Download the Rethinking Your Research Funding Guide
A free guide for faculty and research leaders navigating reduced federal funding and building more sustainable, diversified funding strategies.
Why This Guide Exists
Federal funding has always been competitive. Right now, it is also unpredictable. Priorities are shifting, budgets are tightening, and faculty who have relied on traditional grant pathways are being asked to adapt without much guidance on how.
Building a sustainable research funding strategy means going beyond the next grant cycle. It means identifying diverse funding sources, learning to communicate your research to new audiences, and developing a long-term plan that holds up regardless of what happens at the federal level.
NCFDD’s Rethinking Your Research Funding course was built to help faculty do exactly that.
What is Rethinking Your Research Funding?
Rethinking Your Research Funding is a four-week virtual course designed to help faculty shift their approach to research funding and build sustainable strategies beyond large federal grants. Through guided content, live coaching, and a peer community, participants identify diverse funding sources, learn to reframe their research for new audiences, and leave with a concrete, actionable plan aligned with their institutional goals and academic mission.
This course is not a grant-writing workshop. It is a structured, faculty-centered approach to long-term funding success.
- Built around your research: the course helps you adapt your project to funding, not the other way around
- Actionable, not theoretical: participants leave with a concrete plan, not just ideas
- Faculty-led and realistic: designed by academic leaders who understand the time pressures and resource gaps faculty face
- Complementary to campus support: this course amplifies what your research office already offers by preparing you to make the most of it
Who is this for?
This guide is designed for faculty searching for stable and diversified funding pathways, researchers who have lost access to traditional funding sources, and faculty in disciplines where large federal grants are limited or misaligned with their work. It is also a useful resource for department chairs, deans, and research offices looking for tools to help faculty expand their funding reach.
What is in the guide?
The Rethinking Your Research Funding Guide gives you a practical overview of how to build a more resilient funding strategy. Inside you will find:
- How to identify and pursue foundation, industry, state, and local funding beyond federal grants
- How to reframe and communicate your research for broader, non-academic audiences
- How to build a long-term, adaptable funding plan that keeps projects moving in uncertain times
- An overview of the course structure and what to expect
About NCFDD
NCFDD is a professional development, training, and mentoring organization that partners with colleges and universities to support faculty success. We offer structured programs, research-backed training, and expert-led coaching to help scholars build sustainable academic careers. Serving a national network across hundreds of institutions, NCFDD supports faculty and academic leaders at every career stage.
