Exercises — Chapter 1: What Is a Grant?

These exercises move from recall (Part A) to application (Part B) to genuine creation (Part C). Grant writing is learned by writing, so do not skip Part C — it is where the learning lives, and several items build directly on the project you chose in this chapter. Selected answers and model responses appear in the appendix Answers to Selected Exercises.

Mixed/interleaved review (Part M) begins in Chapter 3, once you have prior material to retrieve.

Part A — Recall and Understand

1.1. In your own words, define a grant and name the two parties to it.

1.2. Give one clear distinction between a grant and each of the following: (a) a loan, (b) a contract, (c) a gift.

1.3. Name the four great sources ("rivers") of grant funding, and state in a phrase what each most rewards.

1.4. Distinguish restricted from unrestricted funding, and explain why unrestricted funding is more prized.

1.5. Distinguish direct costs from indirect costs. Give one example of each for a hypothetical project.

1.6. What does it mean for an NIH application to be triaged? Is triage a judgment that the science is bad? Explain.

1.7. List the six common reasons proposals fail that this chapter identified. Which one does this book argue is the single most common?

1.8. Explain the "mission transaction" reframe in one or two sentences. Why does it matter for how you write?

Part B — Apply

1.9. Classify the grant type. For each scenario, name the most likely grant type (research, program, operating, capital, fellowship, seed/pilot, capacity): (a) A university lab wants \$1.8M over five years to test a hypothesis about memory. (b) A food bank wants \$30,000 to keep the lights on and pay staff, with no strings. (c) A doctoral student wants two years of stipend support to finish a dissertation. (d) A youth nonprofit wants \$250,000 to build a new gymnasium. (e) A clinic wants \$15,000 to pilot a new intake process and gather data before seeking a larger grant. (f) A small arts nonprofit wants \$40,000 to hire a consultant and install a donor database.

1.10. Spot the misalignment. A funder's website says it funds "programs that increase access to the outdoors for urban youth." An applicant submits a strong proposal to fund laptops for a coding club. Identify the alignment problem and suggest one way the applicant could either (a) reframe honestly or (b) decide to walk away.

1.11. Reframe the ask. Rewrite each "project-centered" sentence as a "mission-transaction" sentence aimed at the funder. (a) "We need money to run our tutoring program." (b) "Please support our research on coral reefs." (c) "Our theater needs funding for next season."

1.12. Read the odds correctly. A program reports a 12% funding rate. Your colleague says, "So I have about a 12% chance." Explain why that framing is misleading and what actually determines your odds.

Part C — Analyze and Create (work on your real project)

1.13. Write your "My Proposal" starter. If you have not already, complete the four sentences from the Project Checkpoint: (1) what you want to do, (2) why it matters, (3) who you are in relation to it, (4) a rough budget guess. Save them in a document titled "My Proposal."

1.14. Name your grant type. Which type of grant best fits your project, and what does that tell you about what your eventual reviewer will care about most? Write two or three sentences.

1.15. Guess your river. Which of the four funding sources is the most plausible home for your project, and why? If two seem plausible, note both and what would distinguish them.

1.16. Pre-mortem. Imagine your future proposal is rejected. Using the six failure patterns from this chapter, write the two most likely reasons yours would fail, and one concrete thing you could do now to reduce each risk.

1.17. The mission-transaction draft. Write one paragraph (4–6 sentences) that frames your project as a way for a funder to accomplish their mission. You do not yet know your exact funder, so write it for the kind of funder you expect. You will revisit and sharpen this paragraph in Chapters 2 and 3.

Reflection

1.18. Learning check-in. What was your emotional reaction to the success-rate section? Write a sentence or two. Naming the reaction now will help you notice, later, when fear of rejection is shaping your decisions.