Appendix C: Quick-Reference Cards

These are the one-glance cards — the distilled essentials you'll want at your elbow while you work. Each card compresses a chapter (or several) into the points you reach for most often. They are reminders, not replacements for the chapters; when a card raises a question, return to the cross-referenced chapter for the reasoning behind it.

How to use these cards. Print or copy the ones you use most. They are deliberately terse — the judgment behind each line lives in the chapter named. Keep them in your toolkit (Chapter 32) and let them speed the work once you already understand it.

Card 1 — The Whole Process at a Glance (Chapter 4)

1. Decide to apply — funder fit confirmed (Card 2). Register early (SAM.gov/UEI).
2. Plan backward from the deadline (Appendix A.8). Internal deadline ≠ funder deadline.
3. Develop the concept — the one sentence this proposal must prove.
4. Draft the components — aims → significance → approach → evaluation → budget → capacity → sustainability.
5. Revise in three passes — substance → compliance → polish.
6. Get critical review — peer / mock panel (read as the reviewer).
7. Assemble and check — full checklist (Card 8).
8. Submit early. Then steward the relationship — win or lose.

Card 2 — Funder Fit (Go / No-Go) (Chapters 2–3)

Pursue only if you can answer yes to all: - Eligible? (organization, PI, geography, stage) - Mission fit? (your work advances their stated mission) - Program fit? (a specific program/mechanism matches your project) - Size fit? (your ask matches their typical grant — check the 990-PF / award data) - They fund work like mine? (verified via past grants, not hope)

If no: reject (save your time) or cultivate first (build the relationship, then apply). Alignment is the cheapest predictor of funding.

Card 3 — What Reviewers Reward (Chapter 2)

• Significance — an important problem, made to feel urgent.
• A clear, feasible approach — they can see exactly how you'll do it.
• Credible capacity — evidence you can do this.
• Coherence — every part points the same way (Card 6).
• Easy to score — they can find each criterion's evidence fast (write to the rubric).
• Specific, not generic — concrete beats vague every time.

Remember: reviewers are busy, expert, and reading many proposals. Make yours easy to champion.

Card 4 — The Specific Aims / One-Pager (Chapters 6–7)

Hook (important problem) → Gap (what's missing) → Goal & objectives → Hypothesis/premise (+ why it's credible) → Aims (2–4, independent, each delivering part of the goal) → Payoff (what changes if you succeed).

The most-read page. If it doesn't land, nothing else gets read closely. One page, ruthless.

Card 5 — The So-What Chain (Needs/Significance) (Chapter 8)

Problem → magnitude → consequence/cost → who's affected → why it matters now. - Every link evidenced (pair national + local data). - Credit existing efforts, then name the specific gap. - Asset-based, never deficit-only (Chapters 25, 31).

Card 6 — Coherence: The One-Argument Test (Chapter 5)

Every component must bind to the aims: - Budget matches the narrative (Card 7). - Evaluation measures the promised outcomes. - Capacity supports the approach. - Sustainability follows from the goal.

Read the whole package and ask: Is this one argument in one voice, or stapled parts? Stapled parts lose.

Card 7 — Budget Reconciliation (Chapters 11–12)

• Every line necessary, reasonable, allocable — with a basis of estimate.
• Budget = justification = narrative. If the narrative promises it, the budget funds it; if the budget has it, the justification explains it.
• Personnel = salary × effort + fringe. Add indirect/F&A (rate × base). Escalate multi-year (2–4%/yr).
• Match the funder's format (NIH modular/detailed; NSF; foundation; SF-424A / 2 CFR 200).

A budget tells your story in numbers — make it tell the same story.

Card 8 — Pre-Flight Compliance (Chapter 15)

Binary checks — any failure can sink a strong proposal: - ☐ Eligible · ☐ all required components present · ☐ exact format (font/margins/limits) - ☐ within page/word limits · ☐ forms signed · ☐ assurances included - ☐ registrations active (done weeks ago) · ☐ funder-specific components present - ☐ every criterion explicitly addressed · ☐ no leftover bracketed notes · ☐ submit early

Full checklist: Appendix A.9. Compliance is the floor you must clear before content even matters.

Card 9 — Funder-Type Cheat Sheet (Part III)

Each door opens differently. Match the proposal to the funder, not the reverse.

Card 10 — Turning Rejection into Funding (Chapter 22)

• Rejection is information, not a verdict — most funded grants were once rejected.
• Read the summary/critique after the sting fades, for the real concerns.
• Agree-and-fix generously; clarify cleanly; defend rarely.
• The resubmission's introduction shows responsiveness — it isn't a debate to win.
• Strengthen the application substantially; point to where (Appendix A.10).

Card 11 — Using AI Honestly (Chapter 24)

• AI is an assistant, not the author — you remain accountable for every word.
• Verify everything — AI fabricates citations, statistics, and facts.
• Never paste confidential or unpublished data into tools that may train on it.
• Disclose per funder policy; never misrepresent authorship or violate rules.
• The judgment, the relationships, the strategy, the truth — yours, not the model's.

Card 12 — Sustaining the Work (Chapters 33, 35)

• Build a pipeline, not one proposal — continuous, diversified, volume-calibrated (Appendix A.13).
• Steward every relationship — report well, thank, stay in touch (Chapter 26).
• Paid for your work — never on contingency (unethical) (Chapter 35).
• Metabolize rejection; celebrate wins; build sustainable practices against burnout.
• Stay connected to the meaning — you make important work possible.

A closing reminder. These cards are fast because you did the slow work of the chapters. Used alone, they're hollow; used as reminders of understanding you already have, they make you quicker and surer. Keep the ones you reach for, and return to the chapters whenever a card raises a question it can't answer.