How to Avoid Split Ends - the GrantProse Way
Imagine enjoying a stress-free submission process on the day that a grant is due... is this pure fantasy? Maybe... but a good strategy may help this become more of a reality.
File Naming Convention: "Section_v00"
Example: "Narrative_v13"
Name the first draft of your narrative document "Narrative_v01" and, once significant changes have been made to the document, you can save the file as a new filename that indicates that the file is the next version (e.g., from Narrative _v01 to Narrative _v02). In our experience, it is typical that proposal narratives nearly reach or sometimes exceed 20 versions before it is ready for submission.
If you are working with multiple grant writers that are assigned separate sections of the proposal, one strategy is to have him or her work with a separate document that utilizes a different file name. For instance, if one person is writing the evaluation section, then use the title "TEXT_Evaluation_v01".
With one person in charge of pasting together the various "TEXT" documents, multiple people can work on the grant proposal at once - without losing precious contributions. This person is said to have 'version control' and is in charge of ensuring that all of the various pieces adhere to common formatting, such as headers, font, and paragraph spacing.
Some grants can be submitted as one file, while other grants, such as Federal grants through grants.gov, require several separate documents. Once final versions are complete and are ready for upload and submission, place only those documents in a folder clearly labeled "FINAL".
Folder Naming Convention: "Grant_Name/FINAL"
Example: "SBIR/FINAL"
As you progress through the grant writing process, you will quickly accumulate several different files and file versions that can make submission confusing, difficult, and frustrating. While these working files should be kept in one folder, the final versions should be kept in the FINAL folder. Note that application packages via grants.gov require files to be uploaded as PDF documents, with file names that contain no spaces or special characters, and a limit of 50 characters.
Saving Final Versions as a PDF
To do this, open your most current file version in a word processor such as Microsoft Word 2010, click File, Save As, select PDF in the dropdown menu next to Save As Type, and save the file in your FINAL folder.
Once all of the required documents have been saved as PDFs in the FINAL folder, you can go one step further by renaming them to establish the order they will be uploaded into the grant application package.
FINAL File Naming Convention: "00_Section"
Examples: "01_Abstract", "02_Narrative", "03_Budget_Justification"
Federal grant application packages require many different PDF files to be uploaded. To organize these files needed for submission, use numbers at the beginning of the file name to order the files according to the upload position in the application package. Utilizing this final file naming convention allows for the uploading process to be completed with confidence, quickness and ease.
For questions and/or comments regarding file naming conventions, please email Derek at derek@grantproseinc.com.
