Thursday 16 June 2016

Simplified Criteria For Proposal Writing

By Kenneth Fox


Grants are awarded based on the merit of application. Proposal writing therefore takes center stage in helping you secure funding. The application pleads your case in front of a panel that does not know you. It helps to understand how to craft a winning application for sponsorship. The level of competition is usually very high. This means that only the most outstanding application will go through.

Your application is introduced by a summary of the project. It comes in a few paragraphs without exceeding one page. The language used is first person with a description of objectives and significance of your undertaking. This summary gives the vetting panel an overview of what they are about to read or encounter. Without the summary, they can easily get bored waiting for a conclusion while reading an entire document. This reduces your chances of getting the project approved.

Provide a project description indicating what you intend to do with the funds once they are released. The description should capture the background and justification. Show how the methods intended to be used will help you achieve intended goal. This is another section where persons directly involved in implementing are mentioned. It is a way of assigning responsibility and showing that you have the structures as well as personnel to ensure successful completion.

Donors want to ensure that their monies are spent properly and on intended items. They will only fund your project if your application provides this guarantee. For an organization, they are looking for structures and personnel that provide certainty that intended goals will be achieved. It helps if you have implemented a similar project in the past. The evidence should show the milestones achieved and lessons learnt so that the current project can be implemented better.

Projects are meant to help communities or a particular course. Your proposal must provide clear evidence of the impact your activities will have. A case study showing the situation on the ground would plead the case better. You may also use a story to exemplify the situation before your intervention and after completion.

Every project or funding has a timing factor. Successful applications provide a schedule indicating what will happen at a particular time and the persons who will be involved. Indicate the milestones and the persons responsible for particular milestones. The events should be logical including room for emergency. Midterm goals should build-up towards the ultimate one.

Since proposals are about money, you should provide a budget for the entire project. The budget should capture all expenses for the phase or activities relating to the application. A proper budget contains the specifics on which the money will be spent. All expenses must be in line with implementation goals. Indicate the authorized signatories. Make a provision for miscellaneous expenditure that is likely to arise in the process of execution.

Every project must be monitored during implementation and evaluated after completion. Provide a mechanism that will guarantee implementation in the proposed manner. These are checks and balances on which your work will be centered. Everything in your proposal should create a picture of a goal or a better place after completion of proposed project.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment