Grant Resources
Intramural funding sources at ATSU-KCOM
Extramural Funding Sources from the federal government
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the grant making entity for those interested in improving the health of the nation. Important structures within DHHS for grant writers at KCOM are the following:
National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- NIH is the world's premier medical research organization, supporting some 35,000 research projects nationwide in diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, arthritis, heart ailments, and AIDS. The NIH encompasses 18 separate health institutes, as well as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Library of Medicine. See strategic plans of NIH. Learn more about submitting a grant to NIH.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- Working with states and other partners, the CDC provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks (including bioterrorism), implement disease prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics. The CDC provides for immunization services, workplace safety, and environmental disease prevention. Guarding against international disease transmission, the CDC has personnel stationed in more than 25 foreign countries. Learn more about submitting a grant application to the CDC.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) -- HRSA provides access to essential health services for people who are poor, uninsured, or who live in rural and urban neighborhoods where healthcare service are scarce. HRSA-funded health centers provide comprehensive primary and preventive medical care to more than 9 million patients each year at more than 3,000 sites nationwide. Working in partnership with many state and community organizations, HRSA also supports programs that ensure healthy mothers and children, increase the number and diversity of healthcare professionals in underserved communities, and provide supportive services for people fighting HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White Care Act. Learn more about HRSA grants.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) -- SAMHSA works to improve the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services. SAMHSA provides funding to the states to support and maintain substance abuse and mental health services through federal block grants. Targeted Capacity Expansion grants provide mayors and town and county officials with resources to address emerging drug abuse trends and mental health service needs and related public health problems, including HIV/AIDS, at the earliest possible stages. Hundreds of programs are funded nationwide to increase the use and improve prevention and treatment methods shown by research to be effective through "Knowledge Development and Application" grants. Funding for SAMHSA funding is described here...
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) -- AHRQ is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of healthcare, reduce its cost, improve patient safety, address medical errors, and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on healthcare outcomes and quality as well as cost, use, and access. This information helps healthcare decision makers, patients, clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers make more informed decisions thus improving the quality of healthcare services. More about funding opportunities with AHRQ.
Administration on Aging (AoA) -- The AoA is the federal focal point and advocate agency for older persons and their concerns. The AoA administers key federal programs mandated under various titles of the Older Americans Act. These programs help vulnerable older persons remain in their own homes by providing supportive services, including nutrition programs like home delivered meals (i.e. Meals on Wheels). Other programs offer opportunities for older Americans to enhance their health and to be active contributors to their families, communities, and the nation. The AoA works closely with its nationwide network of regional offices and State and Area Agencies on Aging to plan, coordinate, and develop community-level systems of services that meet the unique needs of individual older persons and their caregivers. The AoA collaborates with Federal agencies, national organizations, and representatives of business to ensure that, whenever possible, their programs and resources are targeted to older persons and coordinated with those of the network on aging. Learn more about AoA's funding opportunities and see other resources.
Extramural Funding from Non-Government Sources
Non-government funding sources are varied and include private foundations, grantmaking public charities, corporate grantmakers, and community foundations. The Foundation Center has a search engine available for these categories. You may search or access an alphabetical listing of any of the following by clicking on the links below:
Writing a Grant Proposal
All grants have some basic steps in common. To begin planning your grant, start with the following:
- Assess your field. Find out the opportunities for collaborating with a known laboratory or more experienced grantee.
- Search the abstracts of funded research in the NIH CRISP database. Then, order the grants you wish to read under the Freedom of Information Act from the appropriate government agency. Studying grants that have been funded and are deemed of high quality will give you valuable insight.
- Evaluate yourself: How do your strengths match up with the topics you uncovered in step 1? Can you capitalize on your expertise and fill in any gaps with mentors, collaborators, or consultants?
- Figure out what resources and support your organization has and what other support you'll need.
- Brainstorm ideas with colleagues and mentors. Use the Five Criteria.
- Call a program officer for an opinion of your idea.
- Write the hypothesis for your proposal in 25 words or less. Write a concept paper and then a research plan.
- See if your idea matches the funding agencies' priority areas.
- Give yourself plenty of time to write the application, probably three to six months. Know the application and forms well.
- Start thinking about your next application! As long as the topics are different, you can apply for as many as you like.
The information presented above is from NIH's All About Grants website. More information about writing grants and the application process is located at this site.
Resources for the Grant Writer
Books
The "How to" Grants Manual: Successful Grantseeking Techniques for Obtaining Public and Private Grants by David G. Bauer. Oryx Press / 1995
Successful Grant Writing: Strategies for Health and Human Service Professionals by Laura N. Gitlin, Kevin J. Lyons. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated / January 1996
First-Time Grant Writer's Guide to Success
by Cynthia R. Knowles. Corwin Press / April 2002
Grant Writing for Dummies
Beverly A. Browning. Wiley / February 2001
Proposals That Work : A Guide for Planning
Dissertations and Grant Proposals Lawrence F.
Locke, Stephen J. Silverman, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso
Sage Publications, Incorporated / January 1999
Grantseeker's Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide
to Finding Funding with 3.5 Disk Cheryl Carter New,
James Quick of Polaris Corporation Wiley, John & Sons,
Incorporated / February 1998
Articles and Guides
Excellent Primer on Writing Grants
Developing a Grant Program from the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Proposal Writing Short Course from the Foundation Center
Prospect Worksheets for Finding Funding Agencies (great organizational tool)
Grant on Improving the Environment
