Thoughts on Development/Partnerships

Mary Sandy Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, 2006

How We Have Grown

• Started with 2 Space Grant FTE’s in 1990 • Negotiated agreement in 1991 as Enterprise Center with ODU Research Foundation for IDC cost allocation. ▪ Enables discretionary funding pool. ▪ Use primarily for staff costs.

▪ Allows cushion for NASA funding delays.

• Began seeking external funding in 1991.

• Sources have been primarily federal and state. Limited foundation and industry funds.

• Still have 2 FTE’s in our Space Grant budget plus 8 on site staff and 3 off-site personnel on grant, contract or discretionary funding.

Pros and Cons of Our Approach

Pros --Allows for program growth.

--Allows the Consortium to undertake projects at its own discretion/go beyond Space Grant constraints.

--Builds staffing and capabilities.

--Builds contingency funding.

Cons --Development is hard work and very time intensive. --Constant pressure to ensure that the dollars continue to flow in to continue to support existing personnel.

--Be careful to know when to say no!

Some Sources of Discretionary Funding • Indirect Cost Allocation • Registration Fees • Firm Fixed-Price Contracts • Contributions • Space Grant Foundation Accounts/Projects • Fees for services • What else?

Typical Proposal Components

• Project Summary • Goals and Objectives • Evaluation • Project Description • Project Management Plan and Timeline • Team – Roles, credentials, biosketches or resumes • Sustainability • Budget and Budget Justification • Others: Innovation, intellectual merit, impact, prior relevant work, references.

• Letters of support

Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned

Gauging Potential for Success/Help in Refining Concept • Gauge probability of success so your time is not wasted.

• Be sure your idea fits the funder’s goals.

• Talk to program manager. • Take advantage of preliminary proposal opportunities.

• Talk to people who have served on funder review panels. • Be knowledgeable about what has been funded.

• Request copies of successful proposals through FOIA.

• Volunteer to serve on review panels. Great experience!

• Get help from your Sponsored Programs office.

More Proposal Tips/Lessons Learned

Manage the Process

• Write the abstract first! (roles, measurable goals and objectives, clear deliverables).

• Address everything the RFP asks for.

• Follow all guidelines. Call or email funder when uncertain.

• Use the MS Word tracking tool in a coordinated way.

• Do everything you can to engineer the proposal process (set schedule, do outline, assignments to each partner, meetings/audiocons, plan for inevitable deadline workload).

• Give your team all the lead time possible.

• Nice when can get professional help.

• Conduct a “red team” review.

Yet More Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned

• Build on existing programs/play to demonstrated success wherever possible. --Document previous success. --Use good impact data.

--Play up relevant previous products, services, and partnerships.

• Use formatting that makes your proposal easy to review.

• Some funders, such as NSF, can take several submissions to be successful. Use the critical feedback • Even unfunded proposals have value.

– Process builds partners and relationships.

– Can often recycle proposal elements.

Additional Proposal Tips/Lesson Learned

• Proposals are almost always challenging.

• More partners means more logistical challenges.

– Bureaucratic partnerships are more cumbersome but often worthwhile. Allow more time and patience!

– Like to limit core number of partners except for organizations like our Space Grant network.

Finding Partners

• Choose them carefully. Your reputation will be coupled with theirs.

– Don’t do wholesale “who wants to participate” approach.

– Select for mutual interests, capabilities and ability to deliver.

• Partnerships always have to be win/win for all.

• Build networks in your niche areas of interest – Affiliate interests and capabilities – State agency interests and needs – Tie to national or state goals/trends – Statewide committees, advisory committees, boards • Communication among partners is key and so is recognition.

• Incorporate minority serving partners when you can.

• Build relationships --Leverage resources --Partner on proposals --Seek funding from appropriate partners

Some Niche Interest Areas for VSGC

• STEM educator professional development – teachers of blind and deaf – Institutes and workshops/with VDOE and others • Center and industry internships • Student mission opportunities • Geospatial and remote sensing technologies for classroom use, applications and workforce development • Research collaborations • Encouraging girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM • Distance learning programs with NASA and other partners • STEM Workforce Development

FUNDING SOURCES: Community of Science: http://fundingopps.cos.com/ Grants.Gov: http://www.grants.gov/ FedGrants DoD: http://www.dodtechmatch

Fed BizOpps: http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ NASA-NSPIRES: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/ National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/ NASA Innovative Partnerships Program: ipp.nasa.gov

U.S. Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/fund/landing.jhtml?src=rt U.S. Department of Energy: http://www.energy.gov/forresearchers.htm

National Center for Environmental Research (EPA): http://es.epa.gov/ncer/ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): http://www.darpa.mil/baa/ U.S. Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda

SBIR World: http://www.sbirworld.com/ National Institutes of Health: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/index.cfm

Strategic Environmental Research & Development Program (SERDP): http://www.serdp.org/