A Guide for Duke Faculty and Staff Seeking Foundation Funding

prepared by the

Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations
Duke University

Box 90600
Durham, NC 27708
Telephone: (919) 681-0468
Fax: (919) 684-9692

Most foundations are mission-driven entities that seek to make a difference in society, whether at the grass-roots level or through policy change.Since foundations generally seek to address a specific set of issues or unmet needs, your proposed project should be presented as the best way for them to attain this end.

What to do first?

Have a very clear understanding of what is planned:

  • What do you want to do?
  • Why?
  • How long will it take?
  • Who will do it?
  • How much will it cost?

A short written description will help you think through the plan and to identify the resources needed.The “Seeking External Funding”worksheet (below)may help you to organize your ideas.

What do foundations support?

Usually foundations fund projects and programs, while corporations fund efforts that provide tangible returns to them and individuals tend to support programs and operating funds, endowment, and construction projects.Visit the funder’s website and review:

  • grant-making philosophy
  • deadlines
  • application guidelines
  • recent grant descriptions

If your project is not a close fit, don’t apply. Look for another funder.

Who can help?

  • Senior colleagues
  • Departmental chair
  • Other administrators
  • Duke’s Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations
  • Funder’s program officer

Funders often require letters of support from the university, and these are best sought early in the process. The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations can clarify what assistance you can expect, who to keep in the loop, and what procedures to follow.

Foundation staff seek the best projects to meet the foundation’s goals, and it is in their best interest to present well-thought out, well written, feasible, and focused proposals.Many will answer specific questions from applicants, review proposal or budget drafts, and help with the increasingly required evaluation segment of a project.

Grant-seekers sometimes fail to listen carefully to program officers, and the result may be a rejected application.

Before contacting a potential funder:

Before contacting a potential funder, Duke faculty and staff should contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Duke University has a priority-driven agenda with selected funders and has special processes in place for proposals to the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, The Duke Endowment, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Josiah Charles Trent Foundation. Our office can help you negotiate institutional policies and submission sequencing concerns for these and other foundations.

After contacting a potential funder:

Development staff should enter a “move” on the funder’s record on Advance, Duke University’s advancement database. Please be sure to enter:

  • name and title of the contact
  • the nature and basic content of the interaction
  • the next step to be acted on

Preparing a proposal:

  • Review the funder’s guidelines.
  • Consider your audience, which will range from an expert panel to a group of educated generalists.
  • Provide “whitespace” in the document for ease of review: 1-inch margins and a 12-point font.
  • Write clearly, and assume that some part of the proposal may be read by non-experts.
  • Internal project descriptions often need to be reconceptualized for an external funder.Arguments needed for internal approval are not necessarily the same ones needed to persuade an outside funder to make a grant.
  • For questions not answered on the funder’s website or by colleagues, call the program officer and listen carefully to his or her response.
  • If you find no submission guidelines, most proposals include:

executive summary

background of the institution and project

discussion of why the project should be pursued

methodology—what activities and steps you will undertake to address the issue or need

description of what will be done and who will do it

expectations and how they will be evaluated

timeline and budget

  • See proposal elements (below) for more detailed information on proposal preparation.

Obtaining budget approval and signatures:

Budgets and grant reporting are directly linked. Duke has recently experienced changes in what funders expect at the reporting stage, which in turn impacts how we prepare budgets. Please contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations () and the Office of Research Support (919-684-3030, when developing your budget.

Before submitting a foundation proposal, these two offices will need to approve your budget and obtain official university signatures. The Office of Research Supportrequires the proposal and budget 5 days in advance of the funder’s deadline to obtain Duke approval and signatures.

If your proposal is accepted:

Notify and send a copy of the award letter to:

  • The Office of Research Support (Box 104010)
  • The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (Box 90600)

The Office of Research Support will obtain any official university signatures required by the funder and will request the fund code. That office will also forward the materials to Duke’s post-award office (the Office of Sponsored Programs), which will set up automatic internal financial reporting procedures.

Reporting and Stewardship:

The Principal Investigator is responsible for preparing narrative reports and for coordinating submission of the financial report in a timely manner.Many funders ask that you coordinate submission of the narrative and financial report, which is prepared by the Office of Sponsored Program.

Significant changes to the original grant agreement, such as a change in leadership or major delays, should be communicated to the funder as soon as possible.The Office of Research Support should be involved in budget negotiations.

The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations can advise you in this process. Our office also sends email reminders to Principal Investigators when grant reports are due and asks for confirmation that reports have been submitted. Timely submission of reports is essential to maintain strong relationships with funders and to avoid delays in payments for your grant as well as others.

If your proposal is rejected:

Many program officers are willing to provide advice after a proposal is rejected. A call or letter to thank them for considering the proposal, with an inquiry as to how it might be improved, may result in helpful information for a resubmission or for revision for submission to another funder.

Don’t be discouraged.Successful grant-seekers do not receive every grant they seek, and building a good track record at a low dollar level may lead to greater success in the future.

Checklist for development officers:

  • Confirm department/dean approval.
  • Identify funder(s).
  • Review funder’s website for guidelines and limitations.
  • Check Advance for other activity with the potential funder.
  • Call the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations to coordinate the approach.
  • Call the funder for advice (as needed).
  • Include indirect costs if the funder allows.
  • If the funder requires cost-sharing, contact the Office of Research Support early in the process.
  • Submit a penultimate budget and proposal to the Office of Research Support at least5 days before funder’s deadline.
  • Prepare DPAF and submit it to the Office of Research Support 5 business days in advance of the deadline.
  • Inform the Office of Research Supportand the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relationswhen the funder responds.

Seeking External Funding from Foundations and Corporations

PROJECT/PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

If you are interested in seeking corporate or foundation funding for a project or program, be prepared to answer the following questions. External funders will ask these questions. The answers will shape research to identify potential funders and will form the basis of your proposal.

  • WHAT: What is your concept (key idea, purpose, goal)? What problem/need are you addressing?
  • INTERNAL SUPPORT: Do you have departmental or institutional approval? Has the department or institution committed funding?
  • HOW: What activities will aid you in reaching this goal? Why did you choose these methods?
  • WHO: Who will direct it? Qualifications? What are other staffing needs? Who will make reports?
  • AUDIENCE: What audience(s) will be served by this program (who, how many, etc.)?
  • TIMING: What is the time frame for the program/project (anticipated start and finish, minimum time for it to be effective, etc.)?
  • COLLABORATION: Are there other potential collaborators for the program/project (i.e., Duke departments/units, community agencies, other academic institutions)?
  • SUSTAINABILITY: Will the program continue after external funding ceases (i.e., will it operate at a reduced level, will to have realized its goals and end, or will it be funded with internal funds)?
  • BUDGET DETAIL: How much money is needed to implement your program/project? How will the money be spent—what are the line items?
  • OTHER FUNDS: Do you have additional funds (from Duke or other funders) to contribute to the effort?
  • IMPACT: What is the program’s/project’s potential for a broader impact (beyond just the Duke or Durham community)? Is the project scalable? Is it replicable?
  • EVALUATION: How will you evaluate the project? How will you know if you are successful? Who will evaluate the program? Who will gather data necessary and make reports?

ONCE A POTENTIAL FUNDER IS IDENTIFIED

  • How does your project fit the funder’s mission/goals?
  • Why Duke?
  • Why this project/program? What are its competitors? Complementary programs?
  • Why now?

Proposal Elements

Summary:

A summary provides a framework for your readers, helping them understand where the proposal is headed. It should contain:

  • identification of the applicant, including a bit about credibility
  • the reason for the grant request – issue, problem, or need
  • the objectives to be achieved through this funding
  • the kind of activities to be conducted to accomplish these objectives
  • total cost of the project, funds committed, and amount requested

The length of a summary should be in proportion to the length of the proposal. A brief proposal should have a brief summary.

Problem Statement/Needs Assessment/Case Statement:

Document the issue/problem to be addressed/solved or the need to be met by the proposed project and funding. This is the reason behind the proposal. Generally the need or problem should be phrased in terms of the client’s interest, not your organization’s needs. It should be supported with facts – statistics, maybe testimonials from the target group, or other information that documents the need for the project. Try to convey your organization’s enthusiasm and commitment to addressing the problem.

This section both (a) identifies and explains the problem/need and (b) identifies the populations/audience to be targeted.

Goals or Objectives:

The goals or objectives are obviously related to the problem statement/needs assessment. This section defines and describes what the project will accomplish to affect the problem or need. Think of it as the outcomes section of a plan, the results expected to be achieved, the “ends.”

In a proposal, this section tells proposal reviewers the answers to following questions:

  • Will the project accomplish something that is significant, important, timely, innovative, and worthy of support? How is this approach different from other similar projects?
  • Will the proposed outcomes really solve an identified need?
  • Are the outcomes achievable?

Methods:

These are steps to be taken to achieve goals or objectives—a plan of action. Methods and objectives are often confused; they’re closely related, but methods tell you how – they’re the means to the end, the objectives. The methods section is often the longest part of the proposal.

Methods:

  • Clearly describe program activities.
  • State reasons for selection of activities. Problems can be addressed in several different ways. Why this approach?
  • Describe the sequence of activities.
  • Describe the staffing of the program.
  • Describe the clients and client selection.
  • Present a reasonable scope of activities that can be accomplished within the timeframe of the project and by the organization.

Introduction (Organizational Qualifications):

Describes the organization and its qualifications for undertaking this project. This section may go at the beginning of the proposal, follow the summary, or come after methods. It contains the following information:

  • when, how, why the organization was founded
  • statement of purpose, goals, philosophy
  • significant events in your history
  • prior and current activities
  • accomplishments and impact
  • size and characteristics of your constituency
  • referring agencies (if you provide direct services)
  • anything else that you deem important

Evaluation:

This is how you determine if the project and methods are effective or successful. Are you achieving your objectives or goals?

Evaluation answers the following questions:

  • What are you really trying to do in this program?
  • What needs to happen so you can tell whether or not you have succeeded?
  • How will you know?

There are several categories of evaluation; the two most common and applicable here are:

  • Process evaluationproduces information used to improve a project during its operation. This is especially helpful for project staff because it helps you to determine if the processes and procedures are working and if your clients are satisfied. It will help you to recognize if you need to change something in your project’s design; it will tell you what works, what didn’t, and why. Conducting this type of evaluation improves your project’s chance of success.
  • Productevaluationcollects data for judging the ultimate success of the completed project. It documents the extent to which the objectives were achieved. Did it do what it promised? This is a useful tool, but it’s most effective for an organization to use in combination with the process evaluation.

Sustainability:

If the project is to continue beyond the funding period, you have to explain how you will continue to support it. Most foundations do not want to support your organization indefinitely. If you want to build a new building, renovate an existing structure, or buy some equipment, this may appear to be a one-time cost. However, the building has to be maintained, as does equipment. How will you support these costs?

Budget:

The budget lists the costs of the various activities associated with your program. The budget needs to be a specific as possible, and the costs should be as real as possible. Budget items should relate clearly to the proposed activities.

Duke has recently experienced changes in what funders expect at the reporting stage, which in turn impacts how we prepare budgets. Please contact the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations () and the Office of Research Support (919-684-3030, when developing your budget.

Budget Discussion:

This is not a standard category, but it can be helpful if there are items that need to be explained beyond a simple footnote on the actual budget.

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