Proposal Pitfalls: Presenting Your Data

They say that seeing is believing. When it comes to applying for grant funding, your data is the “seeing” that the reviewers need in order to “believe.” Unfortunately, many applicants overlook data presentation, missing an opportunity to make a positive impact on reviewers. As an NIH grant applicant, your primary objective is to clearly convey your ideas to the reviewers so they positively evaluate your project. Clean and comprehendible data presentation supports your claims and helps the reviewers understand your project and its appropriateness for funding. In our exuberance to demonstrate the depth of our specialized project knowledge, it can be easy to overwhelm a reviewer with data that is too detailed, unlabeled, tangential to our core message, or even unintelligible to most except those experienced in your highly specialized field. Our goal for good data presentation is to make the reviewer’s job easier, not create a complex puzzle to sift through. In this post, we draw from our SBIR/STTR grant application experience and general best practices about formatting to help you prepare your data for consumption.

Basic Formatting for Data Presentation

Visual Charts and Graphs:

Data can be made more engaging and easier to understand by including visual charts or graphs. These visuals should be easy to interpret at a glance and clearly demonstrate key points, trends, or conclusions. When adding visuals, make sure they have high resolution, are properly labeled with titles that accurately describe what they depict, and are consistent throughout the presentation in terms of font sizes, colors, line thicknesses etc.

Tables:

Numerical data should always be presented in tables as this will make it easier for reviewers to navigate the information quickly. Tables should contain all relevant data points with appropriate column headings that clearly explain what each row presents. Additionally, consistent formatting (such as aligning text to the left) will help reviewers focus on key pieces of information without getting distracted by an inconsistent layout.

Readability:

Always check for readability before submitting your proposal by ensuring all text is legible and well-spaced out on the page; paragraphs are short; words are spelled correctly; numbers are displayed correctly; punctuations marks appear where necessary; tables don’t span multiple pages; graphics aren’t too small or too large; etc.. Doing so will help ensure your proposal looks professional and is easy for readers to understand without having to put too much effort into deciphering it.

Making sure your proposal contains accurate facts and figures presented thoughtfully using basic formatting elements can significantly improve chances of success when applying for SBIR/STTR grants. By taking the time to present data in a clear, organized manner with visual charts or graphs when appropriate, applicants can demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter while also showing off their creativity to get their projects funded by federal grant programs.

Blue Haven Grant Consultants have more than a decade of experience helping people just like you assemble their application in a clear and comprehensive way. As your grant writer, we will help you format and present data in a compelling manner that increases your chances of achieving funding from the NIH. If your team is ready to take on this step, schedule a free consultation with us!