Grant writing is a key part of funding academic programs and allows for diverse funding opportunities for various academic desires and needs in the university, Kris Johnson, director of grants and sponsored programs, said.
If a department or faculty member at Taylor wants to conduct research, develop a program or requires additional funding outside of their budget, they can apply for a grant.
Johnson helps departments and faculty walk through that process in finding external funding, applying to grants and managing the grant when acquired.
Grants such as the $6 million Center for Missions Computing grant, the $2 million grant for the engineering department or the $1.25 million grant for the PREACH Initiative were some of the outcomes that Johnson helped facilitate.
“Over the last three years we've grown by leaps and bounds,” Johnson said. “Last year, we had $4.7 million (total) in academic grants and sponsored research programs. The year before that, we had $700,000 (total), and the year before that we had $250,000 (total).”
Johnson works in tangent with programs, research and academia, separate from other grants such as the $30 million Lilly grant for community development.
Each year, Johnson applies for anywhere between 20 to 30 grants. If they apply to 30, they tend to receive approximately 20, she said.
“We're not just applying for everything that we see,” she said. “We sort of work really hard to make sure that what it is we want to do on our campus aligns with what funders want to do and that we have a really well-thought-out project or research plan because we don't want to waste effort.”
The university applies to various grant amounts and does not have a minimum or maximum they apply to. Last year, the grants Johnson helped apply to ranged from anywhere between $500 to nearly $2 million, she said.
Projects funded by grants may have a firm end, and additional funding is not needed. However, programs that continue beyond the intended life of a grant may be funded by appropriating funds from the university’s budget, seeking direct donations from Taylor donors or applying to additional grant proposals.
“We want to make sure that our project is really well defined, and it's something we actually want to do,” she said. “We don't want to chase money just for money's sake. We want to utilize our funders money really well…We've been really trying to be strategic about developing those partnerships, developing those relationships and choosing which things to apply for.”
Typically, grant proposals will start a new research project or program on campus rather than contribute to a pre-existing one; however, that doesn’t mean grant applications cannot do so.
“It's just such a great way to allow faculty and staff and students to drive our academic goals and initiatives because they're doing what they love, and they're doing what they think is important, and they're doing work that advances them as individuals (and) advances the university,” Johnson said.
The application process for grant writing varies depending on the complexity of the project seeking funding amongst other factors. Smaller foundation grants can be applied to in an afternoon’s time versus larger foundation grants that could take several months to apply to.
The grants that exist also vary in types such as foundation grants (including smaller family foundations or larger foundations such as the Lilly Endowment), corporate foundations and federal funding.
“It just depends on what kind of funding you need and what organization you're going to go through,” Johnson said. “There's a lot of different options. That's my favorite thing to tell people, is that there are so many different options for funding that are just out there, and you have to go; you just have to go find them. That’s why I’m here; I help with that part.”
