LETTERS OF SUPPORT
Letters of support are very important to include in your application. These letters fall into several different categories. These categories include: significance, investigators, and environment.
Last week I addressed letters of support from KOLs. This week I will address letters of support from entities that might help you get your product to market, that is to support the development of your product.
This type of letter is from a financial supporter, co-developer, marketer, or purchaser of the technology.
Letters of this type are usually from investors or other companies, but can also be from State agencies.
It is important to provide a letter of support from one to three such entities. The letter should start with the title of the application and the submission date. Next, the entitiy should give their relevant background information, as a way of establishing their credentials. Next, the entity should state something to the effect that “This is a valuable and innovative product……say why it is valuable and innovative….” Next, it is necessary to have a statement of willingness to support this type of product during the product development. Finally, the letter should conclude with a strong statement of desire to consider providing matching funds, license the product, etc., if certain milestones are met. You go on to name the milestones in a general way. These milestones must of course be specifically proposed in the grant application.
It is unusual for an entity to provide an actual letter of commitment. That is why there is usually hedging in the wording of these types of letters. Most reviewers understand this. Some do not, but there is not much that can be done about that level of naïveté on the part of the reviewer. Again, the NIH recognizes this weakness and is taking steps to correct it.
It is important to remember that this is not a letter of commitment to provide funding; it is a letter of serious interest. However, sometimes it is possible to obtain letters of commitment for matching funds if the grant application is funded. These are strong letters of support.
When you are already working with a partner, especially a well recognized partner, you will of course have a letter of commitment, but this letter falls into a different category. I will address that type of category next week.
For more specific and additional information on this topic, click on this link: High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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