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.