Review of “Proposals that Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals,” 6th ed., 2014 by Lawrence F. Locke, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, & Stephen J. Silverman. Los Angeles: Sage.
Important book for professionals!
One important activity for social workers, educators, and other professionals who focus on helping others is learning to write grant proposals for finding funds and resources for community programs. It is one way to secure major funding for your clients, students, neighbors, and your own professional development.
Competing for grant dollars can seem like an overwhelming process, but there is some help available out there. This helpful book for writing research proposals to institutions and grant applications to federal agencies is clear and popular, and it is now in its sixth edition. This book is full of relevant information and comprehensive guidance about getting dollars to help out with your classroom and study needs.
Whether you teach for a public K-12 school district or you counsel job applicants in a community agency, you should be able to make good use of the information presented here.
The book is also very helpful if one is serious about a longer-term career-oriented research plan. It covers the basics of writing dissertation proposals, dissertations, research proposals, and grant proposals…
What is provided here applies generally to federal, state, and other forms of competitions for grant dollars, such as foundation grant programs.
The authors include three main sections, with one on the functions and structure of a proposal overall, plus the details on different types of proposals, research methods, and proposal formats. The second section is about finding the funds to conduct research, including a section on planning and writing the grant proposal itself. A third section shows four sample grant proposals for: an experimental study; a qualitative study; an online study, and a funded grant.
The book also includes basic and clear information on the planning, networking, relationships, and accuracy so essential for writing clear and fundable applications for grant funding. What is here should be of good general use to you if you are writing an application to win dollars from programs from the US Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and other federal agencies giving money to school and community programs.
By the way, here are some important links for you if you are currently looking for current large (and perhaps complex) federal grant programs:
· Department of Education (ED): Apply for a Grant | U.S. Department of Education
· Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Grants & Contracts | HHS.gov
· Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Funding Opportunities | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
· Department of Labor (DOL): Department of Labor Grants | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)
· Search engine for a very large range of federal grants and contracts: Home | GRANTS.GOV
An important reminder for any grant writer is that in many grant competitions run by US agencies the readers may not be subject matter experts directly related to your grant proposal. Therefore, try to write for an educated reader who has more general knowledge about education, counseling, supervising, and learning.
Remember: while two of the reviewers may be social workers, the third may be a professor of Spanish language, a retired high school principal, or a math teacher. Teams of professionals from different fields often read federal grant proposals specifically because they bring diverse training and perspectives to the process.
Be sure to use clear definitions and examples to assist them in understanding your grant proposal about whatever area you are seeking funds for. If you are using terms like “housing first” or “whole language” a lot in your proposal, be sure you 1) define it, 2) give a brief introduction to it, and 3) provide an example related to it!
This title is a good guide for the newer proposal writer and a good reference book also. It could also be used in grant-writing courses of a longer duration such as an entire summer or semester.