Learning Objectives

• To gain insight into the core principles that help shape strong AI and/or data-focused grant proposals
• To learn how to explicitly build these principles into grant proposals
• To identify when more strategic planning, needfinding, or resourcing may be required before preparing a funding proposal

Who Is This Module For?

This module is designed for organizations who are far along in the Exploration phase of their AI journey and are getting ready to move into Adoption for a specific AI-based solution. Your organization has already done (or is close to completing) the leg work of:

• Defining the problem
• Deciding whether a build vs. buy approach will be best for your needs
• Assessing the readiness of your data relevant to the AI-based solution you’re pursuing
• Crafting a robust AI project plan that reflects on your resourcing needs, timeline, potential risks, etc…

Leadership team members and those involved in the grant writing process would benefit most from this module.

How Does It Work?

We estimate that this module will take ~1-1.5 hours to complete and can be completed independently or as a small group of individuals from your organization. The module is composed of a short reading followed by an activity where you will get practice reviewing and evaluating two hypothetical grant proposals.

Learning Materials

Step 1: Complete this pre-module survey (~5 min)

Step 2: Read the Shaping Strong Tech Proposals guide (~15 min)

Step 3: Review + evaluate sample proposal(s) (~25-50 min)

Below we have provided two sample grant proposals for your review. These are intended to give you practice identifying how the core principles discussed above should show up in a proposal. You may opt to go through both, or just select the one proposal that feels most relevant to your organization. Note: Both proposals are hypothetical organizations and projects.

To review a proposal, first take a few minutes to read it in full. Then, use the Cheat Sheet provided to evaluate the proposal across the 6 core principles for shaping strong tech proposals. On what aspects is the proposal doing well and where could it use improvement? If you are completing this module with others at your organization, complete this activity as a group. After you’ve completed your evaluation, check out our evaluation and an improved version of the grant proposal that integrates the feedback from the evaluation.

Shaping Strong Tech Proposals - Cheat Sheet

Proposal #1

• Blue Haven - For review
• Blue Haven - PJMF evaluation
• Blue Haven - Improved version

Proposal #2

• HabitatKeepers - For review
• HabitatKeepers - PJMF evaluation
• HabitatKeepers - Improved version

Step 4: Reflect (~15 min)

After completing this exercise, reflect either independently or with your group on how your organization typically navigates tech-related grant proposals. If you’ve crafted grant proposals in the past or if you have one drafted for a current AI-based project, how well do you think your proposal hits the mark for our 6 core principles? Where do you think you have the most space for improvement?

Step 5: Complete the post-module survey (~5 min)

Additional Resources