To Apply or Not Apply

[ksmith31]

How does a department decide whether or not it is worth their time to apply for a piece of apparatus?

[Greenacres2]

If you've applied for anything in the past, doing a vehicle app including narrative is probably not over 10 hours (much less for the gurus). Add 3 people at 10-15 hours each to research prices and designs. Depending on the vehicle the app is for $100,000 to $600,000 +/-. Works out to the potential of $2,000 to $12,000 per man hour.

Not applying=$0.00 per man hour, absolutely guaranteed.

It's kind of like getting a date, if you don't ask, they can't say yes.

earl (at least i got a few grants, dates were harder to come by)

[islandfire03]

I would agree with Greenacres2 : if you don't apply you will never receive the benefit of possibly receiving some of your tax dollars back to help your department with funding new apparatus.
I will state that you need to understand the small odds of being selected for funding in a very competitive process. If you decide to submit an app it needs to be the very best application you can produce. Don't do a half *****ed approach and expect it to make it through the review process. Bring your "A" game to the grants table. Do thorough research, crunch your numbers to get the best cost benefit ratio possible and don't ask for a lot of bling and excess cost equipment that is nice to have , but not necessary to make a quality functional apparatus. The right application for the right department ,with the right cost benefit ratio will stand a chance to get by the computer scoring & into the hands of the peer reviewers. That is where your narrative will make or break the app.
Good luck!
We are polishing up our DJ'd tanker app from 07 for 08. I WILL be attending BC79's seminar next month for that little extra edge. We are 2 for 5 on ops. grants to date & 0 for 2 on vehicle apps so far. Maybe 08 will be our year.
Ed

[ktb9780]

How does a department decide whether or not it is worth their time to apply for a piece of apparatus?

Proper interpretation ofhe AFG Guidlines and knowledge of what constitutes a good chance are key elents here in deciding, as pointed out by others here. If you need a qualified opinion, contact me offline ( see profile) and I will be glad to give you my opini on of your chances based on your need.