Whatever your field, type of project, type of funding opportunity, or stage of the grant-seeking process, we’ve compiled some useful resources for insight and guidance.
Looking for funding opportunities?
A number of agencies provide lists of available funding opportunities and/or provide regular updates by email. They include:
Arts Grants, Residencies & Fellowships:
- (updated monthly)
- (by discipline)
- (updated annually)
Artist Residencies (domestic and international):
Foundation Grants for Sciences, Humanities, Arts, Community Programs, and More
- (regularly updated)
State and Federal Government Grants:
- (a resource of the California State Library)
- (federal funding opportunities)
- (National Endowment for the Arts opportunities)
- (National Institute of Health opportunities)
- (National Endowment for the Humanities opportunities)
- (National Science Foundation opportunities)
OSI Guide to Grant-seeking: Tips, Advice, and Resources
- Research the Funder
Make sure your project is a good fit, and that you can give the funder the information they request in the way they request it. Ask yourself the following questions:
What information does the funder ask for, and in what format?
Most applications include the following basic components: a project description, a needs statement, an overview of organizational history/background that includes a mission statement, a description of a target population, a description of project activities with timeline, objectives and outcomes clearly stated, a description of responsible personnel and their roles, and a project budget. Before you start, review exactly what the funder asks for and how they want the information conveyed (short answers? A checklist? A longer narrative? Attachments? Do they require you to use their own budget template?). Begin thinking about how you can communicate your project’s purpose, costs, and activities within their required format.
How does your project fit into the grantmaker’s funding priority?
Most institutional funders establish their grantmaking programs with a primary focus area in mind: whether that be wider social change, empowerment of underserved populations, economic justice, or any number of other objectives. Before you get started, review the funder’s stated priorities/issue areas thoroughly, review the specific questions they ask in the application, and make notes on how you can conceptualize and explain your project’s purpose and outcomes in a way that aligns most closely with the grantmaker’s stated focus area.
- Get Specific: What, How, Who, and Why
Make sure you have a crystal-clear idea of what your project will entail, who’s involved, what it will accomplish, and how you’ll use grant funds to make it happen. Specifically:
What are you doing?
Describe your project clearly and concisely.
How will you use grant funds to implement your project?
Regardless of whether the funder requires a detailed project budget from applicants, drafting a budget before you start writing is highly recommended. The budget development section in the RPAS provides a good framework. Nailing down budget details before you start writing can help you clarify known and unknown variables right away, while giving you a concrete basis for describing your project’s activities, outcomes, and objectives.
Why are you doing it, and who will benefit as a result?
What problems are you addressing in your work? Will the outcomes of your project benefit students, the College, the wider community, or have more far-reaching benefits to your field?
How will you do it?
How will the actions you take accomplish the objectives you’ve set? Make sure you have a timeline and clear understanding of each step of your process and who’s responsible for each.
What makes you the best person to do it?
Be able to explain your credentials and how your experience relates to your current project.
How will you determine if you’re successful?
Know what constitutes a successful project, and have a few quantitative and/or qualitative ways to measure and report your accomplishments at the end of the grant period.
Ready to write? We recommend the resources below:
Comprehensive Grant-Writing Reference Tools:
Dr. Joseph Levine, Michigan State University - (includes examples of each proposal component)
Candid - - a free course (registration required) that includes examples of sample documents
Dr. Jacob Kraicer, Human Frontier Science Program -
Candid -
Congressional Research Service –
Grant-Writing Best Practices & Tips
This from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is a useful resource for faculty seeking research funding in all academic disciplines.
This handy blog post (which can also be listened to as a 16-minute podcast) breaks down the three most common ways grant proposals ask applicants to explain a project’s aims and desired results.
: Many funders ask applicants to articulate their project’s aims by describing SMART goals (short for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based). This resource from Indeed gives helpful tips for articulating SMART goals, with examples.
from The Chronicle of Higher Education
from Carnegie Mellon University
”, from Candid
Oxy-Specific Resources for Grant Proposals
- The Sponsored Research Office and CFR compile and update this list of approved grant opportunities for 鶹Ƶfaculty.
Institutional Data page - Find common demographics, statistics and metrics that funders often ask for in proposals, compiled by Oxy’s Office of Institutional Research.
Basic 鶹ƵFacts - Oxy’s institutional address, Federal Identification Number and Unique Entity Identifier (for government grants) and other information commonly required for funding proposals.
RPAS Form - The Request for Proposal Approval and Submission (RPAS) is required of all College grantseekers, to ensure all funding requests submitted on behalf of Occidental are in alignment with the College’s mission and conform with institutional administrative and fiscal policies. The RPAS, along with a draft budget and a project summary, must be submitted to Sponsored Research and Grants & Contracts at least ten days before the grant application is due. OSI can assist you in completing and submitting this paperwork.
Roles and Responsibilities of Principal Investigators - If you’re the lead researcher on a project for which you’re seeking funding, learn more about your role as Principal Investigator and the responsibilities it entails.