Tips for Writing Good EOPC Proposals

The most competitive EOPC proposals are those that demonstrate incisive thinking, careful planning, and excellent program administration. Excellent ideas and programs may not be funded if proposal writers do not effectively communicate their goals, objectives, approaches, and outcomes to EOPC. Below are tips for writing good EOPC proposals and evaluations. Implementing the following points will make your proposal more competitive.

Read the Directions - EOPC proposal guidelines contain detailed directions for writing good proposals and evaluations. Please read them carefully and follow them explicitly.

Descriptions and Terminology - Be explicit in your choice of words. Avoid acronyms and other potentially ambiguous phrases.

Terminology is especially critical in the Target Population portion of the proposal. Words like "underrepresented" and "minority" students can have several different meanings. "African American" or "students with learning disabilities" provide more specific information.

Get Help - Although we try to make our guidelines as complete and clear as possible, they are not intended as a substitute for attending EOPC workshops. Most people need to attend a workshop to develop a good understanding of the proposal and evaluation process. Even if you have experience writing EOPC proposals and have attended workshops before, it is a good idea to participate in a workshop to ensure that you understand the proposal writing process thoroughly. Also, you should contact Mike Blanco whenever you are unclear on a given point or want further guidance on any part of your proposal or evaluation. If you find a mistake or problem in the Web guidelines, let us know so that we can correct it.

Presentation Counts - EOPC evaluation teams expect your work to be neat, well-organized, and well-written. It's always a good idea to have someone with excellent writing skills proof read your proposal or evaluation before you submit it. Think of ways to make your ideas easier to follow by the use of bullets, charts, tables, etc.

Keep It Short and Simple - Long narratives may not be in your best interests. Thus, "reader friendly" proposals and evaluations, with key aspects presented in easily identifiable formats, will help the reviewers assess your proposal or evaluation most completely. Don't reduce the default font and margin sizes to stay within the page limit requirements since this practice makes it even harder for evaluators to read your materials. Keep your goals, objectives, evaluation plan, and outcomes simple and to the point.

Focus on Facts - While you may "know" how much your program is needed and how well your program participants liked your program, you can best communicate these ideas through the use of data. The following statement is a good example of how data can be used to demonstrate program success:

According to our pre-program survey, 73% of respondents identified minority issues as the top diversity issue, and only 15% indicated that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equity was a "diversity" issue at all. Our post-program survey indicated that LGBT equity was a diversity issue for 36% of respondents (see Attachment A for survey instrument and summary of survey results).

Quantitative data, such as GPAs and retention/graduation rates are the most convincing forms of evidence that your program was successful.

Goals and Objectives - Make sure you understand the difference between goals and objectives. Goals describe what you're trying to accomplish, and objectives identify the specific strategies you use to accomplish your goals. Most important, objectives must be measurable. See more information on the relationship between goals and objectives.

Outcomes!, Outcomes!, Outcomes! - The most important component of any program is how well it accomplishes its goals. It is not always easy to evaluate how well a program contributes to its ultimate goal (i.e., how much can a single program contribute to retention and graduation?). However, program directors should carefully consider what outcomes mark program success, how these outcomes align with program goals, and the appropriateness of the metrics used to measure outcomes. Further information is available on this Web site, evaluation plans and assessment instruments.

External Reader - Have someone not involved in the project read the proposal before submitting it. If something is not clear to this reader, find out what is unclear and try to re-word your ideas.

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