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Writing a Good Proposal |
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TITLE. Select a concise, relevant title for your proposal, one that
contains key words under which it can be filed.
TIME. Give yourself enough time to get the necessary signatures
required for final submission of the proposal.
FORMAT. Follow the exact format specified by the funding agent.
COPY. The final copy should be neat, legible and carefully
proofread.
FLOW. The proposal should flow from one section to the next and
ideas should flow in sequence.
ACRONYMS. Avoid terms or acronyms that someone unfamiliar with your
agency might not understand.
LANGUAGE. Keep language simple and direct.
CHARTS. Make use of tables and diagrams if they help to explain your
points, but do not be excessive with them.
APPENDICES. Use appendices rather than overcrowding the main text.
This summary, which should be kept to two pages, appears at the beginning
of the proposal, but should not be completed until you have completed the
proposal.
This summary should:
- Identify your organization
- Describe the issue
- Describe the target group
- State the project goal and objectives
- Describe the strategies
- State the total costs of the project, listing the funds already committed
and the amount requested
The project goals and objectives are general and specific statements of
what you intend to accomplish with the project. These statements should relate
to the objectives of the funding program.
A. List the goals of the work to be done.
Goals are broad,
general statements of what you are trying to accomplish with the project. Most
projects have 2-3 goals.
To write your goals:
- refer back to the definition statement about the overall problem or issue
with which the project will deal
- ask yourself "given the way we have described this problem, and given
what we know about the obstacles etc., what are we trying to accomplish with the
project?"
- write general goal statements to reflect those thoughts
- the goals statements should be general, each goal statement should be
written separately, and they should not contain strategies or solutions
B. List the objectives developed for each goal.
Objectives are
specific, measurable statements of what you want to accomplish (achieve, change,
do) by a given point in time to reach the project goals. Most goal statements
have 2-6 objectives.
To write your objectives:
- look at the goal statement
- list what you want to do (change, achieve) in order to meet each goal
- write the objectives to reflect what you want to achieve, but do not
include how you are going to do it (the how will be described when you develop
your strategies) Useful objectives are:
- specific rather than general (keep goals general, make your objectives
specific)
- realistic rather than unrealistic (it's wise to think "small and
possible" so the work can get done rather than trying to do too much)
- focused on one thing at a time rather than including several points in one
objective. When several objectives are written into one, it is difficult to plan
strategies around that objective, and hard to know if you have achieved it.
A well stated objective should:
- tell WHO
- is going to do WHAT
- When
- how much
- how it will be measured
Strategies are a series of activities carried out to meet the objectives.
In this section, you will need to describe the strategies that you plan to
implement for your project. The strategies should relate to the priorities set
out by the funding program (e.g.. if community involvement is a priority with
the funding program, the strategies should include that component).
A. Some steps to take in developing and choosing strategies are:
- List all the possible strategies that could be used to reach the objectives
(brainstorming).
- Review those strategies from several perspectives (see below--B. Exercises
for checking strategies).
- Make decisions about which strategies to use based on what you've fond out
from checking the strategies as well as what you know from your own experience
and intuition.
- The benefit in checking strategies lies in the way the process assists your
group to make informed decisions about which strategies to use and is then able
to describe and defend its choices to others.
B. Exercises for checking strategies: Checking out the positives and
negatives.:
- write your strategy on one page,
- draw a line down the center of the page,
- on one side list everything you think could hinder you, or get in the way
of the work,
- check to see if any positives eliminate any negatives,
- discuss what this exercise tells you about doing the strategy.
Checking the strategy with useful evaluative words.
- is the strategy adequate (will it be enough)?
- is the strategy appropriate (are we the right people to be doing it)?
- will the strategy be effective (will it work)?
- is the strategy efficient (is it a wise choice for the resources that we
have available)?
- what will be the side effects of using this strategy?
Checking to see what resources are needed to do the strategy
- do a resource review
- see if you have the skills and resource available to carry out the strategy
- list the strategies against the following headings: people, time, money,
space, skill, equipment, knowledge
- ask which of these you need to complete the strategy, which you have, don't
have and where you think you can get them.
In this section, you will need to describe the evaluation process that you
intend to use throughout your project. a clearly outlined evaluation process
can help to clarify goals, define objectives and refine procedures during the
initial development of the proposal.
Evaluation serves a number of useful purposes (this is just a sample!):
- it makes the work of the project visible
- it helps to develop and maintain an understanding of the project's work
- it provides people with information to help make decisions about the
project
- it identifies if and how the goals and objectives were met
Overall, the evaluation assists everyone in understanding what made the
project successful and why and what hindered the success and why.
A. Some specific questions to consider when developing the evaluation
process:
- what do you want to know from the evaluation of this project and why (go
back to your stated goals and objectives to clarify what is supposed to be
evaluated)
- what does "success" mean in terms of the objectives developed for
this project (think about success in the broad sense, not just numbers).
Consider different types of success - projects don't always achieve what they
thought they could or would, but useful things happen that are worth knowing.
- what are the evaluations goals and objectives (what is the evaluation
trying to accomplish and what are you going to do in your evaluation by specific
times?)
- what evaluation tools should be used to collect information? (e.g.. the
work of the project - how people got things done, why decisions were made, how
people worked together--can be recorded with journals, files, meeting logs; the
achievements of the objectives can be reviewed or measured by talking to
participants/workers, using a questionnaire, interviews, evaluation forms)
- who is going to gather and look at the evaluation information--are you
going to hire someone from within or outside or use an internal committee?
- how are you going to change the project activities if needed (allow for
regular evaluation meetings throughout the work and build flexibility into the
project)
- who is the evaluation for and who will use it?
In this section, you will need to provide a plan of what has to be done,
how the work will be organized and who will do it. This will require a calendar
or chart that provides a schedule of work outlining the project goals,
objectives, strategies, and evaluation plan.
A. The following steps will provide you with information to use in
developing the work plan, times and budget:
- List the project objectives and chosen strategies.
- List the tasks you need to do for those objectives and strategies to be
met.
- Put the tasks in the order that they should occur.
- Estimate times and dates to create a schedule.
- Estimate the resources needed for your activities (including time, money,
skill, people, equipment, facilities, information etc.).
- Assign responsibility to people for various activities.
In this section, you will need to describe all the resources that you
require to complete the project. The budget, along with your work plan, can be
the most critical part of the proposal. The budget must bring into focus the
rest of the proposal.
The budget must be complete and every potential expense should be
documented. This is important as the founder may support certain elements of the
budget and not others (e.g.. printing costs).
- If forms are provided with the application, use those.
- List how many resources you will need and how much the project will cost.
- Resources include money, people, and organizational needs.
- Include job descriptions and hiring plans for staff and outside
consultants.
- List other funders to whom you are applying.
- If you have received funding from other sources, note the amount received
from whom.
- Indicate "in kind" support from groups (donations of goods and
services such as office equipment or secretarial help).
- If the project is to continue beyond the period of the funding request,
indicate your plans for obtaining further or future financial support.
In this section, you may want to include: Letters of support, which should
- reflect a knowledge of the applicant's work and an appreciation of the
project that is being endorsed
- be written because the sender genuinely supports your group and its work.
It should not be just an obvious response to a request for such letters.
- if possible, be addressed to the funding agency rather than to "Sir
or Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern"
- include resumes of present and, if available, potential staff.
- include charts, diagrams, statistics and other material not incorporated
into the body of the proposal.
- a description of your organization, letters of incorporation, and most
recent financial statements.
Budget: An itemized list of
expenditures and income estimated in carrying out the proposed project. It
consists of direct and indirect costs, matching contributions (cost sharing) as
well as anticipated sources of revenue.
Core Funding: Funds that are
available to support the ongoing administration of an organization, as distinct
from supporting specific types of program activity.
Cost Sharing: Investment in the
project by the applicant or by the sources other than the founder either through
cash outlay or in-kind support (overhead, equipment, personnel services).
Contract: A document, initiated by
and reflecting the interests of the founder, in which the needs, objectives,
procedures, costs, and project period are clearly defined.
Demonstration Grant: Funds used to
support an experimental project to determine the feasibility of a particular
program or the effectiveness of a certain procedure or methodology.
Direct Costs: Expenses directly
associated with carrying out the project. This could include items such a
salaries and benefits of staff specifically hired for the project, travel,
rental of equipment, supplies, telephone, postage, printing costs.
Indirect Costs: Costs incurred that
are not readily identifiable as the direct expenditures of funds for goods and
services, but which are necessary to facilitate and maintain the operations of
the over-all organization so that the it may be able to carry out the proposed
project. These would include administration expenses, utilities, work done by
existing staff etc. They are often expressed as a percentage of either total
direct costs and/or total of salaries.
In-Kind-Contributions: Dollar value
of non-cash contributions to a project, such as volunteer time, equipment,
supplies, rent.
Matching: Participation in the cost
of a project on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Seed Money: Funds made available for
the initial development of a project usually in the understanding that no funds
or alternative funds will be required for its maintenance once it is
established.
Sustaining Grant: Funds made
available for the ongoing operation of the organization over a number of years.