Tips for Proposal Preparation

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Tips for Proposal Preparation

• Rochelle A. McArthur
• PAMI/CIBER
• Shidler College of Business
• (rmcarthu_at_hawaii.edu)

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Selected Proposals/Funding Agencies

• CIBER (U.S. Department of Education)
• FIPSE (U.S. Department of Education)
• Asian Development Bank
• Philippine Government Agencies
• USDA CSREES
• UH University Research Council
• UH SEED

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Tips to Remember

• Know and focus on your strengths
• Yourself, your organization, your partners
• Build on and emphasize your strengths
• Utilize best person/unit for the job

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• Know your funding agency
• Follow proposal guidelinesdeadlines, format,
  font size, page limits, etc.
• Agency mission, objectives and priorities
• Get to know the project officer

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• Put yourself in shoes of reviewer
• What are they looking for
• Is your proposal credible
• Does your proposal make sense
• Is the budget within guidelines and reasonable

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• Proportional use of time, effort, content
• According to points allocated by guidelines
• Outsource sections if you have staff, colleagues,
  partners, friends
• Assemble sections that can be done early

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• Establish timetable for proposal preparation
• Internal and external deadlines and schedules
• Have others review/edit document
• Flexibility and emergency
• Get away from it and then review again