We were all taught in English that you should not repeat the same words over and over again. We were taught that creativity was important. Well, creativity is important, but there is a balance between creativity and clarity. And for government grants, if your innovative idea is too far outside of what the grant is asking for, it will be rejected (even if it is a really good idea!)
One of the biggest things that you should do, is use the terminology that they have in the grant information. For instance, I am a firm believer that it makes a lot of sense in education to link traditional academics to practical skills (career technical education). This concept has had a lot of different names over time: applied academics, linked learning, integrated academics, etc. But I was writing a grant, and in the grant information they called it “Integrated Education and Training”, so I made sure I always used that terminology, even though internal to the school I knew that the term “linked learning” would probably be used. And you can always get the best of both worlds, by using both words, at least in the beginning, and then go to only using their words.
If I had used one of the other terminologies, the school had a chance of not being awarded the grant, because the grant readers might not have made the connection that “linked learning” was the same thing.
To get more tips and to get your questions answered, take one of my grant webinars. I’m offering one next week, on February 14, and one on February 28. Use the Coupon Code of JACOB30 to get $30 off. And if you haven’t yet read the first secret I shared yesterday, you can find it here.
P.S. – If my brief mention of teaching academics and career technical education together piqued your interest, I am having a webinar on February 21 about using Career Technical Education as a Vehicle for Academic Instruction. (And the same discount code works)