For those who are following me on Twitter (@captain_primate) will know that last week (and the week or so previous) was grantspocalypse (grantapalooza, perhaps?) for me. I was lead PI on 3 big, multi-scholar grants going into the IMLS (Institute of Museum & Library Services). Despite the fact that they all got in on time (though, one got in with only 30 minutes to spare), I was still running around like a crazy many waving my arms in the air as the deadline approached. The kicker is, things probably would have been a lot worse if I hadn’t embraced several (relatively) simple strategies designed to manage and mitigate the grant writing process.
Now, to be clear, these strategies aren’t about writing a successful grant, they are about managing the grant proposal process so that you don’t end up in a mental institution. Because, and let’s be completely honest here, successful grants are as much about organizing and managing the actual process as they are about the proposal itself. You can have the most incredible idea in the world, but if you don’t jump through the granting agency required hoops (providing all of the required materials in the form and format in which they are required), you aren’t going to be successful.
In this context, here are some strategies for surviving a grant proposal. As is customary, this list is hardly comprehensive. These are essentially the result of my own personal experience – so, take them in the spirit that they are given.
Make a List: Most granting agencies require a dizzying array of supporting documents (schedules of completion, budget justification, detailed yearly budgets, letters of support, etc, etc, etc.). Its very easy to loose track of which documents you you’ve finished, which documents you still need to create, who you still need to extract a CV out of, who still needs to send you a letter of support, etc. So, make a list! Go though the submission requirements of the grant (always in the grant guidelines) and identify exactly what you need to include in the application package. This way, you can check off stuff when it comes in/gets done. A spreadsheet works fine for this. I write everything down on the whiteboard in my office – that way its always staring me in the face.
Be Clear About Roles: If you are collaborating with other scholars on the proposal, be absolutely sure who is doing what. There is nothing worse than coming down to the finish deadline only to hear “What? I thought Fred was supposed to do the budget justification?” The other important aspect of this is that if someone agrees to do something, make sure they know what they are doing. Its all fine and good that someone volunteers to put together the budget, but if they really have no clue what they are doing, you are probably going to end up doing it yourself in the end.
Stop Emailing Drafts & Budgets: for the love of all that is good and pure in the world, stop emailing around copies of budgets and narratives. Even if you are using a naming scheme that attempts to communicate vital information about the version of the document (and who has touched it last), you are going to reach a point where the file name is completely nonsensical (final_narrative_ew3_cr3_bl3 (fixed final v3_final).doc? What? Am I supposed to know what version of the narrative this is?) The answer is Google Docs. Having one narrative (or budget) in a centralized location upon which everyone can work is a godsend. No more trying to figure out which of the 12 files is the most recent narrative, no more accidentally deleting files, and no more wondering the most recent file is on your laptop or the desktop in your office – everything is in the cloud! This works just as well for a budget. If your institution requires that you get budgetary approval from some unit on campus before submitting (such as an office of contracts & grants or sponsored research), ask them if they would be willing to work on a budget in Google Docs. This way, you don’t end up with two sets of different file versions (one on their computer and one on your computer). Also, if you’ve screwed something up, they can just do a quick fix (as opposed to trying to tell you via email what needs to be done). If a change needs to be made in the final budget (after it has already been approved), all you need to do is ask them to go back into the budget on Google Docs and check things out and give you a renewed thumbs up (or fix what is wrong). When you are done with everything, though, make sure you save a copy of the files locally. That way, if you need the documents later on, and you are caught without an internet connection, there won’t be any trouble.
Identify Those Who Can Help: As sponsored research & grant writing becomes more and more important in a university’s financial & research strategy, units (departments, programs, colleges, faculties, etc.) are hiring people whose sole job it is to work with faculty to develop and write proposals. Before you even get started on a proposal, find out if you have access to people like this. You may find that you’ve got someone who will write the budget for you or put together the grants.gov submission package (for example). And above all, don’t abuse these people. Be nice (always), be apologetic (when you invariably dump a load of work in their lap), and be thankful (because you probably wouldn’t have been able to pull off the proposal without them). If you can do it, I would even go so far as to buy them a small thank you gift after the completion of a particularly complicated or irksome proposal. Trust me, a box of good cookies, a basket of fruit, or some chocolates go a long way. Also, when you treat people well, they’ll be a heck of a lot more willing to go that extra mile for you the next time around.
Collect all Final Documents: This is more of a post-completion strategy, though it does impact the next grant you write. Like many of us, I write many grants in the same general domain (for me, its serious games for cultural heritage education, outreach, and engagement). As a result, I often end up re-using bits and pieces of language from previous grants. It is enormously helpful not having to dig though 20 or 30 different documents (various versions of the same document, sections of one document spread over several separate files, etc.) when you are looking for a chunk of text or list of references that you included in a previous grant. So, after you have submitted your proposal, create a folder (make sure it’s named appropriately for identification – I use the program name, the agency title, and the year) and put your final documents in it. Make sure that the documents are truly final (no temp text, no track changes). This way, when you need to go back and rip something off from yourself, you will have no problem finding what you need.
And, last but not least, the one completely crazy step.
Build a Cloning Machine (yeah, this is definitely the completely crazy step): Lets be completely honest here, how awesome would it be to be able to clone yourself when you are working on a proposal. Then again, this is assuming that your clone doesn’t refuse to work on the grant or go completely insane (as crazy mad scientist projects are want to do). I guess the alternative is you can always train your kids (if you’ve got them) to write grant budgets (that’s what I’m doing. My 7 year old still can’t grasp the concept of overhead, but give him a couple of years).
The photo in this post is CC-licensed and was created by Flickr user toolfin.hess.
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