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Did you read the instructions?

BY: Evangeline Coker | PUBLISHED: September 6, 2022 

What is the foundation of a winning proposal? Is it your science? Your past accomplishments? Your grammatically perfect sentence structures?

While all of these elements can contribute to a proposal that gets funded, what quite possibly matters the most is your ability to follow instructions.

The most important thing you can do in a proposal is align it with the agency’s instructions, which they include in their solicitation for proposals.

When an agency is searching for projects to fund, they will create solicitations for proposals. These solicitations are referred to by many names: “notice of funding opportunity” (NOFO), “request for proposals” (RFP), “request for applications” (RFA), etc. Each one is asking for basically the same thing: “we need solutions, and we want you to pitch them to us.”

Some solicitations can be brief and have maybe a couple questions to answer. If you’re applying for one of those, lucky you! If you’re like most applicants, your agency’s solicitation is filled with a lot of rules. These rules can be as mundane as font style and size, margin width, and page count. Or, these rules could be complex and multi-pronged, probing into the timeline and exact metrics you will use to evaluate the education outreach component of your proposed project. Either way, below are a few steps that can get you started, no matter the complexity of your solicitation:

  • KNOW THE AGENCY.

ProTip: Other great resources for intelligence gathering

  • Their Strategic Plan
  • Previous proposals they have funded
  • Agency-led workshops
  • Their FAQs page

You are about to ask an agency to give you money. You have to make sure what you do is something they will want to fund. Know what they care about, why they were founded. Pay special attention to their Mission Statement and their Vision Statement. These statements tell you what guides them in their overall operations, which trickle down to their proposal selections.

  • ALIGN YOUR RESEARCH WITH THEIR VISION.

ProTip: Is your research idea related to the agency’s vision but just not close enough to be a perfect fit? Increase your competitiveness by turning it into a collaborative project with another researcher whose research is a closer fit.

Bonus: You’ve just started a collaboration that can make you more competitive for future funding!

Your proposal needs to clearly state how your research is the perfect fit for that agency. Find where your research project and the agency’s vision intersect, and then make sure you clearly articulate how your research connects with what they do. Do not expect the agency to make that connection on their own. You need to write it out within your proposal. If you can’t make that argument, there’s a good chance you could have the wrong agency.

  • SHRED THE SOLICITATION!

ProTip: I like printing a hardcopy of the solicitation and reading through it with a highlighter in hand. Reading on paper not only reduces screen time at work, it also reduces distractions while improving my concentration.

Now it’s time to follow the instructions! In the research development business, we call it “shredding the RFP” or “decomposing the solicitation,” but we’ll stick with the less morbid of the two. Shredding is a close, careful read of the instructions and includes the following steps:

  1. Set aside some time without distractions – shredding requires careful reading and can take some time, depending on the length and complexity of the solicitation.
  2. Highlight every “should” and “must” statement – these are the non-negotiables of your proposal. When the solicitation says you must include something, you must include it.
  3. Highlight every “____ is required” statement – you guessed it, another non-negotiable.
  4. Make a non-negotiables outline that matches the solicitation layout – Insert all non-negotiables in your proposal document or an excel file. Make sure your headings and subheadings are formatted like the solicitation (e.g.,1.2.3, a, b, c, i, ii, iii). Your proposal should address each non-negotiable in the order they were listed in the solicitation.

ProTip: For complex solicitations with many moving parts, include corresponding solicitation page numbers with each nonnegotiable you list. That will make it much easier when you need to double-check the solicitation.

Remember, most agencies have a limited number of reviewers, very little time for review, and receive a lot of proposals. Proposals that don’t follow the instructions will not even be read. It does not matter how great your science is, how popular you are amongst your colleagues, or how revolutionary your research could be. So read those instructions, shred that solicitation, and then get to writing your research in alliance with the agency’s vision.

And if you run into trouble, we at ORD are here to help you stay on track.

Happy Writing!

Evangeline Coker | Science & Technology Research Development Coordinator | Office of Research Development

As Research Development Coordinator at Florida State University, Evangeline Coker focuses on increasing the competitiveness of FSU’s Science and Technology research portfolio through collaboration strategies, proposal management, and strategic workshops. She also leads the development of new interdisciplinary teams as an Incubator Guide in the Collaborative Collision program and hosts and produces the Journeys in Research podcast.

Evangeline earned her MA in Theatre Studies at FSU, where she taught theatre courses as a teaching assistant. After her degree, she was an adjunct theatre instructor and writing tutor at Tallahassee Community College. She also has five years of experience running a 501(c)3 performing arts company. During her undergraduate degree, she was a reporter and page designer for her campus newspaper The Bells.

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