The Proposal is in the Mail; What Next?
By Larry Trachtman

As a grant writer, the time right after submitting a proposal is always a challenge. You know the feeling. You have done the research, built the project team, held endless meetings, written and rewritten countless drafts, prepared a winning proposal, gotten final signatures, made copies and just returned from dropping it off at the post office (OK, sometimes the Fed Ex box!). You return to your desk, look around your office and think of all the things you would rather do than sit down and focus on the next deadline.

So for all procrastinating grant writers, here are my top-ten things to do before beginning that next proposal.
1. Go get a beer, ice cream, new sweater, pair of shoes or whatever favor you treat yourself to when you have completed a worthy accomplishment. You deserve it!

2. Write thank you notes (personal notes, not form letters) to people who helped in a significant way. This might include co-writers, project collaborators, board members, financial officers and support staff. If it was a large proposal with many team members, I will also send a letter to organizations that supported the project, notifying them that it was submitted and that I will be in touch pending final notification.

3. Purge your files (yech!). Yes, this is a dreaded task, but it you don’t do it now it will never get done. Go through the folders for the current proposal, keeping the notes, contact information, etc. that are important, but discarding all the unnecessary papers (including old drafts and budgets) that are not part of the final proposal. Its amazing how confused you can get just a few weeks later when you try and remember details of the final proposal with too many old drafts and notes to sift through.

4. Purge your electronic files. Same as above. If you are like me, you will have various electronic files labeled "proposal version 1," "proposal version 1.1," "Proposal version 1.1.revised," etc. Now is the time to get rid of these and save only what is necessary. This is also a good opportunity to save pieces of the proposal that might be helpful later, for example the organizational description or the case statement. For a large proposal, make a back up copy and keep it in a safe place.

5. Make hard copies of the final written proposal for your files and for significant contributors, administrative officials and others. Send a copy with your thank you note or letter.

6. This is a good time to make personal notes to yourself about what worked or did not work in the proposal preparation process. Maybe there was a good idea that got cut for budget reasons, or someone you wanted to contact but ran out of time. Keep this page on top of your project folder for when you hear the funding decision.

7. Mark your calendar for when you expect to hear from the funding agency. If it is a large federal grant, this can take several months. If it is a foundation or corporate request, you should know approximately when the funding committee meets. When the time comes, you will be in the middle of several other projects, but this will remind you to make a follow up call to see if a funding decision has been made.

8. Update your grant log with the date the proposal was submitted, project title and funding request, all the contact information for the funding agency, the expected date of an award announcement and people to contact when you hear back. Keep electronic and hard copies of this file.
9. Make a list of other foundations or agencies that might fund the same program. Don’t worry; you are not actually doing any work yet. This is for when you come back to the office and are ready to begin researching potential new funding sources.

10. Repeat number one from above (OK, I ran out of ideas after number nine, but you get the point). Preparing winning proposals is a lot of work, only some of which actually shows up in the final written product. It may have taken weeks or months to get the 5 to 10 pages that were mailed to the funding agency. Yet only you know the hours of lost sleep, ideas running through your head that got you to that point. Celebrate each achievement, learning new lessons each time and getting ready for the next challenge.

Congratulations! Tomorrow is a new day, go home early!

Lawrence H. Trachtman has over 17 years experience in developing and managing grant-funded programs for a variety of public and private agencies. Mr. Trachtman is currently the director of development for Save Our State, a statewide nonprofit that promotes natural resource conservation and sustainable economic development. He oversees corporate and foundation grants, membership and new program initiatives. He is leading the program to develop a sustainable business council for North Carolina. He previously has been with NC State University as executive director of The Center for Universal Design, a nationally recognized program conducting research and education on the design of buildings and products for people of all ages and abilities; and with state government as assistant director of a statewide grant project helping persons with disabilities acquire needed technology. Mr. Trachtman graduated from Rutgers University College of Engineering and received an MS in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has served on local and national boards of directors, has authored many papers in scientific journals and served as a journal editor for 7 years.

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