As grant professionals, we all know that using strong, relevant data from reliable sources to support our case for funding is essential to a quality, competitive application. Although this is true across all types of applications, it is especially relevant when applying for federal grants. While stories bring our programs to life for a reviewer, used artfully data provides the foundation that makes it possible to build a captivating (and winning) case for support. I’m going to provide you with some resources you can use to make finding - and citing - that crucial piece of data easier next time you need it.

National Science Foundation Attention institutions of higher education! The National Science Foundation (NSF) is now accepting proposals to its Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). Noyce provides funding to recruit, prepare, and retain elementary and secondary teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, as well as to research the retention and effectiveness of such teachers in school districts with high needs. Proposals for this program are due August 31, 2021.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Is your state agency working to improve and expand local broadband infrastructure? The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently opened applications for its Broadband Infrastructure Program. This program awards grants to eligible covered partnerships (see below) on a competitive basis, with the overall goal to deploy fixed broadband service in eligible areas in which broadband is not available to all households or businesses.

National Endowment for the Arts Is your community looking for project-based funding to support activities that further the arts? The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently opened applications for its Our Town grant program. Our Town is NEA’s “creative placemaking” grant program, through which arts, cultural, and design activities strengthen and advance local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes. Ultimately, Our Town projects pave the way for systems-level changes that promote the sustainable integration of arts, culture, and design into the fabric of community life.

I am a grant professional for whom the written word is a more comfortable form of communication than face-to-face communication. Once I understood the concepts and intent of grant proposal writing, I fell in love with it. The majority of my time is spent alone in my office writing or in one-on-one conversations with program, financial, and executive leadership staff. Given that my learning style is also visual text, reading RFPs, gathering the information needed, and conducting the research is all easy for me to understand. Recently though, I have needed to be involved in meetings with program officers. These are not my favorite activity. Oh, I love hearing all the things funders have to say about their organization that help me better understand their mission. I also love to hear all the things about the program that my organizations say to the funder that I have not heard before in quite the same way. (Haven’t we all been here?) If my only task was to listen, these meetings would be easy, but these were conversations in which I was the lead for a significant portion of the conversation.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Attention Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), local or tribal governments, and nonprofits! The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is now accepting proposals to its Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants program. This program supports the local development of strategies to address severely distressed public housing through a collaborative and comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Choice Neighborhoods programs result in the development and implementation of a “Transformation Plan” that guides the revitalization of public and/or HUD-assisted housing units, transformation of the surrounding neighborhoods, and realization of positive outcomes for local families. Proposals to this program are due July 13, 2021.

Department of Health and Human Services – Health Resources and Services Administration Does your organization use telehealth technologies to serve rural, underserved populations? The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently opened its Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP), which aims to facilitate evidence-based training, professional education, and support of primary care providers (PCPs) who serve rural, frontier, and underserved areas. This program emphasizes collaborative relationships between specialists at academic medical centers and PCPs to implement learning community models and provide training in best-practice specialty care to PCPs and their teams. Proposals are due June 25, 2021.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Attention educators, researchers, institutions of higher education, and associated organizations! NSF is now accepting proposals to its Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education & Human Resources (IUSE: EHR) Program. As part of NSF’s broader IUSE education initiative, this program promotes better understanding of novel, creative, and transformative approaches to fully engaging all undergraduate students in STEM education. IUSE: EHR accomplishes this through engaged student learning (development, testing, and the use of innovative teaching/curricular practices) and institutional and community transformation (implementing and sustaining effective STEM education). Proposals to this program are due July 21, 2021.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Does your organization work to address systemic racism in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields? NSF is now accepting proposals to its Racial Equity in STEM program. This program is designed to advance racial equity in STEM education and workforce development through fundamental and applied research and practice. NSF encourages prospective applicants to send a one-page concept paper in advance of the full proposal. The full proposal deadline is July 13, 2021.