Carol and Resadm-ers--

I think congratulatory letters are wonderful and that they should come from the provost of president/chancellor, rather than from me.  But I make sure I send a letter to the PI/PD immediately after they submit a proposal, acknowledging and thanking him/her for the effort.  I cc the dept chair, dean, and provost as well, to make sure that they all know that the proposal has gone out.  At a primarily undergrad institution like ours, submitting grant proposals is service above and beyond.  Therefore, I try to make sure that the folks who will make decisions about the submitter's promotion, tenure, & salary know that s/he has been active in the grants business.

Writing these thank you letters is a routine part of copying, mailing and logging the proposal.  They're very brief, something like this:

"The Grants Office thanks you for writing and submitting [name of proposal] to [agency/foundation].  I know that generating a proposal as lengthy as this one can be onerous; we appreciate your efforts.

"Enclosed are two copies of the proposal for your files, plus a copy of the signed 'Approval to Apply for External Funding' form.

"I sent the proposal this afternoon via express mail.  You can track it's progress and delivery through www.usps.com, using the parcel number on the enclosed form.  Please let me know as soon as you hear a verdict from [funding agency/foundation].

signed, cc's, etc."

I don't use boiler plate or a template.  Folks who submit a couple of proposals a year would recognize it; besides, it takes only a minute to crank out a letter like this.

Regards, Bill

Bill Campbell
Director, Grants & Research
University of Wisconsin-River Falls

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