{"id":24,"date":"2013-10-29T15:56:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T20:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2025-05-05T09:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:31:00","slug":"successfulproposal-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/successfulproposal-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Develop a Successful Proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faculty Checklist<\/h2>\n

Faculty members seeking to develop a successful proposal should keep track of their efforts using this checklist available in\u00a0Google Drive.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>In addition to the Faculty Checklist, please review the following:<\/p>\n

Steps for Developing a Successful Proposal<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Proposal development is an iterative process. At the beginning, plan to spend more time planning and thinking than writing.<\/li>\n
  2. You can\u00a0have more funding options if you are\u00a0flexible about your project. For example, if some work you planned to do on the St. Olaf campus can be partially accomplished or presented in the Twin Cities, you\u00a0may create opportunities to work with a Twin Cities foundation.<\/li>\n
  3. However, don\u2019t change core aspects of your project to fit the guidelines of a foundation or government opportunity.<\/li>\n
  4. Start with a 1-2\u00a0page concept draft. This can be a very informal outline or unpolished prose. Set forth\u00a0key aspects of the project and shape the case you\u2019ll make for it:\n
      \n
    • Key Questions:<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • What is the opportunity or problem you want to address?<\/li>\n
      • Why is it important? To whom?<\/li>\n
      • What prepare St. Olaf and\/or you to address it?<\/li>\n
      • Why now?<\/li>\n
      • Over what period of time?<\/li>\n
      • What\u00a0knowledge will result that we don’t currently know?<\/li>\n
      • How does this project advance your professional goals and\/or St. Olaf priorities?<\/li>\n
      • What resources are needed to complete the project (time, money, access, collaborators, library materials, software, space)?<\/li>\n
      • What\u00a0activities\/outcomes\/products will be accomplished?<\/li>\n
      • What else has been tried?<\/li>\n
      • Why do you think this project will succeed?<\/li>\n
      • What will success look like?<\/li>\n
      • How will success\u00a0be measured?<\/li>\n
      • How will you disseminate results?<\/li>\n
      • Can this project be replicated?<\/li>\n
      • Will the project continue once grant funding ends?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Circulate your concept draft to colleagues who know the work and those who will help by asking you good questions, including staff in GFCR. Consult with your chair, and others at St. Olaf who can\u00a0help your project succeed.<\/li>\n
      • Begin the search for funding at least eighteen months prior to the start date of your project.<\/li>\n
      • In conjunction with GFCR staff, make inquiries of funders to gauge interest\/alignment of your project.<\/li>\n
      • Read the guidelines. Read them again. Follow them. Proposals may be rejected for failure to observe page limitations, type sizes, deadlines, CV formats and other requirements.<\/li>\n
      • Give careful attention to the organization of your proposal. Use subheads, transitions, summaries and other tools to help the reader. Remember, yours\u00a0will\u00a0be one of dozens or even hundreds of proposals under review.<\/li>\n
      • Know your audience and write accordingly. Will your proposal be reviewed by peers or by other professionals who may not know your field? Clarity is generally preferable to complexity.<\/li>\n
      • Anticipate reviewers\u2019 questions and address them in your narrative. Don\u2019t make reviewers guess why you are asking for a research assistant or whether your language skills are good enough to do research abroad or why you require this software.<\/li>\n
      • Show rather than tell. Use data to support claims. Draw clear conclusions from paragraphs that describe context background or controversy.<\/li>\n
      • In most cases, you can request support for your project from more than one foundation or agency. Be sure to tailor your proposal to each organization to which you apply. Foundations and agencies have distinct missions and goals. Be sure the proposal reflects the funder’s imperatives as well as your own.<\/li>\n
      • Start the Proposal Clearance process early.<\/li>\n
      • Be careful of what you ask for, because you may get it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Faculty Checklist Faculty members seeking to develop a successful proposal should keep track of their efforts using this checklist available in\u00a0Google Drive.\u00a0In addition to the Faculty Checklist, please review the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_spp_custom_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/gfcr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}