How can you attract funding with a clear research proposal?

My experience is that knowing the recipient is crucial. The people or groups funding your research are your target audience. Understanding one's audience's goals, preferences, and evaluative criteria allows one to tailor a proposal to their needs. First, investigate the funders' backgrounds and prior money allocations to determine which research fields they support. Additionally, using funders' language and terminology in submissions is crucial. This strategy helps people understand your plan, boosting its chances of being taken seriously.

my experience in this context: I wrote a grant proposal, with research question, gaps, and how will i address those gaps. My technical mentor and non-technical mentors sent two different views. expecting that, and after back and forth communication among us, i have finalized and submitted. You know what, the external reviewer has brought in another point of concern on 'research question'. Oh..no. What is happening? Irony is that in such proposals review by external experts, would be taken by either thorough experts exactly matching our field, or they know little about our subject. So, the crux of the problem is that we MUST define our research question or hypothesis in very clear and simple non-technical jargon, as far as possible.

This is another crucial aspect in a proposal to include a very well-structured, logical and feasible research design. We should not give too much details, and at the same time, shall maintain the flow with simple and enough details. This research design shall outline how I will address my research question, with step-wise methods and the data that support each stage, and more importantly, How that data be procured/ generated. Justify the opted methods, aligning it to my question and goals. One MUST avoid superfluous information. I must mention anticipated risks, technical or administrative challenges and how will those be mitigated. This ensures clarity, credibility, and readiness to execute your research effectively.

Funders frequently exhibit a keen interest in providing financial support to projects that demonstrate meticulous planning and possess a distinct timeframe. Increasing the probability of securing financing can be achieved by showcasing a meticulous evaluation of the budget and timetable pertaining to one's research endeavour.

During my early experiences of applying for a research grant from an international university, I prepared a budget that was quite comprehensive, incorporating a range of supporting amenities, IT equipment, and software. Given the theoretical nature of my work, which didn't involve the use of experimental chemicals, I directed the allocated budget towards the acquisition of electronic devices and software. In a humorous manner, my mentor emphasized the importance of not exaggerating the budget and instead requesting only what is justifiable. I realized that it was imperative to meticulously provide justification for each item in the budget. Similarly, timeline scheduling should allow flexibility to address any risks or challenges.

This is not very appropriate query. How? The query is that the research proposal is “clear”, thereby meaning that it has been prepared in view of the guidelines of funding by the funding agency. Where is the hitch. It is easy the get the funds when funding agencies invite proposal “ invited projects”. I had two projects like this. One was AICOPTAX ( All India Coordinated Project on Taxonomy) from MoEF (GOI)