Part II — Writing the Proposal

The heart of the book: one component at a time, until you have a full draft.

This is where you write the proposal. Part I made sure you are writing to the right funder for the right reasons; Part II builds the document itself, one component per chapter, with each chapter giving you the principle, the reviewer's-eye view, a template to defeat the blank page, annotated real examples, and the specific mistakes that sink otherwise-fundable work.

The order is deliberate, because the components build on one another. Your aims or executive summary frames everything. Your needs section justifies the work. Your narrative proves you can do it. Your evaluation plan proves it will work. Your budget translates the plan into dollars, and your justification defends every one of them. Your capacity section answers the reviewer's silent question — can these people actually deliver? — and your sustainability section answers the next one: what happens when the money runs out? Finally, you assemble and submit, because a noncompliant package is never read no matter how good it is.

  • Chapter 6 — The Specific Aims Page: the single most important page in research funding, built element by element.
  • Chapter 7 — The Executive Summary: the foundation/government equivalent — your whole project in two pages.
  • Chapter 8 — The Needs Assessment / Significance Section: proving, with evidence, that the problem is real and urgent.
  • Chapter 9 — The Project Narrative / Research Approach: the detailed plan that makes you credible without losing the reader.
  • Chapter 10 — The Evaluation Plan: logic models and SMART objectives that prove measurable results.
  • Chapter 11 — The Budget: the numbers that tell your story, built line by line.
  • Chapter 12 — The Budget Justification: making every dollar visibly necessary.
  • Chapter 13 — Organizational Capacity and Key Personnel: proving you are the right team.
  • Chapter 14 — Sustainability and Dissemination: showing impact that outlasts the grant.
  • Chapter 15 — Assembling and Submitting: the unglamorous final mile that trips up more proposals than bad writing.

Work the Project Checkpoints in order and you will finish Part II holding a complete first draft of a real proposal — every core component written, for a project you actually want to fund. Parts III through VI then sharpen that draft for your specific funder and sector.

Chapters in This Part