A Grant Repository

Last week, I was trying to crochet a basket. It was my first, and the pattern said to make a waistcoat stitch. I had no idea what this was. I looked up instructions, but couldn’t figure out how the steps came together. Then I realized the pattern page had a sample video showing the stitch. Seeing that sample was so powerful, I was able to finish the basket in one night.

Similarly, seeing grant samples fast tracks your skills. I believe in this so much, I host a website collating funded grant samples, and I dedicated Chapter 6 of The Grant Writing Guide to how to get samples and how to use them. But lately, I’ve been thinking we need to think bigger.

Administrators can create grant repositories - meaning a collection of funded grants, both externally and internally funded, that you and other scholars can access. It can be easier for administrators to request grant samples. They have more relationships, more security, and they have the responsibility to help others.

Ask an administrator if they might build a grant repository at your institution. Here’s a sample email you can modify to make this request:

Dear [Administrator]:

Would you be willing to create a grant repository for our institution? A grant repository would be a collection of funded grants from faculty at our school. It could be created at low cost, kept in a secure location online, and access could be restricted to those with specific permissions. Here are examples of other institutions that have created repositories: University of South Florida, The Ohio State University. A grant writing mentor suggested that a grant repository can help junior scholars fast track their understanding of what is required for writing successful grants.

I’d be happy to meet to discuss further if you have the time.

[Your Name]

If you get an administrator to meet with you, I suspect their major concern will be how much time and effort it will take to create a repository. As data, I created a grant repository at my school in less than three months. The main work was sending emails to people I knew had been funded, and then organizing proposals. To save your administrator time, here’s a sample request email they could send:

Dear [Faculty with a funded grant]

Would you be willing to share some of your funded grants as samples for our junior scholars? I know how much of a difference samples can make in helping people understand what is compelling in grant writing. Your sample would be kept on our server, to be accessed only by our faculty and students [or insert relevant permissions]. I would ask faculty and students not to share externally. We are building a repository to help our early career scholars.

Thank you for considering.

[Administrator Name]

Good luck getting a grants repository. Let me know how it goes. For readers who are administrators and research development experts, please consider creating a grant repository where you are, if you haven’t already.

While I have your attention, would you mind leaving an Amazon review for The Grant Writing Guide (scroll down to “Write a customer review.”) It takes one minute, and it helps others find out about the book. You don’t have to have purchased the book on Amazon to leave a review. Thank you - and thanks to all who have already left a review.

Betty

Stay in touch: The Newsletter, Bluesky, and The Grant Writing Guide book.

P.S. Here’s the basket I made. I love it. It’s based on this pattern from Toni Lipsey.