We know that obtaining funding is an important, and sometimes confusing process for applicants. Through this step-by-step guide, we hope to shed some light into the black box of HCFO's application process. If you have any questions about the process or whether your project would fit in HCFO's scope, please call a member of our staff by phone or e-mail.

Throughout this guide, "we" and "our" refers to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AcademyHealth HCFO program staff. To be clear, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, not AcademyHealth, makes final funding decisions about submitted proposals.

Step 1: The most important step in the process is to identify a project idea. HCFO seeks projects that assess significant issues related to health care financing and organization and their effects on health care costs, quality, and access. The findings of your project should provide public and private decision makers with usable and timely information on health care policy and financing issues.

Step 2: Once you have your idea, it is time to put something on paper. If you think your project will cost less than $100,000 and take 12 months or less to complete, you should prepare a small grant proposal according to HCFO program guidelines. If your project will require more than $100,000 and/or longer than a year, you should prepare a four-page brief proposal according to the submission instructions. If you are submitting a small grant proposal, skip to Step 5.

Step 3: Once your brief proposal has been submitted to AcademyHealth, it is reviewed by program staff here and at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Usually, this part of the review process takes between two and three months.

Step 4: At this point, your brief proposal either will be turned down, or you will be invited to submit a full proposal. If we invite a full proposal, you have approximately two months to submit the proposal according to the guidelines outlined in the invitation letter.

Step 5: As soon as we receive your proposal, we send it out to two or three external reviewers - your peers - for evaluation. Each proposal is evaluated on seven criteria that assess the proposal's policy relevance, methodology, and other factors. These external reviews take between three and five weeks and are synthesized by program staff.

Step 6: Every month, HCFO program staff at AcademyHealth and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation discuss pending proposals for which the external reviews have been completed. At this time, your proposal could be turned down. In some cases, we may send you a letter asking you to respond to questions and concerns raised by the reviewers. In still other cases, we would let you know that your proposal has passed the substantive review process and is moving forward for budget review and likely will be funded.

Step 7: If we ask for a response to the reviewers' concerns, we allow between two and three weeks for you to respond. Once we receive the response, we may send it out for additional review before determining whether you have adequately addressed the concerns. If it is determined that you have resolved the questions and concerns raised over the course of the review, we would let you know that your proposal has passed the substantive review process and is moving forward for budget review and likely will be funded.

Step 8: You still are not home free yet. Once we notify you that your proposal is moving forward to become a grant, the proposal needs to undergo legal and financial review. During this time, a member of the AcademyHealth HCFO staff will contact you to discuss these aspects of the review.

Step 9: If an award is made, you will receive an official letter from the president of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation notifying you that you have received a grant. This is when your grant officially begins. In total, a minimum of three to four months will lapse between the time you submit your proposal and your grant is awarded. If there are substantive issues that need to be resolved this process will take longer.