Sample Funded Proposals

 

 Many sponsors and agencies make successful proposals available to researchers.  A selection of these is contained below. Note that each sample proposal link will open a .pdf document.  

 

National Endowment for the Humanities

 

The National Endowment for the Humanities typically provides 3-4 sample proposals for each funding opportunity. The following are links to samples provided by NEH.  

• Challenge Grant
• Digital Humanities Advancement Grant
• Summer Stipends
• NEH: Pompeii Forum Project (University of Virginia)

 This list is a just a small selection of the samples which NEH makes available.  Please visit the NEH program pages directly to access additional sample proposals.

 

National Institutes of Health

 

Within the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) provides a wide range of sample applications and summary statements.  The NIAID website has samples for the following:

• Research grants. R01, R03, R15, R21, and R21/R33
• Small business grants. R41, R42, R43, and R44
• Training and career awards K01, K08, and F31-Diversity

• NIH R13/U13 Gordon Research Conference Proposal(Gordon Research Conferences)
  NIH R13/U13 Joint Gordon Research Conference/Gordon Research Seminar (Gordon Research Conferences)

 

National Science Foundation

 

While NSF does not publish funded proposals online, there are universities and individuals that do.  Please visit the following sites for samples.

• NSF Cultural Anthropology Samples:  Dr. John Bunce provides a 2011 rejected proposal, along with the reviewer's comments and panel summary for that year.  He then provides the 2012 successful proposal with the comments and panel summary.  This is a wonderful resource that demonstrates how someone successfully responded to reviewer's comments.  
• NSF Earth Science Samples:  Teach the Earth provides a number of successful earth science proposals available to the public.
• NSF CAREER proposals - 5 funded proposals related to Geosciences (On the Cutting Edge)
  NSF CAREER math proposal - (Brooke Shipley)

 

U.S. Department of Education

 

The Department of Education provides access to a variety of information, including successful grant applications in their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Reading Room.  The selection below was taken directly from their website.

• Office of Postsecondary Education: Strengthening Institutions Grant
• Institute of Education Sciences: Math and Science Grants
• U. S. Department of Education: The U.S. Department of Education has provided links to more than 20 successful proposals.
• US Department of Education (Colorado Grants)

 

USDA

• USDA Sample Proposal

 

 Other Sources

 

• Open Grants

 

Resources for Sample Proposals

• Association of Zoos and Aquariums funds conservation projects through its grants program. The AZA has posted several successfully funded proposals for prospective grant applicants to review.
• CIVICUS World Alliance for Civic Participation: CIVICUS provides guidance on proposal writing plus a sample proposal requesting support for an AIDS orphan project beginning on p. 28 of the linked document.
• Community Tool Box: The website has posted two sample proposals for community-level projects.
• Community Consulting & Grant Writing: You can find three sample grant proposals posted on thegrantdoctor.com, the website for Community Consulting and Grant Writing.
• Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals: Released in 2008, this book includes 38 sample proposals, all successfully funded.
• Grant Gopher: Grant Gopher is an online database of grant opportunities. If you register for an account with Grant Gopher (a free account or paid annual subscription), you can download up to five sample proposals in each category.
• GrantSpace: On GrantSpace, you'll find sample cover letters, letters of inquiry, budgets, and proposals.
• Grantsmanship Center: The site offers (for purchase) examples of successful proposals from a range of disciplines.
• Jabberwocky Ecology: Jabberwocky Ecology has posted links to proposals in the biological sciences, most of which were submitted to government agencies.
• Nonprofit Guides: Nonprofit Guides has posted sample proposals for community projects (one to a foundation, the others to government agencies).
• Wiley: Jossey-Bass: A supplement to Thomas Blackburn's book Getting Science Grants: Effective Strategies for Funding Success (Jossey-Bass, 2003), the website includes links to funded proposals to federal and private agencies.

• Performing Arts: Proposal Template(Ballet Austin)
• Guide to writing for non-profit organizations
• Colorado Grants Guide
• Grants West

 

Additional Resources

• Adventures of Cyberbee: The site provides a sample outline and a suggested approach for education-related proposals.
• CIVICUS World Alliance for Civic Participation: CIVICUS has a proposal toolkit that provides instruction on planning and writing a proposal and includes a sample proposal.
• Community Tool Box: The Community Tool Box offers a comprehensive proposal outline that includes proposal guidance, links to tools for proposal development, and two sample proposals.
• Udemy course Federal Grant Writing 101 with Dr. Beverly Browning: Dr. Browning's course includes excerpts from two of her funded proposals (one to a foundation, one to a U.S. government agency). The course has a list price of $49.
• National Marine Fishery Service: The National Marine Fishery Service has provided an annotated proposal outline covering proposal development and writing phases.
• World Bank Blog: On the World Bank blog, a reviewer of World Bank proposals for impact evaluation work provides tips for stronger proposals.

• George Washington University – Language Resources Centers Program

University of Northern Colorado – Assessment Mini Grant Proposals