First, Read the NOFO
Start by reading the entire Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including the funding announcement, supplemental instructions, forms, and attachments. Make sure you understand the requirements and confirm your eligibility before you start. If you have questions, reach out to OSP.
The Grant Grid (docx) is a tool that helps you to read the NOFO with purpose, and to create a shareable document focused on what’s needed to win the grant award.
Frame Out Your Response
Use the scoring criteria provided in the NOFO to create an outline for your proposal response.
Create a First Draft
Read the NOFO again and add sponsor requirements as appropriate to the frame out you created. Only then should you add copy from past proposals, your concept paper, thoughts, and ideas, literature in the field, etc. It’s okay if the first draft is messy – the first draft should help you to organize your response in a way that best aligns to the sponsor’s requirements. Be sure to:
- Reply in the order and sequence that the sponsor has requested.
- Use their language – that is, if they say “Patient Navigator” and you’ve been using “Health Navigator,” use their term, not yours.
- Answer the sponsor’s questions, and each part of the question, fully.
- Use detailed, actionable language to explain what you intend to do. Not, “we seek to engage students,” but “our project will recruit 100 students during the academic year who will be mentored in conducting research on ….”
Determine the Gaps
What else is needed after you complete your first draft? What sponsor questions remain unanswered? Consider using the Gap Analysis Template (docx), which was designed to make clear what the NOFO is asking for and what you need to further develop in your response.
Address these gaps with:
- Review of the literature in the field.
- Information from partners or experts in the field.
- Get additional information from BMCC or CUNY data sources.
- Find grantee networks that may be able to provide technical assistance.
- Conduct further planning with your proposal team.
If you are applying to a federal agency,
- Refer to the sponsor’s strategic plan on performance.gov. The strategic plan often provides the sponsor’s planned approach to resolving public issues and gives the context in which grants were created.
- Review sponsor evidence. Every agency has a repository of effective and evidence-based programs, e.g., the What Works Clearinghouse. Use this to determine what models exist and what strategies are effective.
- Check for program-wide reviews conducted by major evaluation companies such as MDRC, Metis Associates, Mathematica. This is helpful in learning what program design elements worked and what didn’t when implemented in the field.
- Review sample awarded grants or grant abstracts that may be posted on sponsor pages.
- Check GAO.gov for reports on issues on grants programs.
Create Your Second Draft
This is where you bring it all together, fully answering the questions, incorporating evidence, and editing the document.
Review Your Draft
Make sure someone not familiar with your work reviews your draft against the sponsor’s selection criteria and gives you actionable feedback on how to improve your writing. See Get a Review for options or ask experienced colleagues to review.
