When preparing a proposal, you will inevitably be told to “reach out to your program officer!”  There are many good reasons why this is such a common (and critical) piece of advice to grant writers...  

📝 What they do and how they can help 

Funding agencies have program officers (PO’s) to shepherd grants through the merit review process. That role includes helping applicants determine whether a proposed project is a good fit for a program, what types of research the program is interested in supporting, typical budget ranges of awarded proposals, and the nature of outreach and education components preferred by the program. PO’s are also the people to reach out to if your proposal is rejected and you would like help understanding your feedback.  

📅 When to contact a Program Officer 

Plan to reach out to your PO once you have a formed idea of what your proposed project will be and how it fits with the funding agency’s mission. Reaching out too early might mean you won’t be ready to have a meaningful conversation with the PO about your project. Reaching out too late may result in a lot of wasted work if your proposal needs significant changes. Ideally, reach out to a PO after formulating your ideas, but before writing your full proposal, and with plenty of time left before the deadline. 

📧 How to contact a Program Officer 

Now that we’ve convinced you of how important this step is to your funding success, how do you contact a PO? We suggest framing your research plan into a “One-Pager” to include in an email to your program officer. A One-pager is a great way to quickly "pitch” the key components of your proposal, and this concise summary of your plan can later provide a strong basis from which to build your full project description. Our team has One-pager templates (link below) for @UC Davis faculty, and are happy to provide feedback on drafts before you share yours with a program officer.  

Once your One-pager is ready, find your PO’s contact information on the funding agency’s website, check out our templates for how to talk to a program officer, and then introduce yourself and your project!  

Our One-pager and “Talking to Program Officers” templates can be found here. 

👉 Bottom line 

Program officers are essential to the process of getting you and your proposal to the right place for the best chance of success, so be sure to reach out to them! 🤝