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The Offices of Research, Innovation & Economic Development Sacramento State

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Develop A Grant Proposal

The Research and Proposal Development unit within the Offices of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED) assists faculty and staff with the development of grant and contract proposals to external funding agencies and organizations. Services provided by ORIED include assistance with the conceptualization of project ideas, refinement of proposal narratives, and development of project budgets. Additionally, here you can find grant writing and other resources to aid in the development of developing competitive proposals for external funding. For a full list of services and the associated timelines, see the ORIED Proposal Services Matrix.

Planning a Submission? Complete our Proposal Form

Note: In accordance with ORIED's Proposal Submission Guidelines, all final proposal elements including an approved Proposal Form (linked above) must be received by ORIED no later than 2 full business days before the submission deadline to allow for final review and finalization.

Before You Begin to Write

Conceptualize Your Project - Ask yourself these key questions to help hone your project idea.

Research Previously-Funded Projects

Agency databases of funded projects are a useful tool which can provide a snapshot of a sponsor’s priority areas and can help you avoid proposing something that is similar to a project that has already funded. Below please find a number of publicly available award databases.

Proposal Writing & Project Evaluation Guides and Tutorials

Budget Templates & Resources

Budget Related Policies

Data Management Plans

Many federal funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), require that grant applications contain data management plans for projects involving data collection.

What constitutes data?

Data is determined by each academic community/field. Data may include, but is not limited to data, publications, samples, physical collections, software, and models.

Data management at Sacramento State

Sacramento State is a member of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Science Research (ICPSR). As members, political and social science-related data can be stored at no cost in their archives. Click here for additional details about housing data with ICPSR.

Preparing Data Management Plans (DMPs)

Policies on Data Management

Serve as a Peer Reviewer

Peer reviewers benefit by gaining first-hand knowledge of the review process, learning the common grant writing pitfalls and discovering strategies to write strong proposals. The following agencies are currently seeking proposal reviewers:

  • Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) CNCS is seeking reviewers for its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Social Innovation Fund. To sign up, visit here.
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) To increase the pool of un-conflicted reviewers NASA is seeking subject matter experts to serve as mail-in reviewers of proposals and/or in-person reviewers to engage in discussions at a face-to-face panel meeting. New researchers are welcome to apply as they provide fresh insight from people close to the most current research. Visit NASA here.
  • National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Want to better understand the NEA review process? There is no better way than becoming an NEA reviewer. The Arts Education Office needs dedicated people to ensure a quality assessment of each application for direct learning, professional development, and collective impact projects. If you are interested in being considered, please complete the Volunteer to be a Panelist form.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) NEH relies on the advice of humanities scholars and experts in other relevant fields in evaluating grant applications. Sign up to be a reviewer.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) The NIH Center for Scientific Review appoints study section members and temporary reviewers. Study section membership is generally a four-year commitment of three meetings per year. Be considered as a reviewer
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) To become a NSF peer reviewer, contact the program officer(s) of the directorate(s) or division(s) that fit your expertise, introduce yourself and your research experience, let them know that you want to become a peer reviewer for their program, ask when the next panel will be held, and offer to send a 2-page CV. For the Division of Chemistry, first-time reviewers also sign up via an online signup form.
  • US Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) Reviewer To be considered as a potential reviewer, email CSREES with your name, department, institution, and area(s) of expertise (limit to 4 or 5 keywords).
  • US Department of Education The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Higher Education Programs is seeking peer reviewers via their Online Field Reader Application Form.