Grant Writing Resources

Key Questions

Prospective foundation funders will seek key pieces of information about your proposed project. Answering the following questions will help our office in identifying prospective funders and will form the basis of a compelling proposal. These questions assume that you are doing a research project but can be adjusted for other kinds of projects.

The problem

  • Define the problem you are seeking to solve.
  • Why is this problem significant to society?
  • What are the central research questions that will guide your project?

Potential contributions

  • What will we know or be able to do (differently) when your project is completed?
  • What literature(s) does your study draw from and contribute to?

Approach

  • What conceptual framework and research design will guide your work?
  • What is the scope of the data and data collection needed to conduct your research?
  • What kinds of analyses will you be proposing to answer your research questions?

Team

  • Name the principal investigator, and the experience and expertise they bring.
  • Who else is on the project team, and what makes them qualified to conduct the work?

Funding

  • Total amount needed for the project, and the total amount requested of the funder.

Geographic focus

  • What is the geographic city/region/state/country focus of your project?

Timeline

  • When are you seeking to start the project, and what is the timeline for completion?

Letter of Inquiry

Foundations typically indicate what type of materials they prefer to receive when you have a project that you think may interest them. Often, the first contact is via a brief, one- to three-page letter of inquiry (LOI), which many foundations accept on a rolling basis. Alternatively, some funders will ask that you submit an initial letter of intent to apply for a program for which they have a formal proposal request process (a Request for Proposal, or RFP).

Writing tips

Letters of inquiry should be clear, concise and engaging. Initial research about the mission and program areas at the foundation is essential, and each letter should be tailored to the individual foundation.

Please contact our office if you are planning to submit a letter of inquiry. We can help with framing the LOI for the particular foundation, providing content feedback and editing before it goes to the prospective funder.

What is the format?

Individual funders may specify the content and length of this initial letter, though others may not. In general, the purpose of the letter of inquiry is to generate interest and a desire to hear more in a full proposal.  At the same time, the LOI should provide enough detail about the problem and your project to allow readers to understand your general approach, methods, data, and analysis plans.

Below you can find guidance for writing each section of the LOI.

Introduction

The first paragraph should begin with a problem statement to engage the reader’s interest in the issue or problem you are addressing. This should be about the actual underlying problem, not a statement about the lack of research on the problem. The following should also be included in the opening paragraph:

  • The significance of the problem.
  • Your general approach to the project.
  • How your project will contribute to solving the problem.
  • How your project relates to the foundation’s mission, interests and defined program areas.
  • An estimate of the budget that you will be requesting from the foundation and the timeline to complete the project.

Body Paragraphs

The body of the letter will explain the project in more detail, including:

  • A brief introduction to the literature that you will draw on in designing your study. This should not be exhaustive but should rather demonstrate that you are sufficiently well-read in the area to identify a meaningful question or issue to address.
  • Research questions/hypotheses that the study will focus on. The reviewer should be able to understand how these were derived from your understanding of the literature just presented.
  • Overview of the conceptual framework, study design and data to be collected/analyzed.
  • Brief description of analysis plans. As in a full proposal, the reviewer should be able to understand how the methodology relates to the research questions.
  • The principal investigator’s expertise in this field.

Conclusion

Close your LOI with a brief restatement of the significance of the project to the research field, population served or other areas that tie to the foundation’s interests.

Full Proposal Outline

Many foundations will provide a clear description of the expectations for the content and structure of your proposal. If they do not provide this, the following elements should be included.

Overview

Open your proposal with a summary of the problem you seek to address in your research or project, a brief description of the approach you will take, and why the problem is significant. Make sure this is tailored to the particular foundation’s mission and program focus. An early statement of the funding request is also appropriate in this section.

Background

Clearly describe the problem and the current status of knowledge in the area. Rely on literature in the field, your previous work, and available datasets to define the problem and its relevance to society. Provide a convincing display of your expertise in the area that you will be contributing to.

Research questions or hypotheses

If you are planning a research project provide your research questions or hypotheses.  These should clearly relate to the literature just reviewed, and the design and methodology that follow. 

Design and methodology

This section should go in-depth on how you will go about doing your research or project work. The methodology will detail all of the strategies and activities you will undertake in order to address the problem. Be sure to include a description of the structure of the data, and how the data will be collected, if original data will be collected.

If secondary analyses are planned, describe the data in enough detail for reviewers to evaluate its appropriateness to answer your research questions. Describe your analysis plans, and make sure that your analysis plans align with all of the research questions or hypotheses introduced earlier in the proposal.

Budget

Most funders will have a budget template for you to complete. Make sure that you contact your research or business administrator early on in the budgeting process to be able to obtain Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) approval. OSP will approve the foundation’s published indirect cost rate, which is likely to be much lower than the federal rate.

Budget Justification

Your research administrator can also help put together this document, which will explain the various cost elements associated with the project.

Supporting Materials

There are several other Penn State resources that you will need to become familiar with as you prepare proposals:

 

  • Research Administration (RA) and University Development (UD) have complementary roles in the submission of proposals and administration of charitable contributions, primarily from corporate and foundation sources.  Effective collaboration between these offices helps faculty to navigate our collective resources and enhances our ability to secure and steward private support. Since the same funding can be treated as sponsored activity for management purposes, while also being classified as a charitable contribution for fundraising, care must be taken to comply with both Research and Development policies and procedures. Refer to the RA-UD Collaborative Procedures here.
  • The Office of Sponsored Research offers additional information on funding resources as well as the University forms and contacts required for institutional approval of grants and sponsored projects. Additional proposal writing tips can be located here.
  • The Office of the Controller maintains annual financial reports.
  • The University Budget Office maintains annual operating budgets.
  • For core Penn State information, including mission, history, and current statistics, Explore Penn State.