[dgoodell]

I work at NASA and I review SBIR proposals from time to time. Most proposals are pretty mediocre. Some are physically impossible.

Coherent writing and formatting helps. Clearly explaining what your tech is and what advantages it could offer the funding agency for the listed objectives in their particular topic. You'd be surprised how many companies don't actually make any clear objective case with facts and figures, or look at all from the organization's point of view. Also, keep in mind that the reviewers may not all be deep experts in every possible obscure tech. You don't want to force them to do a ton of research just to understand wtf you're talking about.

Even if you do everything right, you might not get selected for obvious reason. At least at NASA, there always seem to be managers with their own opinions that have some kind of mysterious influence in the background. Plenty of good proposals don't get awarded, so it doesn't necessarily mean there was something wrong with it.