Grant Writing is a Sport, Not a Scholarly Pursuit

As I like to point out in my workshops, grant writing is more of a sport than an academic activity. It's a sport because you are usually challenged to produce a complex, complying document under strict time limits.

Accordingly, the big cash prizes in grant writing don't always go to the organizations with the greatest intellectual merit or the most skillfully argued presentation.

Instead, substantial resources go to those who plan ahead, move decisively to put their ideas on paper, and pull together their full grant application well ahead of the announced deadline.