Deliverable

Learning Objectives

• Understand various genres to use for contacting prospective sponsors
• Research sponsors’ preferred contact and communication methods 
• Adjust your writing to meet the needs of a specific sponsor

Introduction

The main purpose of the previous tutorials is to prepare grant writers for their initial contact with potential sponsors. Up to now, you have:

• Found a need that you would like to address
• Developed a solution
• Written a case statement
• Conducted research on what else has been done
• Searched for and conducted research on potential sponsors
• Interpreted Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

During that process, you have developed possibilities for arguments, for writing persuasively, and for doing research on your project. While you should continue to approach your project with a mind open to new arguments, evidence, and language as the need arises, you should now have plenty of material that you can revise and adapt as your project and your relationships with sponsors evolve. Think dynamically about your writing as you craft a letter of intent. 

Principles for Contacting Sponsors

It will be important to contact the sponsor in the way the sponsor would like to be contacted--information that will likely be found in their funding announcement such as a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Applications (RFA), Program Announcement (PA), or other announcement. Different sponsors may want you to use different genres of grant writing for initial contact. According to Mikelonis, Betsinger, and Kampf (2004), some sponsors may simply want a full proposal; other sponsors may want a letter of intent or a “pre-proposal” --a shorter version of a proposal--to get an overview of your project before they request a full proposal from you (p. 135). In some cases, a sponsor may indicate exactly what they would like you to submit--all the way down to headings you should use in your writing. It may sound simple or unnecessary but doing research even on a sponsor’s preferred method of contact could also have an impact on your success.

Taking up initial contact with a sponsor means aligning interests among stakeholders. Just as it is important to find sponsors who are interested in serving the same people or pursuing the same causes your project is meant to serve, it is also important to consider the motives both a sponsoring organization and your organization may have for serving those people. As we found in Module 9, a sponsoring organization may provide information about its priorities--the problem it wishes to address through grants and/or the people it would like to reach.

No matter the form of initial contact required by a potential sponsor, the main purpose of communication is to explain the problem you would like to address and the solution--the form your project would take to address the problem. Thus, you can now rely on the material you have developed so far in your case statement by adapting or expanding it.  

Genres for Contacting Sponsors

Letter of Intent

Letters of intent tend to follow a standard business letter format (though they might be longer) and should be crafted specifically to individual sponsors, if possible. Mikelonis, Betsinger, and Kampf (2004) explain that more successful letters will express the alignment of your project with the sponsoring organization’s stated priorities; in fact, they explain that grant writers should “firmly and immediately establish that your project would meet the sponsor’s priorities and will serve the population the sponsor wants to reach” (p. 150). As with other forms of initial contact, letters of intent should explain the problem and solution, though they should do so in relatively short form. Your selection of arguments and details becomes very important for shorter genres of writing such as this. Letters of intent also indicate how much money you intend to request.

Pre-proposal

A pre-proposal, as defined by Mikelonis, Betsinger, and Kampf (2004) is a shortened version of a full proposal. It will include a problem statement that is shorter than one you might write for a full proposal, but it could also include a brief literature review, a discussion of methods, expected outcomes and how you will evaluate them, how your organization and personnel are qualified, and a budget. It will be important to follow any forms that the sponsoring organization provides for any or all information they require.

Full Proposal

In some cases, a sponsor may simply want a full write-up of your proposal. As with other types of queries, it will be important to connect your project with the sponsor’s needs and provide all information they ask for. If they provide requirements, make sure to follow them. For example: some sponsors may require specific forms to present a budget or other kinds of documentation. Your full proposal should be as transparent and detailed as possible within the parameters set by your sponsor. Make sure to look for examples and submit exactly what they ask (and do so when they ask for it).

Questions to Consider as you Move Forward

• To what extent can the material you have developed thus far be adapted to meet requests and requirements for various sponsors?
• What type of writing has one potential sponsor asked for? What language is the sponsor using to explain what they want?
• To what extent are you prepared to initiate contact using the parameters your potential sponsor has set?

Suggested Resources

Sample letter of intent

Sample pre-proposal

Sample full proposal

libguides.gcu.edu

References

Mikelonis, V. M., Betsinger, S. T., & Kampf, C. (2003). Grant seeking in an electronic age. New York: Pearson/Longman.