Newsletters, in my opinion, are a waste of resources and time. Because they're not specific, strategic, or targeted. If the recipients don't find something in each issue that's relevant to them (or that they're even eligible to apply for), they'll stop reading them - and then miss the ones that are relevant and for which they're eligible.
What I tell my new investigators when I meet them for the first time is that I encourage them to set up a profile in our funding database, and that I'll be happy to help them fine-tune a search they can save that will show them weekly emails of opportunities that are plausibly relevant to the work they want to do. As they share their research interests with me, when I spot opportunities that are obviously (or somewhat) relevant to those interests, I'll send them to the investigator, along with a summary of important facts (deadlines, restrictions, likely competition).
I always reassure them that I won't spam them with dozens of opportunities that aren't relevant (that's the quickest way I know to get investigators to stop reading emails I send them). If it's an obvious fit, then I send it along and just point out what they need to know the most so they can skim the rest of the opportunity and still understand what the timeframe is. If it's less clearly a perfect fit with their interests, then I'll do that - and also explain which part(s) of their program I think would be a good fit for it, and ask them if they'd still like to apply. If they say yes, then we move on from there. If they say no, then I know not to suggest similar opportunities in the future.
That way, they know they'll get quality information from me that's relevant to their interests and that will help them decide whether or not to apply and what they need to do in order to be competitive.
There's also an argument to be made about being strategic when announcing opportunities that are likely to be relevant/interesting to multiple investigators. Instead of blasting out a general email and getting in multiple proposals of varying quality, sometimes it's better to think about who could do the best, most effective job at crafting a proposal that the sponsor in question will absolutely want to fund. Identify those players, and send the announcement to them. For further granularity, you (or your VPR) can send the announcement to a list of selected invitees and just ask for expressions of interest. Then, from the folks who say they're interested, you try to build a team or identify a central theme around which to organize the project, and then help the selected investigator(s) to craft the best possible proposal for the resources you have and the things they want to do with them.
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Michael Spires
Research Development Officer
Oakland University
Rochester, MI
(he/him)
mspires@oakland.edu------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 12-05-2022 11:23
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Sharing funding opportunities to campus
This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous
Dear Cayuse Community,
How do you share funding opportunities out to your campus? We're considering a weekly newsletter, a regularly updated website, and some other possibilities. What has worked, or not worked, for your school?