Page limits are among the most daunting parts of grant writing. With so much to say and such limited space to say it, why would you waste that valuable real estate on visuals? Read on for reasons why you should include visuals in your grant proposals (and how). 

Why? Reviewer time and attention

Think about the people reviewing your grant. In addition to yours, they will be reading many, many proposals. Even the most attentive of readers will tire of pages and pages of single-spaced, Times New Roman text describing technical details of potential projects - so make it easy for them! 

A diagram illustrating how your research and education/outreach activities align with your bigger picture, or a logic model showing how your methods and metrics build towards your objectives, can demonstrate your proposed plan in a lot less space and, often, with far greater clarity than several pages of text. There is also a more practical reason to include visuals: They draw our attention! Even if reviewers are skimming over portions of a proposal, a well-placed diagram will get them to stop and take notice. Those visual breaks can make your proposal a lot more memorable, while also bringing your key ideas to the forefront.

How? Types of visuals and how to use them

There are many types of visuals that are helpful to include in a grant proposal - timelines and logic models are two of the commonly used ones!

🔹 Timelines: A Gantt chart is often used to show the timeframes and order for the proposed research, outreach, and/or education activities. Use a well-planned timeline to show your reviewer how you will be using the funded period while also demonstrating your project management prowess!

🔗 Quick-yet-polished timelines for grant applications

🔹 Logic models: A visual showing how the different components of your proposed plan interact is a great way to share your overall project vision. Logic models help readers see how your research objectives connect to your activities and outcomes, possible alternative results for hypotheses, and even how you plan to deal with experimental limitations and undesirable outcomes!

🔗 A Start To Developing a Logic Model 

Bottom Line

Help reviewers share your vision of how your objectives and activities align, how you plan to use the funding period to accomplish your goals, and how the components and outcomes of your project connect by using effective visuals in your grant proposal!