KE Research Development: Proposal Management Explained
What is Proposal Management?
Knowledge Enterprise proposal managers work within Research Development to support large-scale and complex proposals that usually include pan-university teams. Proposal managers apply industry best practice to understand broadly what makes a proposal or application more cogent, compelling, and competitive. We are focused on supporting federally sponsored projects with $1M annual budget and above. However, we are able to provide support to a wide variety of proposals if time and expertise allow.
Proposal management is an opt-in KE support role that augments the work of the research administrator (RA) and the principal investigator (PI) during the proposal development period. Proposal managers are never required for any proposals, but may be asked to support at any point along the lifecycle. In addition, proposal managers may join or leave teams as the team evolves and their needs change.
Proposal management is NOT project management. Proposal managers may leverage project management skills, but they leave the team upon award. To do this, proposal managers must understand the documents to be submitted, be comfortable reading and understanding the content of the documents to be submitted, be capable of driving individuals and teams to a timeline, able to coordinate external reviews of documents, develop draft graphics and coordinate graphic design work (internal or external), and connect to other resources as needed (e.g., editing, project management, institutional support).
What we do:
The proposal manager will host a kick-off meeting where ASU support staff and the PI gather to review the proposal requirements, agree on timelines, and review assignments. As part of the team, the proposal manager schedules and manages regular team check ins that ensure progress toward completion of the proposal. The proposal manager can coordinate connection among resources at ASU when needed.
The proposal manager can set up a document retention and management system, e.g., Google Drive or Dropbox, that is used throughout the development effort.
The proposal manager identifies key milestones in the process of developing a proposal, inclusive of reviews. Best practice is for external to the team reviews. That is, reviews should be done by people who have no role on the proposal team. External reviews is the single most powerful action a proposal team can take to increase their chances of winning.
The proposal manager will connect with all relevant and necessary ASU specific resources to decrease roadblocks to submission.
In addition, we....
Proposal managers support the following proposal development activities:
- Conceptualization and coordination of proposal graphics through our in-house designer.
- Coordination of external reviews of the proposal documents, e.g., pink, green, red team reviews.
- Coordination, crafting, and routing of institutional support letters.
- Identification and coordination of other internal and external resources that may help with the proposal, e.g., writers, editors, project managers, pitch writers.
- Connect with previous awardees or identify core capabilities to augment the strategy.
The overall goal of proposal managers is to enhance the proposal narrative, strengthen the messaging across all facets of the proposal, and ultimately increase competitiveness of the proposal.
Professional service
Proposal managers in Knowledge Enterprise are all professionally trained and members of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP). We have access to a wide variety of trainings and resources through our professional affiliation. Many of us are certified proposal managers. Our services are timely, efficient, and help you get through some of the hardest, most complex solicitations out there.
Get in touch
If you are currently considering pursuit of a solicitation that will award $1M annual budget or above, please email ResearchDevelopment@asu.edu. We need at least two months in advance of the proposal deadline to be effective. However, we will meet to assess needs at any time.