Writing a proposal? Here's a checklist to guide you

This story was updated on Feb. 13. Writing a proposal is the first step toward cultivating a partnership. It is a competitive process that goes well beyond stringing words together to convince a donor or foundation to trust your organization with funding to implement a project, provide goods, or deliver services. The process of writing a winning proposal involves planning, research, writing, reviewing, and follow-up, according to a webinar on proposal writing presented by Caroline Herbert, instructional design manager at United Nations Foundation Center. Even minor errors can result in a proposal’s disqualification. Devex talked with two business development managers about best practices for proposal teams. We also drew from our own internal expertise. Here are our seven key takeaways. 1. Define and align objectives. Bidding organizations’ short-term objective is to win opportunities with their proposals. But organizations also have longer term “missions,” especially in development. Each individual opportunity for funding has an objective too. To build winning proposals, it’s important to “build on its primary objective in a constructive manner,” Paul Sippola, vice president of programs at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, told Devex by email. CNFA is certain to demonstrate its approach toward cultivating entrepreneurship and stimulating private-sector-driven economic growth in every proposal submission, he said. Similarly, proposal teams need to make it clear how the mission of their organization aligns with the objectives of the opportunity in question. Teams should ask themselves: “How do the capabilities of our organization align with what this donor wants to accomplish? How can we show that we’re motivated to achieve the same outcomes they desire, and that we have the best means achieve them?” With this alignment in mind, proposal teams can weave a compelling, unique narrative into their proposals that will convey how well suited the donor and the bidder are for one another. “We always strive to elevate this approach through integrated programming that has the potential to support a variety of development goals including poverty alleviation and resiliency, gender equality and social inclusion, youth empowerment, improved nutrition and environmental conservation,” Sippola said. 2. Tell a clear, consistent story. The technical skills required for proposal writing should not drown out the storytelling as this is the aspect most likely to convince a donor that your project or program deserves investment. “We always ask ourselves whether our proposals tell a story,” said Sippola. The story should reflect organizational principles, expertise and “evidence-based results and impacts to improve livelihoods and stimulate economic growth effectively and efficiently for our partners.” Proposals should also clearly articulate the proposal’s theory of change in a way that is well thought-out. This strategy has helped World Vision’s team win grants, according to Amelia Kendall, the business development manager. “We were clear in communicating how our programs fit together and work together,” she told Devex. If a proposal can explain how your organization will achieve the outcomes the donor desires in a captivating, engaging manner, it will stand out from the crowd. However the most effective stories are those that are told clearly and make sense. This leads to our third point. 3. Have your proposal reviewed. The more familiar authors are with a proposal — and the process of proposal writing — the more easily they can overlook grammar errors, poor syntax, or simple inconsistencies in writing. It always helps to have someone else — especially relevant experts — review and critique your proposal. “Once you have been working on something for 9 to 12 months, for example,” Kendall says, “you look at it so many times that you can’t notice a lot of inconsistencies.” Inconsistencies can range from differences in writing style, as when different colleagues contribute different parts of a proposal, to semantic differences in vocabulary. Simple things can be confusing for proposal readers, such as referring to the same component of a proposal as a project, program and initiative in different places. Another example, Kendall explained, would be ensuring that the titles of different section are consistent throughout your entire proposal. When possible, relevant subject matter experts should proofread your proposal. Enlist experienced colleagues to read and offer feedback on the parts of a proposal within their areas of expertise. 4. Follow the rules. Proposals and submission processes are governed by detailed rules and procedures. Not following those rules and procedures is an easy way to have your proposal disqualified from consideration. To avoid losing opportunities for funding, be sure that you understand the rules governing the organization, content, and formatting of your submission. “In the past, an organization I worked for submitted a proposal in a file format that was not accepted by the U.S. State Department, and they lost the funding because of that,” Kendall said. Simple steps such as checking that a document is saved in the right format (Word vs. PDF vs. Excel), has the correct orientation, spacing, fonts, and so forth, can be the difference between winning a bid and never having your proposal considered. Consider proposal writing a form of “constrained writing”: you want to craft a good story, but within the limits of the rules and procedures that a proposal team faces. Be compliant above all, and creative when possible. 5. Incorporate feedback into new proposals. Missing out on an opportunity the first time around should not discourage future efforts. Asking for feedback and improving the submission for the next funding cycle can increase the chances of being considered. In 2014, for example, World Vision submitted a proposal for a USAID program and were unsuccessful. However, they reworked the proposal for the following year and won the grant. “I learned a lot regarding what not to do on the first proposal when we went through the negotiation of issue stage with the U.S. government, which was very helpful,” Kendall said. Feedback helps you see what you missed in the previous submission and helps to improve subsequent proposals. “We do an after-action review after each proposal so that we can learn what to do differently next time,” Kendall said. 6. Print out a copy of the proposal for review. Some donor agencies like to print out copies of proposals so that the review committee can look at them together. “I always try to put myself in the position of the person who will be reviewing it,” said Kendall. To make sure that a submitted proposal meets the expectation of the committee, her team members print and review paper copies in-house before submission. “You want to make sure that you print the document and ensure that all the margins fit and everything is on the printed page,” she said. As simple as it sounds, a wrongly indented page margin or layout can result in disqualification. A team-wide, sit-down review session of the printed proposal is a good “final check” to perform before submission. 7. Submission. Before turning in a proposal, it is important to be familiar with the method of submission. While some donors accept submissions by email, others require development managers to submit proposals through a customized database. A good practice is to familiarize oneself with the database system before the submission deadline. Does it require an individual account per proposal? Have you signed the document? Are the characters within limit? “If you have a proposal that you are putting into a database, you want to make sure that you have the right people registered in that database,” Kendall said. That way, if something goes wrong after submission, you will be sure to receive a notification. She continued, “You want to make sure your application is as organized and as seamless as possible.” Check out more practical business and development advice online, and subscribe to Money Matters to receive the latest contract award and shortlist announcements, and procurement and fundraising news.