Now that your proposal preparation efforts are in full swing, it’s time to think about some additional details that can make a big difference when developing a successful proposal. This week’s tutorials are all about planning, so grab your planner and get organized.

Tutorial 17: Securing Letters of Support
Letters of support can serve more than one purpose during the proposal preparation process – it is typically either an endorsement for the work or an offer to provide facilities or data. For the Letter of Support to be impactful, you should seek-out individuals or organizations with name recognition and credibility. A noteworthy endorsement not only provides credibility, but it also demonstrates relationship building and effort on the part of the proposer. This tutorial provides you with practical and useful strategies to identify and approach individuals for Letters of Support.

Tutorial 20: How do I prepare the project narrative? & Tutorial 22: What are the Elements of a Good DOE Work Plan?
Did you know that DOE may update the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) after its initial release? The FOA is the guiding document for the Project Narrative, which is the most important element of your response. This tutorial walks you through it step-by-step and makes sure you won’t miss anything. Tutorial 22 also highlights the importance of planning and demonstrating a clear understanding of how to execute the work. The Department of Energy expects the work plan to be detailed—the DOE FOA instructions state that you are to provide “an explicit, detailed description of the Phase I research approach and work to be performed.” This tutorial breaks it down into steps and sections to help you provide the necessary level of detail.

Tutorial 21: How do you write a good commercialization plan?
The commercialization plan is a four-page document that addresses the following four topics: Market Opportunity, Intellectual Property, Company /Team, and Revenue. Tutorial 21 provides tips for this document and underscores the importance of understanding commercialization and demonstrating this understanding to the reviewers.  

As always, if you need assistance, you may contact the DOE SBIR/STTR Help Desk at SBIR-STTR@science.doe.gov or call (301) 903-5707 between the hours of 8:30 am and 5pm Eastern, Monday – Friday.

Please look for more assistance in the coming weeks!

Sincerely,
 
DOE’s Phase 0 Assistance Provider