Course Assessment

Before I enrolled in this course, I had a very basic understanding of

grants and proposals. It mainly came from asking experienced people in
these fields what it was like writing them, and I heard various answers. Each
one involved the importance of language and the focus on the outlines of
each program solicitation (which I now know is an RFP). But this course really
opened my eyes to the entire process of writing proposals. This process is
much more extensive than I originally thought, but ironically, not as
intimidating as people had made it out to be. It is still challenging, but many
people warned about the incredible frustration that comes with grant writing.
I am so glad that this course was offered because it broke down that
intimidation and taught me an incredible amount about the grant writing
process.
I appreciated the small group work each week because it broke down
the process into smaller parts. Without these, the process would have been
far more overwhelming going into it. The small group work also showed how
to approach brainstorming and outlining, which are incredibly important.
Without such brainstorming and outlines, you could get halfway through
writing the proposal and realize that you need to emphasize one idea more,
go in a different direction, etc. The outline and work along the way allows
you to flesh out your ideas and edit them before spending so much time
writing the full proposal.
For the first project, one of the most beneficial class sessions was the
Q&A with Dr. Brentrup. Before this session, it seemed our small group was on
different pages and did not have the same focus concerning the proposal.
Hearing from the lead PI was incredibly helpful in determining what his focus
was so we could accurately represent it. Honestly, I dont think we would
have represented his vision well without the Q&A session because we
wouldnt have fully understood it without his explanation. After the session,
the group got together and relayed what parts we had initially
misunderstood, individually and as a group. This was an important moment
for us because we came together in the same understanding of the project,
for the first time.
I also appreciated how Dr. Wickliff gave us ample time to research and
find an RFP that best fit with the project and the PIs vision. We changed to a
different RFP after a few weeks of thinking that we were going to go with the
first one we agreed on. I am glad that we did because the new RFP focused
more on behavioral science, which was an important element considering the
workshops will be focusing on the comfort of occupants and their energy use.
However, this posed a challenge because we lost some time that other
groups that had stuck with their initial RFP had. I also changed organizations
in my second project, moving from wanting to write for RAINN to writing for

the Ronald McDonald House. I was so thankful to be able to change because,

honestly, I think the experience with the Ronald McDonald House was much
better than it may have been writing for RAINN. Writing for the Ronald
McDonald House was also more rewarding on a personal level because I have
ties with them. I volunteered during my freshman year at UNC Charlotte,
between November 2013 and July 2014. I loved volunteering here because I
got to see the practical impact that it had on the families who stayed here
and the greater Charlotte community itself. I am very thankful for this
experience; at the time, I wouldnt have known that I would be writing a
proposal for the House. But this volunteer experience was great to bring to
the proposal because it brought out a passion about this organization to
bring life to the knowledge that I had about it. I also enjoyed learning even
more about the House, the impact it makes and the administrative parts that
keep the House operating smoothly.
Overall, I enjoyed project #2 more than project #1. I enjoyed working
with my groupmates in the first project, but writing about architecture,
behavioral science, and energy use was challenging for me because I had a
very elementary knowledge of these in the first place. It is also hard for me
to write convincingly about a subject that I am not passionate about, and
these areas were outside of my general interest. But I learned a lot because
of this. The first project greatly prepared me for the second, and Im so
thankful for my group. When we worked on the first project together, we
were able to rely on one another and ask questions when we were putting
what we read and learned into practice. It would have been incredibly
challenging without them and their help.
I felt more confident with project #2 because I care about the
organization and had previous volunteer experience with them. But it was
still challenging trying to craft a convincing narrative, knowing that you have
to distinguish yourself from the many other worthy applications that the
foundation receives. I tried to come from the angle of an intersection
between family and health services since the organization focuses on familycentered care and one of the foundations focuses is health and human
services. The initial interview with Laura-Nelle helped a lot because she gave
me great information about the Ronald McDonald House. I learned more
details about it and got to see more of the administrative side of the
organization. The interview was very helpful in getting more experience
brainstorming beforehand and knowing what questions you wanted to ask
going into it. Laura-Nelle was also incredibly helpful when I sent her
questions over the following weeks, but asking questions at the initial
meeting helped launch the proposal in the direction it needed to go.
Besides crafting a convincing narrative, another challenging part of the
second project was writing a memorable introduction and conclusion. I
decided to begin with a quote about home because it represented the

mission of the Ronald McDonald House right away. I wanted to have a solid
focus throughout the proposal, and it was essential to build the foundation of
this focus in the introduction. I ended the proposal with an emphasis on the
significance that the Ronald McDonald House has on families coming to the
community of Charlotte and the medical community nearby. Ending with the
significance promotes how important the organization is to the city of
Charlotte and to families traveling to receive the specialized, quality medical
care that they need. Ending with the significance of the organization also
makes a statement that they will continue making this impact in the future;
basically, they are in this for the long haul. An organization that has spent
over four years building relationships and credibility has learned a lot, and it
is important to the foundation that the funding goes to an organization that
will continue growing its impact in the community.
The second project was also a great opportunity to write a proposal
that was outside of the NSF guidelines of the first project. Because I want to
work for nonprofit organizations after graduating from college, having
experience writing the proposal for the Ronald McDonald House is really
going to help in the job search. I am also thankful for the experience writing
the NSF grant because then, if I go into another field, I also have this
experience to show. I am happy to have proposals for two such different
organizations in my portfolio now.
But the different experiences between each proposal taught me a
great deal about writing for different audiences. For the first proposal, the
audience was much more technical-minded in their fields. I had to be more
careful about getting the information right since I came into it with little
knowledge, so I was learning about it along the way. For the second proposal,
the audience was more focused on the charitable outcome that the
organization had in the community. Each foundation had a different focus
and perspective, so I had to adjust accordingly to craft a convincing narrative
for each. You have to be flexible in writing to different audiences and get to
know their focus and values. Without these, the proposal will surely not
succeed.
I also learned more about writing biographical sketches in the group
project. Since this proposal was science-based, the NSF obviously wants
qualified people working on any project they fund. So I got to write about the
individuals involved, their qualifications and experiences that prove why they
are incredibly capable to lead significant research. It was great experience
reading their biographies, then determining what information was most
important to include in the proposal. This made you approach it from the
angle of determining what was important to include, focusing on the main
aspects of the program and on the strengths the PIs had to bring to the
table.

For project #2, I did not write biographical sketches for the lead staff or
primary contact because: 1) it would have made the document go beyond
the page requirement outlined by the foundation, and 2) since the proposal
was focused on the organization itself, they were more concerned about the
collective significance that the staff was making than on the qualifications of
the individuals themselves. I also respected how it indirectly made a
statement: that in order to make a difference in the community, you dont
have to have amazing credentials (although they certainly help); you need to
have initiative, a great idea and organization, and results that you can show.
This is one reason why I am so excited to work in the nonprofit sector.
The primary section that each project did share was the project
narrative (even though each foundation used different names for this
section). With any proposal, you have to describe your intentions with the
project; it is just described in different ways. For example, the NSF proposal
described the specific timeline of the project, the scientific aspirations of the
project, and the environmental and societal benefits that would result. The
project narrative for my individual proposal was far more focused on the
smaller scale of families served by the Ronald McDonald House, the fixed
costs of a familys stay, and the impact that it has on the community. I would
argue that the project narrative is the most important part of a proposal
because if it is not solid, then the information that supports it will not be
important anymore and the entire proposal will be affected.
Overall, this was one of the most challenging but rewarding courses I
have taken at UNC Charlotte. Now, I have a much better understanding of
the proposal project and a portfolio to show. Two summers ago, a coworker
suggested that I talk to one of the pastors of the church I was attending
because she had experience with grant writing. When I talked to this pastor, I
learned that her experience had been years ago, but she knew the woman
who wrote proposals for the Charlotte Rescue Mission. Because of the
pastors schedule that summer, it was hard communicating back and forth
and the opportunity did not pan out. But I am so glad that I took this course
first because I got to learn about the foundation of proposal writing and work
with a great group as we navigated this unfamiliar territory together. Now,
with a better understanding and two proposals in hand, I feel much more
confident about future opportunities.