Writing a Dissemination Plan for Grant-Funded Research and Programs

What Is a Dissemination Plan and Why Is It Required?

A dissemination plan describes how you will share the findings, products, and lessons learned from your grant-funded project with audiences beyond your immediate organization. Funders require dissemination plans because they want their investment to generate knowledge that benefits the broader field, not just the individual grantee. Federal agencies like NIH, NSF, and the Department of Education have explicit dissemination requirements, and private foundations increasingly expect applicants to describe how project results will reach practitioners, policymakers, and the public.

Dissemination is distinct from program implementation. Implementation refers to carrying out project activities with your target population. Dissemination refers to communicating what you learned from that implementation so that others can apply, replicate, or build upon your work. A project that produces excellent outcomes but never shares them with the field represents an incomplete return on the funder's investment.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audiences

Effective dissemination plans begin by identifying who needs to know about your results and why. Different audiences require different messages, formats, and channels. Common dissemination audiences include:

• Academic researchers: Interested in methodology, theoretical contributions, and empirical findings.
• Practitioners: Want actionable tools, curricula, protocols, and implementation lessons.
• Policymakers: Need concise evidence summaries that inform funding decisions and regulatory frameworks.
• Community members: Deserve accessible reports that respect their contribution to the research and communicate results in plain language.
• Funders: Require progress reports and final reports that demonstrate accountability and impact.

For each audience, define what they need from your results, what format is most useful to them, and what channels are most likely to reach them. This audience-first approach prevents the common mistake of planning dissemination activities that serve the researcher's interests but miss the people who could actually use the findings.

Step 2: Select Dissemination Channels

Match your channels to your audiences. A peer-reviewed journal article reaches academics but is unlikely to influence frontline practitioners or community members. A policy brief reaches legislators but may not satisfy the academic community's demand for methodological rigor. Effective plans use multiple channels to reach different audiences simultaneously.

Academic Channels

Peer-reviewed publications remain the gold standard for academic dissemination. Identify two to three target journals in your field and include them by name in your plan. Conference presentations at national and regional meetings allow you to present preliminary findings and receive feedback. Preprint servers and open-access repositories ensure that findings are available to researchers without institutional subscriptions.

Practice-Oriented Channels

Webinars, workshops, and training sessions translate research findings into practical applications. Professional association newsletters and trade publications reach practitioners who do not regularly read academic journals. Toolkits, implementation guides, and curriculum packages provide tangible products that practitioners can adopt directly.

Public and Policy Channels

Issue briefs and policy memos synthesize findings into one- or two-page documents designed for busy decision-makers. Media outreach, including press releases and op-eds, can amplify findings to a general audience. Community reports and infographics communicate results to participants and the broader public in accessible formats.

Step 3: Create a Dissemination Timeline

Dissemination should occur throughout the project, not only at the end. A phased timeline demonstrates intentionality and ensures that early findings reach stakeholders while the project is still active. A typical timeline structure includes:

• During implementation: Share process findings, lessons learned, and preliminary data through blog posts, conference presentations, and community updates.
• Mid-project: Submit manuscripts based on early data, present at national conferences, and distribute interim reports to stakeholders.
• End of project: Publish final results in peer-reviewed journals, release toolkits and implementation guides, hold community dissemination events, and submit policy briefs.
• Post-project: Continue responding to publication revisions, presenting at conferences, and supporting replication efforts.

For guidance on building measurable objectives for your dissemination activities, see our guide on SMART objectives and specific aims.

Step 4: Include Measurable Dissemination Objectives

Vague commitments to "share results widely" do not impress reviewers. Specify measurable targets for your dissemination activities. Examples include submitting at least two peer-reviewed manuscripts within 12 months of project completion, conducting four webinars reaching a combined audience of 200 practitioners, distributing a project toolkit to 50 community-based organizations, and presenting findings at three national conferences.

These targets demonstrate that you have thought concretely about the scope and reach of your dissemination efforts. For strategies on structuring your overall evaluation approach to capture dissemination outcomes, see our guide on evaluation methods and implementation science.

Step 5: Budget for Dissemination

Dissemination costs money, and your budget should reflect this. Common dissemination expenses include open-access publication fees, conference travel, graphic design for toolkits and briefs, webinar hosting platforms, printing costs for community reports, and staff time dedicated to writing and presenting. Proposals that describe ambitious dissemination plans without allocating any budget to support them raise red flags for reviewers.

Meeting Funder-Specific Requirements

Always check the solicitation for specific dissemination requirements. NIH expects data sharing plans and public access to publications through PubMed Central. NSF requires broader impacts statements that often include dissemination. The Department of Education frequently requires grantees to submit findings to the What Works Clearinghouse. Addressing these specific requirements demonstrates attention to detail and compliance awareness. For strategies on presenting this section persuasively within the narrative, see our guide on grant narrative strategy and reviewer psychology.

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