Category — General Advice

Before writing any proposal, it is essential to get a copy of the application guidelines. But don’t stop there. Also ask for a copy of the reviewer’s evaluation criteria. Why? Sometimes there are discrepancies between what the guidelines ask for and what reviewers are expected to find. For example, the reviewer’s evaluation criteria might require a more detailed description than was requested in the application guidelines, or the documents might request the same information, but prefer it in a different order.

Sponsors do not intentionally include discrepancies between application guidelines and reviewer’s evaluation criteria as a way of “weeding out” applicants; rather, they typically occur due to hurried final editing and proofreading. More significantly, when a discrepancy exists, model your proposal according to the reviewer’s evaluation criteria format. Remember, you want to make reviewers’ jobs as easy as possible, so present requested information in the order in which they expect to find it, even if that means deviating from the application guidelines.