- What is a grant?
- Why is grant money available?
- Who must provide internal approval for my proposal, and how long does that process take? (Grant Proposal Clearance)
- Do I have to have a funding source in mind, or do I just need an idea?
- How do I find out about grant opportunities in my discipline?
- Who actually applies for the grant? And who gets the money when the grant is awarded?
- Where can I get advice on proposal writing?
- How difficult is it to obtain a grant?
- How long does it take to get a decision on a grant?
- What is the incentive for faculty to apply for grants?
- Where can I find the College’s DUNS or employer ID number and other institutional data required by granting agencies?
- Who has ultimate responsibility for the management of grant-supported projects and the administration of a grant?
Grants are like venture capital. They enable individuals and institutions to make a leap forward in their work; they usually do not fund general operations. Unlike charitable gifts, grants represent an agreement between the funding agency and the principal investigator or project director to carry out the project as described in the proposal or grant application.
Impartial peer reviewers and experienced program staff base their grants decisions strictly on the merits of the work, apart from any bias toward the principal investigator or his/her institution. A charitable gift often represents the esteem or loyalty of the donor; a grant signifies the informed approval of peers in the field. A grant has terms and conditions, which are enforceable, while donations generally do not.
Grants are very competitive. A successful proposal is one that offers something new, refreshing, and enlightened and sufficiently convinces the funding agency of the ability of the project director to carry out the proposed project or program.
The grant is a tangible vote of confidence from the funding community with the expectation that a new experimental design, innovative curriculum, faculty exchange, or K-12 partnership will provide measurable benefit to your discipline, the field of teaching, or the community.
Grants are also different from contracts, which are a means of procurement for services. In federal contracts, the scope of work is defined by the agency, which then may retain the work product, as opposed to a grant in which the plan of work is proposed by the principal investigator who maintains control of the work product.
Why is grant money available?Grants are a funding instrument through which federal agencies, private foundations, corporations, and other organizations achieve larger goals. The National Science Foundation is committed to advancing scientific knowledge. It relies on a network of independent researchers in the field who, through their work, further the goals and objectives of the agency.
Private foundations, as well, often have specific programmatic interests and grant recipients essentially partner with them in furthering their philanthropic agendas. The Andrew Mellon Foundation, for example, is concerned with the underrepresentation of minorities in higher education and makes grants to Ph.D. programs to recruit and retain students of color on the doctoral track. All private foundations are required by law to distribute 5% of their assets annually.
Most federal agencies were enacted by legislation, which is subject to periodic reauthorization. The funding levels of agencies and departments reflect changing political priorities; for example, the budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled in the last decade as a result of the administration’s desire for improved health outcomes for the American public.
Who must provide internal approval for my proposal, and how long does that process take? (Grant Proposal Clearance)Both the chairperson (if the department has a chair) and dean must approve the project concept and sign the Grant Proposal Clearance Form before research can begin to find grant funding and before a proposal can be submitted. The first step in this process is to discuss a project idea with the department chairperson. The potential grantseeker should then complete the Grant Proposal Clearance Form, obtain the signature of the chairperson, and route the form to the Dean of the School. From there, it will be forwarded to the Vice President for Academic Affair’s Office and to Institutional Advancement.
The grant proposal clearance process ensures that resources and staff time are being committed to support the strategic priorities of Saint Vincent College. These priorities include, for example, the development of signature projects in each of the newly organized academic schools.
The chairpersons and deans determine which proposals support the larger goals of their school and of the College and should seek external funding. Even individual research projects can have an impact on the distribution and use of institutional resources such as equipment, lab space and time, and the teaching obligations of faculty. Issues that are factored into these decisions also include the likelihood of funding, matching fund requirements or other stipulations, and the sustainability of the program or project.
The clearance process also ensures that multiple proposals from various departments are not being submitted to the same funding source and, in effect, competing against each other. The Institutional Advancement staff and FGG staff monitor all submissions to public and private funding sources to avoid internal conflicts and to ensure that the college’s fundraising, as well as academic program goals, are being served.
Do I have to have a funding source in mind, or do I just need an idea?Grantseekers do not need to have a funding source in mind, although having identified and researched a specific grant program in advance is advantageous. After the chairs and deans have approved the proposal concept and general project plan, the grantseeker should begin the search for grants using the online and print resources available to faculty at SVC.
IRIS, the Illinois Research Information Service, is the most extensive database which the College subscribes to and all faculty can access IRIS from on-campus computers. Faculty are asked to perform an IRIS search, prior to initiating grants research through the FGG office.
After searching IRIS, faculty may request the assistance of the FGG staff in finding other funding sources. The project idea should be sufficiently well defined that the searches can be done efficiently to reveal the most likely funding sources. Potential grantseekers should familiarize themselves with all keywords related to their research or program interests. Grantseekers at a minimum must be able to supply accurate search terms to the FGG staff to make the research process productive. The Grant Proposal Clearance Form is an aid to grantseekers in program planning and can provide the first step in grant research.
How do I find out about grant opportunities in my discipline?One of the best ways to locate funding opportunities is to talk to colleagues and monitor the journals and web sites of professional associations. Networking and "word of mouth” information-sharing can be very helpful in seeking grant funding.
There are over 3,700 professional associations, most of which offer grants. A comprehensive electronic directory of those organizations, which is searchable by discipline/field, can be found online at the Scholarly Societies Project at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/overview.html.
Also, all faculty should routinely visit web sites of the major funding agency in their fields – the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Department of Education.
Most of these agencies also offer e-mail alert services, which allow a principal investigator to create a profile, which matches his/her research interests, career phase, funding needs, etc. Hits – or descriptions of grant programs that match the profile – are generated and e-mailed to the prospective grantseeker.
There are also electronic and print resources for locating grant funding, many of which are discipline-specific. IRIS, mentioned above, is one of the most comprehensive databases of funding opportunities, and can be accessed by all faculty from any computer on campus.
The database includes a very extensive key word thesaurus of research topics. Other delimiters narrow the search based on type of project, career stage of the investigator, citizenship, etc. The IRIS database is simple to use, and with practice, a user can become more skilled at finding results that most closely match his/her interests. Also, all users of the IRIS database can create profiles and request e-mail alerts based on the criteria that they provide.
FGG offered a training session on researching grant opportunities at the Grantseeking Workshop in January 2004. All faculty can obtain the CD with the PowerPoint presentation and notes. Finally, the FGG web site includes links to other grant databases and Grantsline, the FGG newsletter, which publishes deadlines and funding opportunities. Also, the FGG staff monitors newsletters and grants information sources and routinely directs information to faculty, chairpersons, and deans via e-mail grant alerts.
Who actually applies for the grant? And who gets the money when the grant is awarded?In general, it is the institution that applies for grants and the President is the signatory on all grant proposals and applications. In the case of research proposals, however, the principal investigator (PI) is the applicant and if the PI leaves the institution, the research grant goes with him/her. Actual grant funds are always remitted to the College. In the vast majority of instances, agencies and private foundations will only make grants to IRS-designated, 501(c)3 organizations – that is, organizations that the Internal Revenue Service has determined to be private and not-for-profit. The exception, again, would be fellowships, which generally cover a researcher’s living costs at another institution. In those cases, funding flows through the College to the faculty member.
Where can I get advice on proposal writing?
The FGG staff has a combined 31 years of experience in proposal writing and project planning. In addition, proposal writing advice is plentiful on the Internet and in print sources. A small library of books is available in the FGG office. The FGG staff has reviewed the wealth of information available online and selected the best, listed in the Proposal Development section of this website.
Much of this advice comes directly from experienced faculty and researchers who have been successful in applying to federal agencies and foundations. In the sciences in particular, researchers who have applied to the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have described the process and pitfalls in great detail. Their very specific advice is invaluable to first-time applicants.
More general guidance is also available from the Foundation Center and the Grantsmanship Center. The Social Science Research Council offers advice for researchers in their fields and the Environmental Protection Agency provides one of the best interactive grantwriting sites, which includes a grantwriting exercise. Also, program officers from various federal agencies have written articles that give insight and advice from the perspective of program staff and reviewers.
How difficult is it to obtain a grant?
Grantseeking is competitive. Approval success rates vary. National Science Foundation grant programs in the Division of Undergraduate Education have success rates that range from 20% to 40%. National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge grant resubmissions are funded at a rate of more than 40%.
Federal grant agencies publish explicit funding criteria. The more closely the proposed program matches those guidelines, the greater the chance of success. Also, the chances for receiving a grant correlate to pre-application “homework,” such as researching funded proposals at other institutions, contact with program staff, the submission of proposal drafts for comment, and the revision of drafts in accordance with program officer’s advice. See Proposal Development page.
Foundations and corporations are also clear about their philanthropic priorities. When a program is well designed and meets a need, it is likely to be funded. An examination of the myriad grant programs reveals that there is funding for virtually any field of inquiry.
There are ways that a grantseeker can improve his or her chances of receiving funding. Some grant programs, particularly in the sciences, are designed for early career faculty. These grants enable junior faculty to collaborate with more experienced colleagues at other institutions and to partner in grant-funded research. In subsequent proposals, junior faculty can cite previous funding, preliminary results of their research, and perhaps publications, all stemming from the collaborative grant, thereby improving their chances of being awarded a grant.
In the humanities fields there are research centers, libraries, and learned societies that provide small grants for research and travel. These short-term grants can provide the basis for a larger submission to the National Endowment for the Humanities or other major fellowship program. The only project directors/principal investigators who never get grants are those who never apply.
How long does it take to get a decision on a grant?Four to six months is the standard review period among federal agencies from submission until notification. (Most federal agency deadlines occur annually at the same time of year, typically, fall and spring.) The proposal development process, however, can take longer from the time when a funding opportunity is discovered until the grant is approved.
Also, proposals are often declined on the first submission. A rejected application offers the opportunity to consider the reviewers’ comments, discuss the proposal with program staff, address weaknesses in the program design, and resubmit. The success rate for resubmissions is substantially higher than for first-time applications. Unfortunately, both federal agencies and foundations permit only one application per year.
Grantseeking often takes a year or more. The process of becoming familiar with the funding priorities, the application guidelines, and the regulations of an agency represents an investment of time. It also involves learning the culture of the granting entity and even building relationships with program staff. Because the grantor will potentially make a significant investment in your work, cultivating a productive relationship may take time.
What is the incentive for faculty to apply for grants?The real incentive for faculty to pursue grants is to obtain the resources to further their work or to test new ideas. Departmental budgets and internal faculty grants generally are not sufficient to support the research activities of all faculty. Funding through grants enables faculty who balance their teaching and research activities to acquire equipment, travel to other facilities, develop new curricula, or provide research experiences for undergraduates.
Grants and the program activities that they fund also enhance the reputation of the College, which factors into student and faculty recruitment. Success in obtaining grants has a multiplier effect. One grant often positions a researcher or project director well to receive subsequent grants.
Where can I find the College’s DUNS or employer ID number and other institutional data required by granting agencies?FGG will provide grantseekers with information such as the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, the institution’s approved rates for indirect costs and fringe benefits, the EIN number, IRS determination letters, form 990s, etc.
Who has ultimate responsibility for the management of grant-supported projects and the administration of a grant?The principal investigator or project director has the responsibility for the day-to-day implementation and administration of the grant project. The post-award involvement of FGG staff is generally limited to advising project directors on the timely submission of reports according to the funders’ specifications. Adhering to the project timetable, expending grant funds, and preparing progress reports is the responsibility of the project director.