What Is an LOI?
A letter of intent (LOI) can be thought of as an appetizer, if you are ok with a food metaphor. An LOI can really be a first step in the grants process and is designed as a tool to generate interest (or get an appetite going, if we are staying with the metaphor). The idea is to generate interest from a grant provider, based on the requested initial information. LOI’s can be requested when a funder is seeking to support projects in key specific priority area, such as the local Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia LOI process for projects related to Community Vibrancy, Education and Youth, or Health. Our own Educational Foundation offers a LOI process as well for the Bright Ideas Innovation Grants.
Are LOI’s commonly requested?
The utility of an LOI for both submitter and funder seems to continue to increase, and the concept of providing initial detail seems to be gaining traction, as I have recently also seen this utilized at the federal level. Monday I was reviewing a National Science Foundation (NSF) solicitation for Regional Innovation Engines. This solicitation gives the opportunity for Big Asks, with a potential of over 10 years of funding totaling not more than $160,000,000 and it all starts with an LOI process that essentially asks for a project synopsis in one page. Guidelines are offered for content, and there are many details which need to be spelled out in just one page of text….. So why do this, why start the process this way?
What is the benefit?
First and foremost, this step in the process saves time. Time for both the funder and the applicant. While an applicant always wants to propose something of interest to the funder, open ended funding opportunities leave a great deal of room for interpretation. An LOI gives you a chance to share the 50,000 ft. view with the funder and provides an opportunity for further details as requested. The LOI offers your grant focus in a summary format to allow the funder to decide if it meets their current funding interests. It also saves the applicant time, by not having to create a full proposal before knowing if the funder might be supportive of the particular type of request.
You can also view a LOI as your proverbial “elevator speech”. The thought process that you can explain the concept in a way that any listener can understand it in a short period of time. What’s your idea? What problem are you trying to address? How do you plan to address the need? Who will you partner with? How much will it cost?
Maybe you should try an LOI!
The perfect start to discovering how an LOI can be the first step in a new and exciting project could be the Educational Foundation’s Innovation Grant process here at VWCC! This Bright Ideas Innovation Grant process was started to allow faculty and staff to submit new ideas, projects or methods to address a need or solve a problem. When the fall semester begins in 2024, the Educational Foundation’s Innovation Grant cycle will open with a LOI opportunity which will be due at the beginning of November. The sample form from 2023 can be found here https://www.virginiawestern.edu/foundation/innovation-grants/.
Just as mentioned before, this LOI process can save time in allowing you to share your idea with the Educational Foundation to see if it is a match with the innovation mind set for these funds. This LOI process allows the Educational Foundation to pose questions regarding your grant idea and ask for further information and details that should be elaborated on in a full proposal request. The intent of the LOI is to save time and produce the information most needed to make a complete decision regarding funding.
A recent submitted to the Educational Foundation’s LOI process by Dr. Mallory White was a request to develop a Agriculture 141 lab, which had no existing lab manual. Dr. White created a wonderful 139-page lab manual incorporating 7 labs, which was printed in-house and offered at the VWCC Bookstore at a cost of $35. This manual included pre-lab questions, lab background information, post lab follow-up questions and further resources, diagrams and illustrations. See sample pages here from the manual https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:14f39c20-82b3-49d9-9378-afc05fa21ced In addition to providing a low-cost learning resource, this project allowed students who utilized the produced manual in the fall of 2023 to earn an average grade that was 7% higher on the Final Lab Practical than students from the prior year. This idea that started as an LOI, created the resources needed to design the manual, and ultimately lead to greater student success! Proof an LOI can turn into great things!
So, put your ideas out there. Review the Educational Foundation’s LOI form, let your planning skills kick in, and start filling in the details on how your idea could work and how it could create impact. These first steps could take you closer to finding the resources to make your idea come to life!
Looking forward to exploring opportunities together!
Shelley
Shelley Lyons
Administrative Officer for Grants Administration
Fishburn Hall, F204
540-857-6084
slyons@virigniawestern.edu
Shelley Lyons is glad to be back on campus as she is a Virginia Western alum, and has served as the Administrative Officer for Grants Administration at Virginia Western since early 2022. Prior to VWCC, her career focus was within the Human Services and Arts fields. She wrote her first grant in 1996 on a whim and has continued to plan and learn since that time. She most enjoys seeing a well-planned project come to fruition, where funder, project manager and beneficiaries can all feel success and see impact.