Elements of the best project proposals

Development organizations may implement various strategies to diversify their financing sources and boost their competitiveness in a tight market, but they still won’t be able to gain funding for their projects if they cannot submit “winning” proposals. Apart from convincing the donor that your organization is worth the risk and the project is worth financing, proposals define the project’s framework and the criteria against which its success or failure will be measured. As such, some smaller nonprofits hire professionals to write project proposals for them, as a way to boost their chances of winning donor money. But it is not enough to have a well-written proposal with all the necessary sections: table of contents, executive summary, body or content, conclusion and budget summary, and appendices and list of references. These proposals can still be rejected for a number of reasons, ranging from factual and typographical errors to a lack of synergy between your project’s goals and objectives and the donor’s geographic or sectoral priorities. Here are some elements that can turn good bid documents to winning project proposals. 1. Comprehensive yet concise. Your proposal must be able to answer all of the funding agency’s questions regarding the project you are bidding on or recommending, including how much the donor is expected to finance, who are the end beneficiaries, what is the timeline, and what are the goals and objectives. While the proposal needs to be as comprehensive as possible, it must also be well-written, reader-friendly and straight to the point. Rambling descriptions and lengthy explanations are surefire ways to lose a reviewer’s interest. Use catchy descriptions and action phrases. Avoid using passive sentence constructions. Follow instructions, but as a general rule, you should keep proposals to 10 pages or fewer. You don’t want to overwhelm the reviewer with too many details and information that might not be necessary in the evaluation stage. Relegate all detailed breakdowns — funding, schedule, staffing, etc. — to the appendix. If your organization is responding to a request for proposals, make sure your bid documents contain all and only the information the donor is asking for — nothing more, nothing less. Some overzealous organizations may feel the need to attach supporting documents and credentials, but if the donor did not ask for them in its RFP, these additional files are likely to be ignored. 2. Tailored to a specific donor. Do your research on the project being tendered out and the funding agency. Visit the donor’s website to know more about its mission and vision, goals and objectives. Study the projects the donor has previously funded to see how much it usually gives as financing, what sectors it usually supports and the status of these programs. If publicly available, analyze reviews of other proposals the agency has received to give you a better idea of donor expectations. Get in touch with the project or desk officer to gain more information about the tender and the funding agency. But recognize that these officers receive many inquiries and can only share information that is available to other potential bidders. During these discussions, prepare and ask clear, well-thought-out questions. Using the information you gleaned from your research, draft the proposal to fit the funding agency’s needs and requirements. If you know that the donor only disburses a certain amount to projects or to organizations matching your size and area of expertise, keep your funding requests to that limit. If your research tells you the funding agency only works in specific sectors, don’t pitch projects that are beyond those areas. If you find out that the donor is already funding an organization implementing a project similar to yours, consider partnering with that firm instead. 3. Uses donor’s language and preferred proposal format. If you’ve done your research, you would know the terms the funding agency uses when it describes projects it wants to finance. Use these terms to convince the donor that your proposal fits nicely with its goals and objectives. But take time to understand what these buzz phrases mean. A proposal should not just repeat the exact language used in the RFP, but should articulate the bidding organization’s approach to addressing the requirements. When preparing your proposal, check whether the donor specified a format in its RFP. Is it requiring just a one-page summary to help determine whether it would want to request a more detailed proposal later on? Does it have a standard format with set headings that you need to pattern your proposals against? Or maybe the donor requires you to fill up a form with fixed fields. Some funding agencies require no format at all, which means it is up to you to decide, based on the RFP, which types of information the donor would find most useful. 4. But does not overuse jargon and acronyms. While using the donor’s language can help to show that your organization’s goals and objectives are similar to the funding agency’s, peppering a proposal with technical and organizational jargon — especially when using simpler or more common words would provide the same or greater impact — might result in a one-dimensional document that would not sustain the reviewer’s interest. In addition, do not assume that the reviewer understands all acronyms and abbreviations in the development community. Using too many acronyms can also result in alphabet soup and make a proposal harder to read and understand. If they really need to be used, make sure the appendix contains a page explaining what all those acronyms mean. 5. Factual, specific and error-free. Use facts to make your case. While there are benefits to employing a human tone as opposed to an academic or technical one, making statements based on generalities or using emotional terms won’t win you any favors either. Be specific in your assertions, but do not include presumptive or nondefensible statements. Provide detailed rationale or itemized budget breakdowns for funding requests. Double check all calculations for accuracy. Proofread the proposal and engage a new pair of eyes to do another review of the document. Make sure the proposal does not contain any typographical and grammatical errors, and all the numbers mentioned in the main body of the document, tables and appendix match. 6. Highlights your organization’s track record and credibility. Do not assume that the donor knows all about your organization, what you do and which countries and sectors you work in. Before you even begin discussing project details in your proposal, provide a short overview of your organization. What is its mission and vision? What are its goals and objectives? Highlight the sectors your organization works in and communities it serves, its governance structure, and its strengths. To convince the funding agency of your organization’s technical and operational capability, provide details on the level of expertise of staff members who will be involved in the project, and updates and outcomes of similar projects implemented in the past, including the project’s impact on the community, how the budget was managed, how activities were implemented and how development outcomes were measured. If your organization is new, tap well-established civil society groups and development professionals to vouch for your credibility, and accountancy firms to confirm you have a good financial management system in place — all in writing. Highlight the experience, strengths and track record of your management team. 7. Sets realistic goals, timelines and budgets. Do not promise more than you can deliver — whether in terms of the schedule, outcomes, budget or even what your staff members can do. Take local factors and bureaucratic procedures into consideration when planning schedules and resources as a way to ensure goals and activities can be met and done within the prescribed time period. Properly assess the skills and capabilities of staff members who will be implementing the project and factor in training, if needed, into the schedule. While it is sensible to make conservative projections, do not underestimate the funding required for staff salaries, technology support, infrastructure, travel expenses and operations. Low funding requests tell a reviewer that the organization does not have a realistic assessment of what it takes to implement the project on time and on budget. If your final budget is higher than what the donor usually grants, indicate what percentage of the total funding requirement you are asking the agency to finance and note how you plan to fill the gap. In the appendix, provide a detailed breakdown of how the budget will be allocated and include supporting documentation to justify projected costs. Do not include items that are not relevant to the project. Make sure your proposal lists down specific, realistic goals that can be measured within a set timeframe and clearly identifies end beneficiaries. 8. Follows guidelines and instructions. Read donor guidelines carefully and make sure everything is followed to the letter, even if you feel the directions do not make sense or are repetitive. Clarify instructions with the project or desk officer if you have strong objections or if anything is unclear. If funding guidelines state the agency only finances social innovation projects in a set of countries, do not submit proposals that request grants for projects that are outside the donor’s sectoral and geographic priorities. If the proposal is submitted in response to an RFP, do not ask for things that are outside of the project’s scope. Follow all of the donor’s prescribed formats for the entire proposal and for specific sections. Some funding agencies, for example, require the budget section to be detailed following a certain format. Do not go beyond page limits as doing so might disqualify your proposal. Include all donor requirements in the proposal. The U.S. Agency for International Development, for instance, requires bid documents to indicate how planned activities and interventions will address gender constraints. Some donors are also requiring larger development organizations that work with local subcontractors to submit joint bid documents. 9. Offers a solid sustainability plan. Donors are more likely to finance your project when they know there is a plan to ensure programs will carry on even after funding runs out. If your organization will be working with other agencies in implementing the project, the proposal should also indicate a strategy for sustaining that collaboration beyond the grant period. Note that there has to be a solid plan in place, and one that should be among the project’s objectives. It is not enough to say that your organization will look for other funding sources once grant money has been exhausted. Writing winning project proposals require careful planning and attention to detail. But having all of these elements in your project proposal will all be for nothing if the donor does not receive it on time. Do not wait until the deadline to submit your proposal. Chances are the funding agency will be inundated with an influx of last-minute submissions that could result in technical problems that may delay delivery of your bid documents. Read more: - Tips for choosing and penetrating new markets - 10 tips for integrating gender issues in project proposals and delivery - Conducting due diligence on local partners: Why and how What other elements make a winning project proposal? Let us know by placing a comment below. Join the Devex community and gain access to more in-depth analysis, breaking news and business advice — and a host of other services — on international development, humanitarian aid and global health.