Grant Writing Tips

Grant writing is a critical skill for researchers of all kinds, and especially for anthropologists, who often don't enter into a department or lab that has an existing pool of funds to support individual research projects.

So, after countless hours, many failed attempts, and a few surprising victories, here are my recommendations to help you get that grant.

Start early. You need plenty of time to write it, love it, hate it, rewrite it, revise it, get some feedback, rewrite it again, get some more feedback, revise it again, and then finally have something that might get funded.

Read the Call for Proposals (CFP) very carefully. Then read it again as you write. Then read it again once you're done to make sure that you included every element.

Pay attention to the mission of the funding agency and what they emphasize in a grant.

• NSF is all about pushing new theory forward, or as they call it "intellectual merit."

• Wenner-Gren funds humanistic research. Theory is also very important, but this can be a bit less positivist in its framing than NSF.

• Social Science Research Council also wants to fund humanistic research, and is similar to Wenner-Gren.

• Fulbright wants to strengthen diplomatic ties, international collaboration, and education.

• Fulbright-Hays focuses on in-depth language and area studies.

Ask for feedback from multiple people. Even better if they have previously served as a reviewer for that grant agency. Of course, you'll need to make sure you give them plenty of time to provide feedback. Their job is to point out weaknesses in your project. It will be painful. But it will make the grant much better.

Many universities have a point-person for each of the major funding agencies. Make friends with these people. Go to their informational sessions. Solicit their feedback, and listen closely to their recommendations. These people are the keys to your success.

Many grants go through a preliminary review by someone who is not a specialist in your field (e.g., Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, SSRC, etc.). If this is the case, it is very important to ask someone outside of your discipline to review your application, to make sure that the jargon is defined and theory is clear to a non-specialist audience.

Finally, don't get discouraged if you don't get funded the first time you apply. Several organizations will provide applicants with feedback from their reviewers. This is invaluable information for any subsequent submissions.

Good luck!