Proposals: Real-World Proposals & Funding Sources

In the real world, educators, artists, writers, and other individuals who might not have complete or even partial funding for the full range of their activities routinely seek support from foundations whose sole reason for existence is to finance such works.  

Perhaps you think that you will never really benefit directly from such funding? If you have ever watched a series like Ken Burns’s Civil War or Austin City Limits or even Sesame Street on PBS Public Television or if you’ve listened to All Things Considered on National Public Radio (NPR), then you have already benefited from such an foundation.  Organizations such as these and many of the shows they feature receive funding from a variety of sources. 

To apply for such funding, you must submit some sort of proposal – and the requirements vary widely from foundation to foundation. 

Comparing Proposal Requirements for Three Foundations

In order to orient you to the sorts of proposals you might find yourself preparing in the real world as you enter your technical writing career, this section of the chapter reviews the proposal requirements of three key organizations:  The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the National Science Foundation.

 

Arthur Vining Davis Foundation 

At its web site, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Links to an external site. identifies itself as "fund[ing] organizations and projects across the nation that advance "religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes."   

In fact, it accomplishes this goal through funding programs and opportunities in secondary and higher education, as well as those in religion, health care, public television, and other venues.  In past grant cycles, this foundation funded in part or in whole such projects as

• Improvements to a college auditorium at Earlham College in Richmond,
• A first-year experience program for undergraduate students at Hollins University in Roanoke,
• An entrepreneurship program at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina,
• Construction of a multi-disciplinary science building at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and
• An Academic Advising Center for Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois.

If you apply for a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, you might be surprised to find that the document you will be producing – at least initially – is actually quite simple.  

At the foundation web site, applicants are advised to produce a proposal in letter format that is mailed, not faxed or e-mailed, to the organization.  The instructions further note that “[a] concise description of the proposed project and budget is all that is necessary in the initial request.” 

The Carnegie Corporation of New York

Some of you are probably aware of the Carnegie Corporation of New York Links to an external site., which steel manufacturer and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie created in 1911 for “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” The foundation funds both national and international programs, and past grant cycles  provided large-scale support for the following projects, among others:

• The American Library Association’s program for strengthening the public outreach of libraries,
• The Association of African Universities, for participating in an academic management training workshop,
• The creation of a model reference library in Cape Town, South Africa,
• A dropout prevention campaign organized by America’s Promise: The Alliance for Youth, in Alexandria, Virginia,
• The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services’ national network for Arab American Communities,
• The Asia American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s program for encouraging voter participation among Asian Americans, and
• Eugene, Oregon’s Educational Policy Improvement Center’s college-readiness diagnostic assessment system.

As with those who seek funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, those who approach the Carnegie Corp. are asked to produce first a letter of inquiry that will describe the proposed project.  This letter should, as the corporation’s web site indicates, should within the designated space of 5 pages describe “the project, its aims, its significance, its duration and the amount of funds required.”  

Applicants are told that within the letter, they must answer the following questions (quoted from the site):

• “What problem does your project address? Why is this issue significant? What is the relationship of the problem/issue to the Corporation’s current program interests as noted in its Information Pamphlet and website?”
• “What strengths and skills does your organization and personnel bring to this project? What makes your organization the right one to conduct this project?”
• “Who will lead the project? Identify key personnel and attach resumes.”
• “What do you intend to demonstrate or prove? What means will you use? If the project is already under way, what have you accomplished so far?”
• “If you are requesting funding from Carnegie Corporation for a component(s) of a larger project, specify which activities you are requesting the Corporation to fund and how they relate to the larger project.”
• “What outcomes do you expect, both immediate and long term?”
• “If you have requested funds from other sources (or plan to), please list those sources and note the status of your request.”
• “What plans do you have to disseminate information to the public about your project?”

Although the idea of answering all of them in the space of five short pages might seem overwhelming, these directions do provide you with specifics. 

The National Science Foundation

In 1950, Congress created the National Science Foundation Links to an external site. (NSF) as an independent federal agency designed solely “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.” Many research projects at major universities in the fields of the general sciences, computer science, the social sciences, and math owe much of their funding to the NSF.  Considering the fact that the projects funded by the NSF are major or “big ticket” ones, it is hardly surprising that the foundation’s requirements for proposals is highly specific or that the proposal itself must be far more developed than a letter.

In fact, so detailed and inclusive are the requirements that the NSF web site offers applicants a handy proposal preparation checklist to simplify the task somewhat.  Among the formatting requirements specified by the foundation are (direct quotations noted)

• Specific and very limited font choices that are different for Windows users, Mac users, and TeX users.  Arial, Helvetica, Palatino, and Georgia are the four major fonts.
• Use of the color black only for fonts.
• Font size of 10 or larger.
• “No more than 6  lines within a vertical space of 1 inch.”
• 1-inch margins all around.

Beyond those requirements, specifications grow quite involved:

• A Cover Sheet to include:
  • Awardee and  Performing/Research Organization
  • Program Announcement/Solicitation/Description Number
  • NSF Unit of Consideration
  • Additional Information:
  • Title of Proposed Project
    • Budget and Duration Information
    • PI Information and co-PI Information
    • Previous NSF Award
    • Other Federal Agencies
    • Awardee Organization Information
    • Performing/Research Organization

• Other Information:  Should any of the following items on the proposal Cover Sheet apply to a proposal, the applicable box(es) must be checked.
  • Beginning Investigator
  • Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
  • Proprietary or Privileged Information
  • Historic Places
  • Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER)
  • Vertebrate Animals
  • Human Subjects
  • High Resolution Graphics/Other Graphics Where Exact Color Representation is Required for Proper Interpretation
    International Cooperative Activities Country Name(s)
• A Project Summary that must meet these guidelines:
  • This summary should be “suitable for publication, not more than one page in length.”
  • “It should not be an abstract of the proposal, but rather a self-contained description of the activity that would result if the proposal were funded.”
  • “The summary should be written in the third person and include a statement of objectives and methods to be employed.”
  • “It must clearly address in separate statements (within the one-page summary):
    the intellectual merit of the proposed activity; and
    the broader impacts resulting from the proposed activity.
• A Table of Contents that, quite luckily for the applicant, is pre-formatted.
• A Project Description (including Results from Prior NSF Support) that should
  • Be 15 pages in length or shorter.
  • “Provide a clear statement of the work to be undertaken.”
  • Include “objectives for the period of the proposed work and expected significance; relation to longer-term goals of the PI’s project; and relation to the present state of knowledge in the field, to work in progress by the PI under other support and to work in progress elsewhere.”
  • Do each of the following:
    • “outline the general plan of work, including the broad design of activities to be undertaken, and, where appropriate, provide a clear description of experimental methods and procedures and plans for preservation, documentation, and sharing of data, samples, physical collections, curriculum materials and other related research and education products.”
    • “describe as an integral part of the narrative, the broader impacts resulting from the proposed activities, addressing one or more of the following as appropriate for the project: how the project will integrate research and education by advancing discovery and understanding while at the same time promoting teaching, training, and learning; ways in which the proposed activity will broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.); how the project will enhance the infrastructure for research and/or education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships; how the results of the project will be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding; and potential benefits of the proposed activity to society at large.”
    • This project description should also include extended reference to and discussion of results from any other NSF support received in the past by the applicant, identify and document any collaboration with “individuals not included in the budget,” and cite all references used in the description.  

Beyond that, a 2-page or shorter biographical sketch must be provided for each planned participant, including information on technical preparation, academic or technical appointments, publications, and “synergistic activities,” that show how the applicant’s technical activities impact beyond the college or university community.  

The budget portion of the application – which should be 3 pages or shorter – must provide a line-by-line itemization of each phase of the project and include reference to all expected expenditures, from the paying of personnel to the purchase of supplies. 

 

These examples alone show that expectations for proposals in the real world vary greatly.  However, most proposal share certain elements that address the most important features of the genre, such as the establishment of a problem, your proposed solution to it, your qualifications, and a budget and timetable.  

With these key features, your proposal can begin its job of convincing the reader you are presenting the right solution to the problem.