From An Idea For A Project To A Finished Proposal: First Things First
Completed your literature search? Reviewed Social Work Research and Abstracts, Sociofile, Psychlit, etc.? What about works-in-progress! Beat the research-to-publication time-lag by finding out about federally funded work in areas of interest to you. Make sure you don't reinvent the wheel. You can do this by checking out the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants site Search for Funded Research http://fundedresearch.cos.com/NIH or the parent Department of Health and Human Services - Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific (CRISP) System http://commons.cit.nih.gov/crisp/owa/CRISP.Generate_Ticket. These are helpful tools but, make sure to read the directions they provide for their use. From there you can identify and contact Principal Investigators, get copies of proposals, instruments, and find consultants, mentors and collaborators.

Putting It Down On Paper/Disk
So you came up with an idea for a project that hasn't been done, but needs to be. Now, how do you spell out what that is in a way that will win you that grant? Most funding sources have a particular format that they want you to follow. If you can, get copies of successful proposals from that grantor. Alternately, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has created an excellent guide that walks you through the development of a research proposal, step-by-step http://www.theresearchassistant.com. It is useful for applications to other federal agencies as well.

For a general proposal format that can be used with foundations and/or for non-research grants, see the Foundation Center's Short Course in Proposal Writing http://fdncenter.org/onlib/shortcourse/prop1.html

For further assistance, consult the Office of Research and Special Projects, colleagues and current or former recipients of support from that particular grantor.

Budgets, "Boiler Plate," Credibility Statement
Besides describing your project, why it is important and how you are going to carry it out, there are a few other things your potential benefactor is going to want to know.

Budgets - Most grantors provide, general guidelines and often include the actual forms and explicit instructions for completing a budget. Among the most demanding and, therefore, most instructive, are those in the National Institutes of Health Public Health Service (PHS) forms kit that can be found in interactive format at http://www.utmb.edu/avpr/research/resres/forms/398tem~1.htm. However, it is still up to you to estimate or "cost out" what you think you will need to conduct your project. And don't forget the "little" things like photocopying, advertising for positions, and local transportation are often expenses that can be significant. Your project description and budget should be complementary - what's in one should be covered in the other. Much of the estimating is common sense; e.g. how much time you or other people will spend on the project. You will be expected to justify what you put in the budget. You may need some help with others things like: who is and isn't a consultant; in-kind contributions; how much photocopying you will actually need to do; what are "indirect costs" and how they are calculated. The Office of Research and Special Projects can help with these.

Boiler Plate - These are various documents that you may be required to include in your application, e.g. proof of the University's not-for-profit status, lists of the Board of Trustees that the Office of Research and Special Projects has on file, or assurances of different kinds that the grantor provides. The credibility statement, more often called the "Applicant", "Organizational Capability" or "Resources" section of a proposal, this section is very important. While you may adapt similar wording from other proposals, it is essential that this section be customized to be supportive of the particular project and the requirements of the specific grantor. In addition to information on the applicant organization, funding sources often ask for biographical data on participants in the project and have other requirements. The full National Institutes of Health PHS kit templates mentioned above illustrate many of these requirements. You can consult with the Office of Research and Special Projects regarding all of these non-program sections of your proposal.

Reviews and Approvals
All research involving human subjects must be approved by the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) before the research begins, whether that research is a primary or secondary part of the project. The IRB must approve all research in which faculty are engaged even if not sponsored by Fordham University. The Protocol for Human Subjects that needs to be completed and submitted for review, can be downloaded from http://www.fordham.edu/irb. The completed protocol must then be sent to the IRB. The IRB's extension is 7946 Fax: 6882 and email IRB@fordham.edu. The IRB Office is located in the Lowestein Bldg. Rm. #203-C.

All proposals and applications for funding must be reviewed by the Office of Research and Special Projects. Proposals and applications must also be approved by the Dean and by the University Office of Research or the Development Office before submission to a potential grantor. So plan on having your material completed well before the application due date. The Office of Research reviews all research as well as any kind of government grant, or if the project involves a contract from or to a thrid party. Non-research grants to foundations and corporations should be processed through the Development Office. You should also notify that office of any intent to pursue private non-research funding.

Rules About Getting Funding
There are no hard and fast rules about getting funding. For example, governments, particularly at the federal level, are generally the most generous butthe most demanding; private foundation support is usually relatively easier to obtain but provides fewer dollars; and, corporate funds ordinarily are the most flexible but the smallest of grants. Thisis fairly consistent but you will occasionally findexceptions to this rule, e.g. foundations that can be as demanding or as generous as any government agency or government agencies that have small grant programs.

Government grantors publish a Request for Applications (RFA) or Request for Proposals (RFP), that spell out exactly what they are willing to fund. Foundations and corporations are more likely to have funding priorities that varyin their specificity. Once you have drafted a proposal or concept paper regarding a socially significant issue that interests you, you will be better prepared to consider possible funding sources as well as to respond to funding opportunities that arise. The Office of Research and Special Projects can help you sort out these issues and chose the best route for your project.

Want to Get (a Federal Grant) Funded? Call a Program Officer!*
(The following may be useful with federal agencies although, it was written with the National Institutes of Health in mind. This is not the way to approach foundation and corporate grantors who, almost always, require the initial contact to be in writing.)

Making pre-proposal contact with federal funding officials dramatically increases the likelihood of receiving funding. Program officers can give you advice to help you write an application, which the study section (the group that reviews proposals) will perceive as meritorious. To facilitate increased contacts with officials by health and behavior researchers, National Institute of Health staff compiled a contact listing (link below) of the different program officers and scientific review administrators. The list includes a person to contact for referral if none of the listed individuals covers your research area. Here's some advice about contacting program and review officials– and otherwise improving your chance of writing a successful application:

A) MAKE EARLY CONTACT: Contact a program official as early in the process as feasible, preferably at least three months prior to submission, so you'll have time to modify your plan and application. Before contacting the program staff, you should go to the institute web site(s) to find out about their areas of interest, grant mechanisms supported, and application guidelines. (www.nih.gov/icd/). Go to the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) web site (www.drg.nih.gov/) to obtain information about the expertise and membership of committees that may be appropriate for reviewing your application. Know what you want to study. Call with as firm an idea as possible about your project and how you would implement it.

B) WHAT TO DISCUSS: Describe your idea and its importance, and seek advice on ways to increase the likelihood that your application will be seen as meritorious. Many program officials are willing to review abstracts or drafts of the proposed projects. Find out about your research¹s fit within the institute's interests. Ask about which peer review committee (study section) might be best for your application. Ask about study section idiosyncrasies and about any changes in committee memberships. Ask for clarification or information about the application process.

C) GET COMMENTS ON YOUR DRAFT: After you prepare your application, ask as many colleagues as possible to review your application critically before you submit it. Getting local comments takes a few weeks.

D) POST-SUBMISSION CONCERNS: If you have questions or concerns after the application is submitted to NIH you may contact the Scientific Review Administrators (SRA) if needed. SRAs are responsible for organizing study sections and ensuring that study section meetings function appropriately. Questions for them could include: Does the study section have the appropriate expertise? Should the application be assigned elsewhere? Is additional expertise needed on the assigned study section? For questions or concerns after the review, contact the program official listed on your Summary Statement. This official may be able to help clarify reviewers' comments, respond to other questions and eventually let you know whether your application will be funded or help you improve your chances of success next time. Many applicants are nervous about making contact with officials. Dont be hesitant about calling. It's always a good idea to call the program officer." View the list of behavioral and social science contacts at NIH go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html

*(used with permission, from the Health And Behavior Information Transfer (Habit) Vol. 2, No. 12 published by the Center for the Advancement of Health www.cfah.org)

Other Public Sources
Municipal, state and regional bodies fund programs of various kinds. Information on these sources may be found in "Registers" similar the Federal Register but may be equally hard to use because all government business for a jurisdiction is published in these periodicals. They also may or not be on-line. Other sources are mailing lists. The Office of Special Projects subscribes to on-line, mailing lists and other "hard copy" sources of information on state and local funding. Below are some related links. Most will have few opportunities for which GSSS is eligible but could be sources of support for colleagues in community agencies with whom we could collaborate.

Grants Action News http://www.dfa.state.ny.us/cgo/ from the NY State Department of Family Services (formerly Department of Social Services), contains state and federal grants. Some of these may not be specific to human services and the federal ones are usually somewhat dated. For the city there is the New York City Procurement Bulletin Board for Human Services - http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/grants/home.html

Private Sources of Funding
It is important to "research" foundations and corporations that give grants to find out what they give for, where and in what amounts. The University Development Office can and does conduct such research. The Office of Research and Special Projects receives requests for the services of the Development Office which are then reviewed by the Dean and passed on to the Development Office. The Office of Research and Special Projects will assist in assessing the opportunities that Development identifies. If necessary, Research and Special Projects can supplement the research conducted by the Development Office. In order to coordinate university-wide effort tosecure support from the private sector, the Development Office must be informed of the intent of any GSSS personnel to submit an application to any corporate orfoundation funder.

The Office of Research and Special Projects also receives and circulates information on up-dated foundation and corporation profiles, information that can be found in the Funding Opportunities section of this site. The following links will give you an idea of what corporate funding departments and foundations look like:
http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/gws_corp/corp.html
http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/gws_priv/priv.html