The Fountain of Funding: Strategies for Securing Financial Support for your Project

February 27, 2007Keenan Dungey, Associate Professor, ChemistryDeb Koua, Coordinator, Grants and ContractsPamela Salela, Assistant Professor, Library Instructional Services& Coordinator, Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center, Brookens LibraryStacey Willenborg, Director of Development, Corporate/Foundation Gifts

University of Illinois at Springfield

Corporate and Foundation Relations

Find matches

Conduct research on funders

Set-up and attend initial meetings

Serve as a general resource to help you find funding

Proposal Preparation

Faculty and staff know their projects best

Tailor to your audience

Use your contacts

Talking points are helpful

Ask for assistance

University of Illinois at Springfield

Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center

http://library.uis.edu/findinfo/grants/index.html

Central Illinois Nonprofit Resource Center

http://library.uis.edu/findinfo/grants/index.html

Pamela M. Salela, Assistant ProfessorCINRC CoordinatorBrookens Librarypsale2@uis.edu217-206-6783

Pamela M. Salela, Assistant ProfessorCINRC CoordinatorBrookens Librarypsale2@uis.edu217-206-6783

Affiliations

Foundation Centerhttp://foundationcenter.org

– Publications– Training– Reference Guide for Researchers

http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/guides/research.html

Donors Forum of Chicago – Partnerhttp://donorsforum.org

– Publications– Workshops (Chicago)– 20% discount UIS

Resources

Databases– Foundation Directory Online campus only!

http://fconline.fdncenter.org/ipl.pl

– Foundation Grants to Individuals Online campus only!http://gtionline.fdncenter.org/ipl.php

– Illinois Funding Source campus only!http://ifs.donorsforum.org/

– Campus Only! – but… VPN client

Reference Materials– Directories– Manuals– Budget tools

Select Bibliography of Directories

Directory of Research GrantsAS911 .A2 D5 2005

Annual Register of Grant Support: A Directory of Funding Sources AS911 .A2 A67 2007

The Grants Register: The Complete Guide to Postgraduate Funding WorldwideAS911 .A2 G734 2007

The Europa International Foundation DirectoryHV7 .I56 2005

Grants for Higher EducationAS911 .A2 G7247 2007

Workshops

Community

Course specific

Faculty/Staff

Services provided by G&C Office

Identification of external funding sources

Interpretation of sponsor guidelines and requirements

Assistance with all stages of proposal development

Official submission of proposals to outside sponsors, including electronic submissions through grants.gov, Fastlane, etc.

Assistance with protocols for research involving human and/or animal subjects

Assistance with intellectual property issues

A webpage with links to relevant information, and downloadable forms

Where to look for funding

IRIS www.library.uiuc.edu/iris

SPIN (coming in FY09)

Google

Association listserves, funder newsletters, etc.

Grants.gov

Colleagues

UIS Provost Funding

Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Grant Program (SCRGP)

Strategic Academic Initiatives Grant (SAIG) Program

Collaborative Project Seed Funding (CPSF)

Scholarly Presentation Support Program

UIS requirements for proposals & awards

All proposals submitted to external sponsors by UIS faculty, staff and students require internal approval using the UIS Internal Clearance Form.

All awards must be officially accepted by the campus, and must be signed by the proper authority.

Proposal Writing Tips

DO:

Follow directions

Learn as much about your funder as you can

Use language that is simple and direct

Repeat the funder’s language back to them

Include tables, flowcharts and diagrams when they are useful

Tips continued …

Proofread

Have someone not familiar with your work read your proposal

Prepare a detailed and justifiable budget

Talk to staff at the funding agency if possible

Ask for reviewer comments

Tips continued…

DO NOT: Go over the number of pages allotted

Pad your budget with items that can’t be justified

Assume that reviewers are experts in your field

Wait until the last minute – to write or to submit

Send the same proposal off to multiple funders

Get discouraged!!

How to get your project funded (1 faculty perspective)

Keenan Dungey (CHE)

University of Illinois at Springfield

Writing the Proposal

Clear hypothesis/goals– State the importance of the project

Clear statement of resources/personnel needed and timetable– Make the case that you can do the project

If your project involves students, describe their learning goals

Be considerate of the reviewers– Correct format, excellent language skills

Help for Writing the Proposal

Get copies of proposals that were funded by the agency

Volunteer to serve as a proposal reviewer for the agency

You make contacts and learn first-hand about the grants that get funded

Pre-”peer review” – Send a copy of your proposal to a colleague

before the submission deadline

Start Now

Set goals and deadlines for yourself

Contact program officers at granting agencies – find out more information about their program– learn from them what has worked in the past

Don’t wait– Submit a proposal and get feedback. – Some programs give preferences to new faculty.

Finding Funding

Resources at UIS– All of the above– Center for State Policy and Leadership

http://cspl.uis.edu/

Professional Organizations– Council on Undergraduate Research

www.cur.org

Colleagues– Attend professional meetings

What if you don’t get funded?

Don’t be discouraged by the failure rate– Some NSF programs have a 10% funding rate

Always pursue comments on why you were not funded; – even gather comments on why you were funded

so that you know what you did correctly

KED Grant Proposals Written 2000-2006Agency and Program Proposal Title Amount Funded

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation

Photochemistry of Confined Transition Metal Complexes $10,000

Research Corporation Self-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO4)2 Nanocomposites denied

Council on Undergraduate Research Self-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO4)2 Nanocomposites $3,500

UIS Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Award

Self-assembly of Gold/Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposites $1,500

The National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation

RUI: Acquisition of a Powder X-ray Diffractometer denied

American Chemical Society Decorating the Gallery: Improving the Properties of Cobalt Hydroxide by Anion Intercalation

denied

Research Corporation Self-assembly of Gold/ Zr(HPO4)2 Nanocomposites for Optical Applications denied

UIS Summer Competitive Scholarly Research Award

Intercalating Anions into Cobalt Hydroxide $1,000

American Chemical Society Nanometal Pillaring of Inorganic Layered Compounds deniedResearch Corporation Mesoporous Transition Metal Oxides for Energy Storage denied

The National Science FoundationCourse, Curriculum, and Laboratory

Improvement Program

Integration of Powder X-ray Diffraction Throughout the Chemistry Curriculum

denied

American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund

The 2D to 3D Magnetic Ordering Transition in Layered Double Hydroxides Mediated by Polyoxometalates

denied

NCUR/Lancy InitiativeSummer Support for Exceptional

Undergraduates

Research Community for Water Literacy: Chemistry, Biology, Environment, and Policy

denied

Research Corporation Porous Heterobimetallic Oxides for Energy Storage $33,494

The National Science FoundationCourse, Curriculum, and Laboratory

Improvement Program

Collaborative Project Gemini XRD: Powder X-ray Diffraction in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses

$92,179

The National Science FoundationCourse, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement

Program

Upgrading undergraduate education by the acquisition of a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (co-PI with Dr. Harshavardhan Bapat)

denied

Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program $60,000

The National Science FoundationCourse, Curriculum, and Laboratory

Improvement Program

Collaborative Project Gemini SPM: Scanning Probe Microscopy in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses

pending

Suggestions for Success

Establish a track record with peer reviewed publications

Gather preliminary data on the project to demonstrate that you can do it

Show institutional support – List all available resources even if you haven’t

tapped into them yet.

Find collaborators – Colleagues down the hall, at another campus– Attend professional conferences

Finding Time for Research

Schedule your academic week into blocks for teaching and research– reserve a day, or at least an afternoon, to your

scholarship (no meetings, no committees, no classes)

Reserve summers for research

underload/overload semesters– Since contact hours are counted for the entire

year, you can underload one semester to make time for writing.

Course-related research can lead to published articles