Tips for Preparing Grant Applications - Accurate Budgets

• Follow the Application Guidelines and Directions
• Contacting Program Officers
• Know the Review Criteria
• Know Your Audience
• Clarity of Writing and Organization
• Visual Presentation Counts
• Consider What Might Go Wrong with Your Project
• Accurate Budgets
  Incorrect budget numbers or requests provide an easy excuse for triage or downgrading of your score. First, determine ahead of time what kinds of costs the funder allows and does not allow. Second, it is very difficult to get a project funded when costs are not explicitly identified, whether for supplies, equipment, salaries or travel. If you cannot provide exact numbers in the budget, provide a solid rationale for how you arrived at an estimate. Finally, make sure that what you say in the body of the document, the budget justification narrative, and budget spreadsheet sections is consistent. Numbers often evolve during the writing of the grant and incorrect figures are easily transposed or left in the final draft. Triple-check your penultimate draft.
• Issues Regarding Similar or Prior Funding

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