Simple steps to speed up your proposal process

With donor agencies under increased pressure to stretch their dollars, competition for funding is getting tougher, which means that development organizations need to focus on both the quality and quantity of their grant proposals in order to win solicitations. In today’s development funding landscape, “fast and good” is not an oxymoron — but the secret to success. Honing your proposal-writing skills is perhaps the most important step to jump from the shortlist to the awards list. But generating a good proposal every so often is no longer enough. Once your team has mastered all the elements of a good proposal, it’s time to work on speed, efficiency, and consistency. Getting a larger number of quality proposals out the door can increase your organization’s chances of winning grants from a range of donors. And with project delivery demands as high as they have ever been, every second you can save during the proposal process can be applied to building technical capacity and achieving results. But what exactly can a development organization, with limited team members and resources, do to accelerate its proposal-writing process? Below, Devex lists a few simple but vital tips that can inject game-changing efficiency into your team’s fundraising efforts — possibly doubling or even tripling the number of pitches you participate in. 1. Invest in your team. Smaller development organizations often contend with budget constraints and a limited talent pool, but scrimping on human resources and failing to build a solid team can impact your organization’s batting average. If your team has room for only one business development professional, make sure you invest in someone with experience in managing the entire proposal process or life cycle — from qualification of opportunity to strategic planning, from writing to evaluation. Maintaining a roster of subject matter experts who can contribute to the proposal will also help speed up the overall process, but if this is not feasible, your organization should consider working with consultants who can provide advice and guidance throughout the proposal cycle. 2. Get started even before the green light. Many funding agencies announce upcoming opportunities weeks or even months before officially posting the grant or requests for proposals. Keeping track of development funding news or subscribing to sources of early intelligence, such as Devex Funding Trends and Devex Pipelines, can provide your organization with critical insight into donor implementation strategies and trends — before it reaches your competition. Knowing what’s coming down the pipeline can give you a head start in the proposal process, since you can already begin prioritizing, planning and costing. This leaves you more time to tweak and perfect your proposal once the grant or request has officially been advertised. 3. Create an inventory of past project qualifications and costing structures. Funding agencies will typically favor implementers or nonprofits with experience or a proven track record, if not in the exact area or subsector, in the same general field. Ensure that your team documents and keeps an easily accessible inventory of all its past projects and programs — along with a breakdown of corresponding costs and funding. Simply put, avoid reinventing the wheel every time your organization creates a proposal. Aside from making it easier to build your case for potential donors, having this information readily available will help your team in the design of similar proposals and pitches, especially when working under a tight timeframe. 4. Prepare a proposal template. While the actual content in a proposal — approach, personnel, costing — is the most important factor when donors evaluate proposals, it is still important to submit one that looks polished and professional. Organizations should take the time to develop a ready proposal template — preferably one for each major donor or funding agency, taking into account their specific format and requirements. Most proposals usually include at least these necessary sections: table of contents, executive summary, body or content, conclusion, budget summary, appendices and list of references. Consistency in formatting is key so make sure fonts, spacing and color schemes adhere to certain standards. Also, consider incorporating an original and strategic logo in all its materials. 5. Tee up your organization’s background information and financial documentation. Paper work, though often tedious, is an inescapable part of the grant making cycle. In addition to minimizing the potential headache, regularly updating your information and keeping things like registration or incorporation documents and bank account details up to date and ready can help expedite the process, whether you’re at the proposal-writing, awarding or implementation stage. Remember to pay special attention to your financial data — keeping it complete, current and accessible is a simple but effective way of upping your chances of winning funding, since financial transparency is a crucial part of most donors’ anti-fraud policies. Check out more funding trends analyses online, and subscribe to Money Matters to receive the latest contract award and shortlist announcements, and procurement and fundraising news.