Getting Started with Grant Writing
I got really annoyed this week. I was trying out Siri on my iPhone for the first time. When I asked Siri to play a song, Siri would respond, “Something went wrong. Hold on.” When I asked Siri to send a text, my partner got messages that read, “Hi, this is a test. Siri please cancel this text.”
I figured Siri was not for me. But I gave Siri one last shot. I read a quick start guide that explained how to work with Siri. And now I’m a Siri convert. I set silent alarms, check the weather, and this morning I asked Siri to note how many extra grams of coffee I ground.
Grant writing is like trying Siri for the first time (🙂 - you probably guessed this was my point). Many people decide grant writing isn’t for them because getting started is hard. It feels terrible when you don’t know what you’re doing and when challenges crop up right at the start.
That’s why quick start guides for grant writing matter. Just getting started is a huge hurdle. Helping people overcome that barrier lets people decide whether they want to pursue grant writing (i.e., rather than letting discomfort decide).
So here’s my quick start guide for grant writing. To summarize the printable, get started by:
- Finding good opportunities.
- Deciding if a grant is worth pursuing.
- Getting samples.
- Developing the stakes of your idea.
- Talking to a program officer.
If you know someone who might benefit from this quick start guide, would you mind forwarding this newsletter to them? We are stronger when we help each other. And two years into this newsletter, we are 2,000+ scholars strong!
Thank you for being a part of this community and for believing that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas. I feel incredibly lucky knowing we share this belief.
Betty
Stay in touch: The Newsletter, Bluesky, TikTok, and The Grant Writing Guide book.
P.S. If you’re interested in more in depth grant writing advice, get 20% off my book with the code Lai20. Princeton University Press extended the code through December 2023.
P.P.S. It’s fall in New England. Every year I love watching this giant tree. It drops so many leaves, you can see fall happening in front of you. As my youngest says, “Can we stop and admire nature?”
