Today’s Plan:
- 12 Basic Rules
- Homework
Karsh and Fox’s 12 Basic Rules
I preparation for today’s class I asked you to read Lesson 6 and 7 of Karsh and Fox’s Grant Writing Book. Those rules are:
- Make an Outline
- Write as you Speak
- Don’t be overly formal or pretentious
- Don’t be too casual
- Be clear, direct, factual
- Double and Triple Think Your Choice of Words
- Avoid all slang
- “We also believe you must take great care in describing, precisely, the traits and attributes of the people who participate in your program and/or who live in your community or city” (123-24)
- Don’t Exaggerate
- Avoid hyperbolic adjectives (the best, cutting edge, etc)
- Let facts speak for themselves
- Buy a Grammar Book
- Double check EVERY apostrophe
- Double check EVERY comma
- Double check every verb for a tense shift
- Double check every introductory clause for agreement (“While riding a bus, the tornado ripped through our town”)
- Buy a Dictionary and a Thesaurus
- It is helpful to explore the precise meaning of terms and avoid too much repetition
- LET ME EXERCISE CAUTION
- Stick to the Active Voice
- Williams and Bizup every sentence
- Keep Your Own Voice Out of It
- Avoid judgments, controversial ideas, political views, and humor
- NO. SARCASM.
- Limit the Adjectives
- It’s Not Personal
- When possible, avoid I, we, and our in favor of specific references
- NO ACRONYMS
- Prove It!
- Evidence-based claims
To this list we can add a few of the driving ideas in Lesson 7: that a grant emphasize how it offers a solution to a problem or a strategy to address a particular need (pg. 139). Describe a clear target population (pg. 142). Have a sufficient but no overwhelming amount of research (pg. 145-146). What kinds of material can be considered research?
- Community demographics
- Anecdotal Information (“Can put a human face on a cold statistical problem”)
- Focus Groups
- Needs assessment [major project]
- Newspaper reports
- Police Precinct Data
- School reading/math/attendance rates
- Hospital and health department statistics
- Scholarly Literature
Homework
Given the work we did this week generating memos and gantt charts, my hope is that you all know what has to get done.
