You have arrived at the Revise or Abandon stage of the proposal development process.
Usually, this means that your proposal can't be recommended to the Vice Presidents for submission.
Some common reasons why this might happen are:
Your department/unit cannot meet the required matching funds for your proposal
There are insufficient personnel or equipment to carry out your proposal if it is funded
The impact of your proposal on other academic programs cannot be accommodated
Your proposal is not in line with the academic planning of your department or college
These difficulties can be anticipated if you and your Department Head or Dean confer while you are developing your proposal.
Questions about matching funds, personnel, and academic impact can be anticipated and dealt with before the proposal is ready
for the Dean's signature of approval and submission to the Vice Presidents.
Nevertheless, despite your best efforts, problems may occur that prevent the submission of your proposal. Now you must decide:
DO I REVISE MY PROPOSAL, OR DO I ABANDON IT?
REVISING YOUR PROPOSAL
If your proposal has been rejected by a funding agency, FIND OUT WHY! Call the funding agency and ask for a Reviewers' Report.
The Report will give you detailed reasons why your proposal was not funded. This is valuable free advice from experts about how to
improve your proposal. Incorporate the advice into a REVISED PROPOSAL and RESUBMIT it for the next funding cycle.
RECYCLING YOUR PROPOSAL
Was your proposal rejected because of a bad "fit" between your ideas and the interests of the granting agency? If so, your proposal
is probably an excellent candidate for RECYCLING with another granting agency. You may have to re-write parts of your original proposal
to conform to the requirements of a new agency. Your core ideas, however, and probably much of your budget and assessment plan can be
resubmitted mostly intact. Research other granting agencies to find ones whose interests are a close match with your proposal ideas.
Talk to the program officers to get inside information about how to maximize your chances of success. RECYCLE your proposal with the
new granting agency.
ABANDONING YOUR PROPOSAL
Sometimes your proposal needs too much revision and rethinking to salvage in its original form. Rejection of proposals is very common.
Experienced proposal writers know this and are not discouraged by rejections. Proposal writing is not easy and there are many difficult
skills to master that take time and practice. Sometimes the best decision is to put the proposal aside until you can rethink your ideas.
If this happens, you should not feel disappointed or that you failed because...
THERE ARE NO WASTED EFFORTS!
Consider what you accomplished:
You developed an original idea
You researched and organized information to support your idea
You may have discussed your idea with colleagues and begun a network of collaborative support
You "got your feet wet" in grant proposal writing
You are now way ahead of where you were before you wrote your proposal. Take a break, let your
ideas simmer, and be open to new opportunities and approaches. The Grants Office is there to work
with you when you are ready.
Contact Us
RECYCLING YOUR PROPOSAL