Who is eligible for Hanover's services?
All Heritage College faculty members are eligible to use Hanover's services at no cost to them.
The Heritage College Office of Research and Grants has contracted with Hanover Research , a grant development firm headquartered in Arlington, VA, to provide grant consultant services to Heritage College faculty.
Through their review process, Hanover grant consultants provide key insights into funder priorities and recommendations for improvement, increasing the competitiveness of grant proposals to federal, state, foundation and corporate sponsors.
Three types of consultation:
- Unfunded Proposal Consult: For resubmitting a previously declined proposal, addressing reviewer feedback and other critiques within the rewrite.
- Research Design Consult: For guidance on how to pitch a research idea to a program officer.
- Grantseeking Strategy Consult: For expert advice on framing a research idea to align with a funder’s strategic priorities.
Requests for services and support are evaluated by the Office of Research and Grants based on alignment with Heritage College priorities and availability of service and support queues and tokens as provided in our annual agreement with Hanover Research.
If you would like to work with Hanover on an upcoming project, please submit a Project Request Form using the link below. If your project is prioritized for services, ORG will coordinate with Hanover, who will reach out to you regarding next steps.
Services Offered
Hanover support focuses on improving your proposal’s alignment with the funder; responsiveness to the solicitation; competitiveness; and general grantsmanship.
Faculty members can request one or more of the services listed below. The determination of which services Hanover provides to a faculty member depends on factors including proposal readiness, funding sponsor deadline and the number of Heritage College projects in Hanover’s queue. The Hanover pipeline, which ORG manages, is limited to two concurrent projects.
Engaging with an external consultant requires planning to build in additional time for the review process. Work well in advance of your submission deadline to take advantage of Hanover services. For review-only services, submit your assistance request at least six weeks before the deadline. For review and revision services, submit your assistance request at least eight weeks before the deadline. Descriptions of Hanover assistance are provided below.
Service
Description
Consultation Call
Hanover will engage with the PI via a one-hour phone call with a grants expert to discuss specific questions about your project and can include discussions such as:
- Assessing project for alignment and competitiveness with a particular agency or program or the general funding landscape for your work
- Assisting in prepariation of talking points for an upcoming conversation with a Program Officer
- Helping with interpretation of review feedback
Proposal Review
Hanover will review the proposal and provide feedback on the following criteria:
- Reviewing the proposal narrative for alignment with funding opportunity announcement
- Assessing competitiveness of the proposal
- Appraising the overall grantsmanship of the proposal
- Providing feedback using margin comments in the proposal
- Producing a memo outlining high-level recommendations
- Debriefing via teleconference
- Turnaround time: 2-3 weeks
Proposal Revision/Editing
Hanover will assist project team on revising a previously rejected proposal for resubmission or to provide editing support for a new submission. This level of support includes:
- Reviewing the proposal narrative for alignment with funding opportunity announcement
- Assessing competitiveness of the proposal
- Appraising the overall grantsmanship of the proposal
- Editing of text for structure, language, and style
- Embedding questions for the team or prompts for further changes via margin comment
- Conducting project calls with the team
- Turnaround time is 3-4 weeks
Proposal Support
Hanover will review the proposal and provide feedback on the following criteria:
- Reviewing the proposal narrative for alignment with funding opportunity announcement
- Assessing competitiveness of the proposal
- Appraising the overall grantsmanship of the proposal
- Providing feedback using margin comments in the proposal
- Offering light copyediting recommendations in track changes
- Producing a memo outlining high-level recommendations
- Conducting a debriefing call between the PI and the reviewer
- Turnaround time is 4-8 weeks
Funding Prospect Research
Hanover researches suitable funding prospects based on information provided by the PI and research team.
- Prospects may include federal, foundation, and corporate funders.
- The scope of the search may be restricted as indicated by the PI and research team.
- The PI receives a Prospecting Report, which includes profiles of funding targets, guidance on their application processes, and pertinent details about approach strategy.
- Turnaround time is 4 weeks.
Other Grant Resources
All faculty and staff have access to a wide range of syndicated and on-demand offerings by Hanover including:
- Grants Webinars.Hanover conducts monthly webinars on various topics of interest to our members to strengthen grantsmanship skills and deepen the knowledge of funding mechanisms.
- Grants Newsletters.Hanover provides a range of email newsletters to help clients track funding opportunities and plan strategically for major grant competitions, including Grants Alerts; Grants Projections: Grants Calendars.
Sign up for Webinars and Newsletters from Hanover Grants . The sign-up process allows customization of which updates and content is most relevant to each PI.
They include:
- Weekly Grants Alerts summarizing the previous week’s grant solicitations of interest from federal agencies and select private foundations.
- Monthly Grants Projections looking ahead at major grant competitions in the Higher Education, Health, and K-12 sectors.
- Monthly Grants Webinars on various topics designed to enhance grantsmanship skills and deepen the knowledge of funding programs.
- Bimonthly Grants Calendars mapping out grant opportunities of interest to different types of institutions and to faculty in different focus areas.
How are projects selected for the Hanover queue?
Requests for services and support are evaluated by the Office of Research and Grants based on alignment with Heritage College priorities and availability of service and support queues and tokens based on our annual agreement with Hanover Research.
What types of proposals are appropriate for Hanover to critique?
Hanover works with many different funding mechanisms including individual grants (e.g. K, R0I, R21, R03), programmatic grants, institutional training grants. New submissions, resubmissions, and competing renewal applications are all eligible for services. For resubmissions of unfunded proposals and competing renewal applications, PIs will be asked to provide a copy of the original submission along with reviewers’ comments or summary statement. Hanover will not review grants for internal competitions.
Does Hanover have experience with a wide range of funders?
Hanover has experience with many federal, private, and nonprofit funders such as the NIH, NSF, DOD, PCORI, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
How do I request Hanover's services?
Submit a Project Request Form using the link below. If your project is prioritized for services, ORG will coordinate with Hanover, who will reach out to you regarding next steps.
Do I need to have the full grant completed for Hanover's review?
For proposal reviews and revisions, most faculty submit the narrative components of the application (e.g., abstract, specific aims, research strategy, project description, etc.). At a minimum, PIs submit the specific aims, research strategy and budget. For resubmissions of unfunded proposals and competing renewal applications, PIs will also be asked to provide a copy of the original submission along with reviewers’ comments or summary statement.
How does Hanover work with each PI?
After a PI's project is accepted in Hanover Research’s pipeline, Hanover Research emails the PI to introduce the assigned grants consultant. Consultation sessions are generally one hour in length and take place via conference call. For proposal review and revision services, Hanover Research first schedules a project initiation conference call prior to the start of work. Project initiation calls give the PI an opportunity to discuss specific areas of concern with the assigned grants consultant and to share reviewer feedback (if available). After Hanover releases its deliverables, the PI is afforded the opportunity for a debrief conference call to discuss Hanover’s critique and to address any outstanding questions or concerns.
How does Hanover protect the confidentiality of investigator materials?
Any proposal materials that an investigator shares with Hanover remain confidential. Materials will only be shared with the Hanover content director and the single consultant working on their proposal.
Will Hanover be reviewing the underlying science/scientific merit of my proposal?
Hanover makes no claim that its grants consultants are subject matter experts who can evaluate the specific science underpinning a research proposal. Rather, Hanover’s value lies in its understanding of proposal and agency nuances that can help investigators competitively reframe proposals in response to a specific solicitation. Hanover seeks to achieve cohesion in the grant narrative and to align the proposal with funding requirements. A Hanover grant consultant may address general scientific elements of a proposal, such as:
- Construct or structure of the hypothesis and methodology: While Hanover does not purport to provide “scientific reviews” that evaluate the specific science underpinning proposals, its grants consultants will flag where they think research questions, aims, and hypotheses could be strengthened and better aligned.
- Literature review: Hanover grants consultants will note places where a citation is needed and has not been included.
- Clarity and focus: When Hanover suspects that narrative content lacks sufficient clarity, consistency, or rigor, Hanover grants consultants will pose questions to encourage the investigator to verify the science, and/or suggest a review by a senior colleague or program officer.
Who do I contact I have any questions?
Please contact Jessica Wingett , director of research administration and student research, with any questions or concerns.
About Hanover Research
Hanover Grants provides research development, grant writing, and strategic advising support to a wide range of colleges and universities. Our professionals deliver customized proposal review, revision, and production support, while also helping to align strategic priorities to funding trends and opportunities at all levels. Hanover has been conducting market research and analytics in the higher education space since 2003. Hanover has generated more than $750 million in total grant funding for members since 2012. On average, members have received an 11x return on their investment in funded grants supported by our team. These grants have been secured across all types of funders, including federal, state, and foundation/corporate sources.