Scoring Points in Your Grant Proposal’s Research Section with Holly Rustick
This episode, Holly explains how a grant proposal’s research section is marked, what you should include in the research section, and the type of data you need to provide.
The research section is a vital part of your grant proposal, it’s a chance to showcase the importance of the work you’re doing and the impact you can have with the right funding.
It can be tempting to write this section emotively, but your research section needs to be data focused, you can’t be scored on emotions but data can get you points.
This episode, Holly explains how a grant proposal’s research section is marked, how should write the research section in a grant proposal, and the type of language you should use.
Holly also talks about the ways to score points in the research section, the data you need to provide, and the most important aspects of a grant proposal’s referencing style.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How to write the research section in a grant proposal.
- Why a grant proposal’s research section is important.
- The rubric used to score grant proposals.
- How to score points in the research section of your grant.
- The data you need to provide in a grant proposal.
- The risks of using AI in your grant proposal.
- What to include in your specific problem statement.
- How to reference sources in a grant proposal.
- When you can use old research in a grant proposal.
About Holly
Holly Rustick is the Founder of Grant Writing & Funding, where she creates effective systems to help grant writers ensure that nonprofits grow capacity, increase funding, and advance their mission.
Holly has been writing grants for nearly two decades, has secured millions of dollars for nonprofits around the world, and has been a federal grant reviewer for over 10 years.
Holly is also an Amazon bestselling author, the podcast host of Grant Writing & Funding, and a world-renowned grant writing expert.
Quotables:
- “Sometimes people think they’re writing a fundraising appeal instead of a grant but it’s a very different language you use. Being emotional in your grant and trying to pull at the heartstrings of a grant reviewer won’t get you points, using data will.”
- “You won’t get scored for being emotional, grant reviewers have to follow a rubric and emotion isn’t on there. What grant reviewers will mark you on is data, citations, sources, a problem statement, target demographic, and showcasing the need through data.”
- “You need to use data and research to support your main problem statement, this can be done through surveys, testimonials, case studies, focus groups, newspapers, and reports. You need to showcase this data and provide the citations of where you found that data from.”
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Resources mentioned in this episode:
- FREE Grant Writing Class
- Grant Writing and Funding
- 172: Top Expert Tips to Write the Evaluation Section of a Grant Proposal
- 80: 8 Ways to Cite a Grant Proposal
- 7 Steps to Write a Grant Proposal
- Grant Easy Management Software
Thank you for listening!
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