Grant Writing for Beginners

Description

This highly focused course will will help you to make good choices in terms of which funders you are targeting. It will cover the common parts of a grant application and give you an easy to follow framework and formula for what should be included in them.

Most importantly, it will teach you how to get the funding panel on your side from the outset.

A unique aspect of this course is you will learn about how to write a effective grant from an instructor (Professor James Smith) who actually Chairs a number of funding panels and who is actually responsible for making grant funding decisions

Your instructor, Professor James Smith, PhD, is an established and popular instructor on the Udemy platform. Feedback that he has received from Udemy students includes;

"Very easy to understand and the instructor spoke slowly enough that I could let the information sink in" - KW

"Very informative and thorough. Getting ready to take the next course. The assignments with the instructor's example following were very helpful" - KR

"Very helpful information from a well-qualified Professor. Concisely presented in a format that facilitates easy notetaking" -  BDP

This course is ideal for you if;

• You want to learn how to write successful grants and are at the first step in your grant writing journey

• You are an academic or Lecturer or Assistant Professor who wants to secure grant funding but are just starting out

• You are grant writing for a 501.C3, a non-profit or a small/medium sized enterprise

• You want to learn about what a grant funder and decision panel is looking for in different grant sections, and how to construct a grant that aligns to this

In this course you will develop an understanding of how to approach and write a successful grant application. It will also cover how to tailor your grant application to a specific funder in order to increase your chances of success. Most importantly, we will cover how to approach the different sections of a grant application because I recognise that starting a grant application can be difficult, and having to complete all of the different sections of a grant application can be quite intimidating at first.

How will we do this? This course is split into three modules, with each module containing an individual assignment for you to complete.

Module 1

The first module is called making good choices and it’s really about the research that you undertake and the decisions that you make before you even put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard in terms of deciding which funder you will actually target. We will learn about understanding the strategic priorities of funders. And we’ll talk about why choosing the right funder is one of the most important choices you can make since it will play a significant role in the outcome of your application – if you pick the wrong funder or the wrong funding stream, then your chances of success will not be very high.

In this module you will also learn how to use real world data to not only shape your choices of what you will be applying for, but also how the funder will view your application. Finally this module will also cover generating and measuring impact.

Module 2

In module 2, We will actually deal with the process of writing the foundations of a grant and I will teach you how to tackle each individual component of a grant application. I will use a generic set of headings that you will find in most grant applications.

We will look at the abstract or summary section as it’s sometimes called, which is actually one of the shortest, but also the most visible or heavily scrutinised parts of a grant application.

We will then move on to the background or introduction section which is typically where a literature review is presented that gives the background or the rationale for the work that you are proposing to do if the money was awarded. We will also specifically cover the aims section which is another critically important section of your grant application.

We will talk about the methods or approach section of a grant, which is actually meant to describe how the work will actually be performed, and I’ll then take you through the process of setting SMART objectives. These are objectives which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Limited.

Finally we will talk about how to pull together and present an effective team with clearly defined roles in your application, so that the funder will be able to tell who exactly is doing what piece of work and what they will be bringing to the project.

Module 3

In module 3, we are going to talk about how to get the funding panel and the reviewers on your side. These are the people who make the decision in terms of whether your grant actually gets funded and so it’s really important that you tailor your grant application so that you are speaking to these people directly. Now getting the funding panel on your side can be accomplished in a number of ways and we are going to talk about some of the most effective ways to do this.

You will learn about how to write a lay summary which is sometimes called the plain English summary, and why it can be so important to your application. We will also talk about word limits and how to use them effectively. Finally we will talk about the type of language that you use to communicate with the funder, and when and where it is appropriate to use technical or scientific language in your application, when it is important to use emotional language, and where some of the pitfalls can occur when using overly complicated language.

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