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Is My Idea Fundable?
If you are thinking about seeking a grant to support your research or to fund a project or program, you will want to consider the following questions:
- What is the purpose of your research project or program, and what is the intended outcome(s)?
- For example, if you're designing a curriculum: What do you intend for this curriculum to teach students? Or ...
- If you're putting a student volunteer experience in place, what do you expect the students to learn from the activity?
- What are the immediate, intermediate and long term goals you wish to achieve by undertaking this project?
- What measurable objectives and/or activities will you undertake to achieve those goals?
- Who will benefit from your work and how will they benefit?
- What resources will you need to complete the project successfully?
- Summer salaries for whom, when, and at what percent FTE?
- Other things included might be: travel, equipment, computers, etc....
- Faculty and/or staff release time?
- What is the "back story" to this project?
- If this is a new concept, how did you develop the idea?
- Have you been doing something like this already, but now you want to expand?
- Do you plan to work with others on campus? ... Off campus?
- Are there other people or groups doing similar work?
- How is your research, project or program different than theirs?
- If you are the only person doing this, what theories are you using to support your hypothesis/project plans?
- What is the time-line of activities for your project? How long will it take you to complete?
- What are your project deliverables and when will you complete them?
- How will you know if your efforts have been successful?
- What are your assessment plans?
- How will you ensure that the benefits of the project continue to positively affect your constituents after grant funding has ended?
- What are your plans (if any) for long-term sustainability?
- Do you already have a potential funder in mind?
Impact and Final Thoughts
- Why should a funder spend money to help you undertake this project?
- Why is it important?
- How will the successful completion of your project change the world for the better?
- How will the project make life better for your constituents?
- How will the project make a difference to the community as a whole?
