After submitting your Full Proposal, the Program Staff Review and receipt of our Request for More Information, external expert reviewers may be invited to provide the Foundation with their professional opinion on the merits of the proposal. This step in the process generally takes four weeks to complete.

EXPERT REVIEW Steps 10 thru 13

  1. Proposal sent to expert reviewers.
    Expert Reviewers are individuals suggested by the principal investigator or organization submitting the proposal (these names are required as part of submitting a complete proposal), as well as individuals the Foundation has identified as having expertise either in the subject matter outlined in the proposal, in research methodology or in strategy and evaluation. The John Templeton Foundation takes every precaution to ensure that these reviews are kept strictly confidential.

    The information, suggestions, ideas, questions, and concerns raised by the expert reviewers enable the Foundation to more acutely understand the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed project. The Foundation generally receives between four and twelve expert reviews for each grant proposal.

  2. All expert reviews received by the Foundation.
    The Program Staff analyzes the comments submitted by the expert reviewers. The Foundation takes very seriously the comments and recommendations generated by the expert reviewers. It is rare that a proposal is funded when our expert reviewers suggest that the proposed project is not cost effective or worthy of the Foundation's support.

  3. Bounce Letter is sent to Applicant.
    When a proposal has been identified as having merit, the Program Staff compiles the most pertinent questions and concerns raised by the reviewers. A "bounce letter" is sent to the applicant that lists these concerns and requests that the applicant respond in detail to each item highlighted in our "bounce letter." Once you have received our "bounce letter", the Foundation encourages you to contact the Program Staff should you have any questions.

  4. Applicant's response forwarded to the Foundation
    The Foundation does not have a set time upon which the applicant must respond to our bounce letter. We recognize some of the information we've requested will take time for the applicant to gather and format. However, a long delay in providing this additional information to the Foundation will increase the time it will take for a final decision on the merits of your proposal. We encourage all applicants, therefore, to respond to our request for more information within four weeks.
Submitting a Proposal