- Purpose of research
- Importance of research
- Summary of background and feasibility
- Brief description of relevant data
- Target population, hypothesis, methodology
- Expected results and evaluation methods
- Impacts
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Pitfalls
- Failure to summarize the full proposal
- Omission of relevant data and methods
- Excessive use of jargon and abbreviations
- Not clearly written
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Proposal Ideals
- Clear and concise
- Organized and logical
- Highly significant problem
- Compelling argument for project
- Well-reasoned approach and sufficiently described methods
- High probability for achieving objectives
- Significant Impacts
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