Proposal writing

For a project
Chapter #3

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 Logo of grantee, exactly in the
size of USAID’s

What is Concept note

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What is Concept Paper
• A concept note is a summary of a proposal containing a brief
description of the idea of the project and the objectives to be
pursued. ...
• Concept notes are also submitted to donors without a formal
call for proposals
• A pre-proposal (usually 2-4 pages) that describes idea, need for
project, how project to be implemented, budget, etc.

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Importance
• Take less time and efforts of organization
• Take less time of donor organization in decision
• Documenting the prioritized projects for an organization or
donor organization
• It is a base for full proposal preparation
• A poor written idea may lead to the rejection a most desired
project-Do or Die

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 From where to get idea
Desired situation Current situation
gap

need

Project

Community vision of how the situation should be in a long term:

Community needs assessment is a key step to project design, as it helps
addressing the problems of the targeted local community.
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The main components of a concept note

• Introduction of the idea

• Goals and Objectives/Research Questions

• Methodology and Timelines

• Benefits/Anticipated Outcomes

• Support Needed & Costs (if requested)

• Contact Information
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What to be written in introduction paragraph
• information about the funding agency.
• demonstrate that you have done your homework and
understand the mission of the funding agency and the types of
projects that they support.
• to identify the agency you represent and how the missions of
your agency and the funding agency interconnect.
• Describe any partner agencies that will be involved and their
interest in the project.

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Goals and objectives
• Project Description). Briefly describe your basic goal/s and
objectives or state your research questions.
• A goal is statement describing a broad or abstract intent, state
or condition.
• An objective is a statement of measurable outcomes that relate
to the goal.
• Goal should be SMART

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Methodology- How to do
• It is the process set of activities to be carried out to reach to the desired objectives of the
project.
• It should be the most viable and cost effective solutions or set of activities
• The activities should be described in the logical sequence or phases
• Give an overview of your methodology--how the project will be carried out.
• Make sure that the goals, objectives, and methods relate to each other. Include general
timelines for what you hope to accomplish.

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Benefits/Anticipated Outcomes
• It should exactly match with the desired objectives of the project
• It should be measurable by specific tools
• Describe the anticipated benefits and who will benefit.
Budget:
• It is the expected cost of the project implementation
• Only include budgetary information if it is specifically requested (Support). Otherwise,
generally describe the types of support you need, e.g, personnel, travel, equipment, etc
• Or just ----$

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Contact information
• Place your name and date in the header. Include your contact
information with the concept paper (Contact)

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Concept-note writing process
• Few sentences answering: What do you want to do? How much will it cost? Who will
benefit?
• Two-three sentences describing the need or problem being addressed
• Two paragraphs on the proposed solution
• One paragraph on the benefit this particular solution (outcome) will bring
• One paragraph on why you are the best person to do this project

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 Need Statement & problem statement

• Use the following questions to guide the creation of your

statement of need
• • What is the need for the project?
• Is it a serious problem or issue, or a lack of a needed service?

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What is problem statement
• A problem statement is a clear concise description of the
issue(s) that need(s) to be addressed by a problem solving
team.
• It is used to center and focus the team at the beginning, keep
the team on track during the effort,
• and is used to validate that the effort delivered an outcome that
solves the problem statement

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What is a problem statement?
• The Problem Statement/Project Rationale gives an explanation
about the issue that is being addressed by the project.
• It also argues in favor of implementing the project in the
proposed area in the existing conditions. It is very critical that
we give evidence to what we are writing in this section of the
proposal.
• Evidence can be in form of other research, existing literature or
data collected by the organization itself.

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Example of problem /problem statement
• “the frequency of job layoffs is creating fear, anxiety and a less
productivity in middle management workers”

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Summary

• A problem statement is a clear description of the issue(s), it

includes a vision, issue statement, and method used to solve
the problem.
• The 5 'W's can be used to spark the discussion about the
problem.
• A problem statement expresses the words that will be used to
keep the effort focused and it should represent a solvable
problem.

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Key component of problem statement :
1. The problem itself, stated clearly and with enough contextual
detail to establish why it is important .
2. The method of solving the problem
3. The purpose, statement of objective and scope of the project
being proposed .

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How to Write a Problem Statement

• Who - Who does the problem affect? Specific groups,

organizations, customers, etc.

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What
• What - What are the boundaries of the problem, e.g.
organizational, work flow, geographic, customer, segments, etc.
• What is the issue?
• What is the impact of the issue?
• What impact is the issue causing?
• What will happen when it is fixed?
• What would happen if we didn’t solve the problem?

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When:
• When - When does the issue occur?
• When does it need to be fixed?

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 Where

Where is the issue occurring? Only in certain locations, processes, products, etc.

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Why:
• Why is it important that we fix the problem?
• What impact does it have on the business or customer?
•What impact does it have on all stakeholders, e.g.
• employees, suppliers, customers, shareholders, etc. Each of
the answers will help to zero in on the specific issue(s) and
frame the Issue Statement.
•Your problem statement should be solvable. That is, it should
take a reasonable amount of time to formulate, try and deploy a
potential solution.
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What are the key characteristics of a statement of problem?

• A good research problem should at minimum:

• Address a gap
• be significant enough to contribute to the existing body of
research
• be one that will lead to more research
• renter itself to be investigated via collection of data
• be interesting to the researcher and suit his/her skills, time and
resources
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Need Statement:
• Need Statement presents facts and evidence to support
the need for the project (program) you are proposing.
• It also establishes your organization as being capable of
addressing the need.
• Conduct an analysis to determine the nature and extent of the
problem or need, and the reasons and causes.

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The following steps are to be taken when writing your Need Statement:

• Define the problem, its causes and symptoms

• Gather data to support the existence of the problem and extent
of your need
• Write the Need Statement(stated as the current situation)

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An Effective Need Statement.....
• Describes the target populations to be served
• Defines the community problem to be addressed
• Is related to the purposes and goals of your organization
• Includes quantitative and qualitative documentation and
supporting information
• Does not make any unsupported assumptions
• Describes the situation in terms that are both factual and of
human interest
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Checklist:
• Does the problem you identify relate to the purpose and goals of your agency?
• Is your proposal of reasonable dimension to the issues you are addressing?
• Did you include evidence (documented) to support the existence of the problem?
• Do you make a compelling case for the need for your project/program?
• (Source: Research Associates)

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Difference Between Problem and Need Assessment

• Typically, a need/purpose statement comes out of a problem

statement. The problem statement lays out the problem and
the purpose statement outlines what you as a researcher intend
to do to study the problem.

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Definition of beneficiaries:
• a person or group that receives benefits, profits, or advantages.
• a person designated as the recipient of funds or other property
under a will, trust, insurance policy, etc.

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Stakeholder
• A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in
an organization.
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's
actions,decison ,objectives and policies

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Who is beneficiary
• Customer is Kings
• Beneficiary is the customer of the project
• Beneficiary is the king of the project
• Identifying the project beneficiaries (key beneficiaries)

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Direct and indirect beneficiaries:

Clearly identify direct and indirect beneficiaries:

• Direct support to target group
• Indirect benefits to others
• How many?
• Where?
• Characteristics/Specifications ?
• Gender?
• Age group (if relevant)?
• Socio-economic status etc.

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Good Idea to resolve a big problem of the community
• Look at possible funding and local resources
• Your pre-planning should have pointed to an approach that fits
into this model:
COMMUNITY DEMAND

NEEDS IDENTIFIED BY EXPERTS AVAILABLE RESOURCES

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How to get information ?
• Data Collection is a tool for information gathering
• Data collection from the project customer will give you more
insight

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How to Collect data
• Personal Observation: organization staff can provide
observation since they are dealing day to day basis with clients.
• Desk reviews : collecting and reviewing already available
information from different sources
• Aggregation of Reports: by operating hot lines use telephone
logs. these records telephone logs and intake forms reflect the
problems and concerns of local residents.

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Continue…….
o Community Survey: An excellent method a series of concise
and specific questions for the depth of the problem.

o FocusGroup: This is the way o getting opinion from important

stakeholders and community interest groups..

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 What Are Outputs?
• What does your program produce?
• For example , a training program provides graduates. A particular effort
might yield information such as white papers or studies. A homeless
shelter creates filled beds.
• We usually describe outputs with numbers. For instance, "...we filled
96% of available beds..." or "...our training program resulted in 95
graduates."

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 Logo of grantee, exactly in the
size of USAID’s

How Is an Outcome Different?

• An outcome is a change that occurred because of your

program. It is measurable and time limited, although it
may take awhile to determine its full effect.
• An outcome is an effect your program produces on the
people or issues you serve or address.
• Examples, the result of a training program might be
the number of graduates who get a job and keep it for
a particular period.
Measuring outcomes requires a bigger commitment of
time and resources. Plus, you may have to track
performance over time. 39
Why Does Impact Matter?
• Impacts are the long-term or indirect effects of your outcomes.
• Impacts are hard to measure since they may or may not happen. They are what
we hope our efforts will accomplish.
• For instance, graduating from a training program may eventually lead to a better quality of
life for the individual. But how do you know? What are the indicators of a better quality of
life? How long will it take to see the impact?
• Impacts are often uncertain and unpredictable.

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Example :

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IMPORTANCE OF IMPACT STATEMENT IN PROPOSAL
• Helps us reflect on and improve our work.
• Demonstrates the difference we make in people’s lives,
communities, and the environment.
• Improves visibility of programs (local, state, national).
• Generates support.
• Helps us focus on issues, initiatives, and program themes
• Builds greater understanding of our programs by the public.

• Stakeholders are asking for it.

• It lessens urgent requests for program examples, etc.
• Your work receives more visibility.
• Your work is exposed to potential funders.
• It can summarize and celebrate a job well done
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HOW TO write an Impact Statement:

• An impact statement:
• Briefly summarizes, in lay terms, the difference your efforts have made.
• States accomplishment and creates strong support for programs.
• Answers the questions... "So what?” and “Who cares?“
• If then so what .
• Conveys accomplishments in simple language free of technical jargon.
• Is submitted by faculty for three to five efforts each year.

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Impact statements follow a simple formula

• Describe the issue or problem statement

• Provide an action statement (response).
• Describe the impact (results).
• Who was responsible?
Impact statements follow a simple formula

1. Describe the issue or problem statement

 Why are we doing this teaching/learning, research/discovery?
 What needs were expressed?
 What was the situation/problem, and why was it a problem?

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2. Provide an action statement (response).

What did you do?

What were the key elements?
Who was the target audience?
What resources were expended?

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3. Describe the impact (results).
The impact of your works is in the answer to the question "What is the payoff socially, economically,
and environmentally?"
• What happened to the audience as a result of the work described?
• What knowledge was gained?
• What skills were increased?
• What practices/behavior changed? How many people changed?
• How much money was saved?
• Were policies changed as a result?
• What were the end results (quantitative and qualitative)
• How was evidence collected to document the impacts (surveys, observation, etc.)?
• What was the scope of the impact (campus, regional, statewide, etc.)

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4. Who was responsible?

List collaborators or contributors.

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What is budget :

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Meaning and definition of budget

• “Budgeting is defined as predetermined plans expressed in

monetary term, covering all the aspects” Or
• “A budget describes an amount of money that an organization
plans to raise and spend for a set purpose over a given period
of time”.

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Budget use for Planning :

• A budget is necessary for planning a new project, so that

managers can build up an accurate idea of a project’s cost.
• This allows them to work out if they have the money to
complete the project and if they are making the best use of the
funds they have available.

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 Budgeting & Fund Raising
• The budget is a critical part of any negotiation with donors.
• The budget sets out in detail what the NGO will do with a grant,
including what the money will be spent on, and what result will be
achieved.

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 Logo of grantee, exactly in the
size of USAID’s

Project budget Implementation:

• An accurate budget is needed to control the budget, once it has
been started.
• The most important tool for on-going monitoring is comparing
the actual cost against the budgeted cost.
• Without an accurate budget this is impossible. Because plans
sometime change, it may be necessary to review the budget
after a project has started.

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Budgeting help us in Monitoring and
Evaluation:
• The budget is used as a tool for evaluating the success of the
project, when it is finished. It helps to answer the question
• ‘Did the project achieve what it set out to achieve?’

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WHO NEEDS BUDGETS?
• The governing body needs the NGO’s over all budget because
it has to formally approve it and monitor its progress.
• NGO Chief Executive needs budgets to keep an eye on the
progress of the whole organization and the functioning
position.
• Project Manager needs budget so that they can oversee the
implementation of their project activities.

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WHO NEEDS BUDGETS?
• Fundraisers need budget to accompany funding applications.
• Financial staff need budget to make sure that there are enough
funds in the bank to cover anticipated expenditure
• Donors need budget so they can see how an organization
intends to spend its grants
• Community Partner needs budget so that they can see how an
NGO plans to spend and raise funds for their community
projects.

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HOW TO PREPARE A BUDGET?
• Before formulating budget one must have to draft a
questionnaire.
• What to do?
• When to do?
• Where to do?
• How to do?

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FOLLOWING INFORMATION ARE REQUIRED TO BE INCORPORATED
IN BUDGET

• BUDGET DETAILS
• CODE
• DESCRIPTION
• UNIT
• QUANTITY
• UNIT COST
• TOTAL COST
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 CREATING A PROJECT BUDGET: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW?

• There are two main approaches you can take when creating a
budget:
1.Top-down approach: deciding how much the project will cost
and dividing the amount between the work packages.
2.Bottom-up approach: estimating the total cost of the project by
costing the lowest-level work packages and rolling up.

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Top-Down Budgeting Approach:

• The decision is made, often by senior management, about how

much the project should cost.
• This amount is divided between the work packages. Keep in mind
that this approach is more than guessing; you need to explain
how you will do the work within the allocated amount of budget for
each work package.
• Prior experience from other projects will play a part in validating
the budget allocation for work packages. It should be asked
whether the budget looks realistic based on experience from past
projects.
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Bottom-Up Budgeting Approach

• The team, often involving the final budget holder, identify the
tasks and activities needed to complete the project.
• The project is based on the lowest-level work packages and
rolled up to arrive at the total project cost. The direct and
indirect costs are calculated for each work package.

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Different Cost Types

• There are two cost types that concern project managers when
they create budgets
1. direct cost
2. indirect costs.

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Project Direct Costs

• These costs are easily attributed to the project and charged on

an item-by-item basis.
Examples are:
Labor (people) or personal
Consultant fees
Raw materials
Software licenses
Travel
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Project Indirect Costs :

• These costs are for items that benefit more than one project,
and only a proportion of their total cost is charged to the project.
Examples are:
Telephone charges
Office space (rent)
Office equipment
General administration
Company insurance
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How to Make a Personnel Budget:

• . Gather the payroll records, the financial data and any salary
2. Develop a spreadsheet that lists the individual employees by
name and job title in columns
3. Type the data for all the current expenses from the payroll and
4. Create columns that subtotal salary information, such as
wages, bonuses, commissions and incentives

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Conu….
• 5. Use the burden costs -- all the employer-paid items -- to
determine the amount of the burden per
• 6. Create a summarized spreadsheet attached to the same
workbook that has the detailed actual costs.
• 7. Add in salaries for planned positions not yet hired to calculate
increased employee expenses.8. Use the projected salary and
burden information added together and summarized as a one-
line entry in

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 personal required for an ideal project

•Project Coordinator 01
•Area Supervisor 04
•Social Organizers 08
•Female health staff 64
•Male health staff 32
•Support staff 09
•Accountant 01

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 Budget calculation of project team/personals
Designation Number/Unit Unit Cost for one month Total Budget for year (12
Months)
Project Coordinator 01 3,000 36,000
Area Supervisor 04 2,000 96,000
Social Organizers 08 500 48,000
Female health staff 64 300 230,400
Male health staff 32 300 115,200
Finance 01 500 6,000
Support staff 09 200 21,600
Total Total Budget for year (12
Months)
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Definition & meaning of work plan
•
A work plan describes a project to be accomplished and outlines
how it will be done. It is also known as a project plan or a
feasibility or proposal report.

Or
• A work plan is an outline of a set of goals and processes by which
a team and/or person can accomplish those goals, and offering
the reader a better understanding of the scope of the project.
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Importance of project work plan :
• help you stay organized while working on projects.
• break down a process into small, achievable tasks and identify
the things you want to accomplish.
• Provide roadmap for implementation of the project
• Considerations

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How to write a project work plan :
• 1. Write down the goal of your plan. This should be the ultimate
outcome--what you want to accomplish.
• 2. Set a goal date for your plan.
• 3. Break it down into smaller steps. These are all of the tasks
that you need to do in order to complete the project.

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How to write a project work plan :
• 4. Arrange the tasks in the proper order. There are often things
that you must do before you can attempt other tasks.
• 5. Break your tasks down further. If any of your main tasks have
smaller tasks that you need to accomplish, write those down
too.
• 6. Work backwards from your goal date to set dates for each of
your tasks. For example, the final task before completing your
goal

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How to write a project work plan:
•
7. Schedule each task into your daily and weekly plan. This
ensures that you do all of your tasks on time.

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Sections

• The order of a work plan's sections is as follows:

• executive summary/abstract; introduction, which explains the
challenge/goal of the project;
• objectives/goals, which show what is to be accomplished;
• constraints/resources, which show what can be used; an
• actions/strategy section, which explains how things are to be
accomplished; and appendices that include such things as the
schedule and budget.

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Sample work plan :
Annex 3 - Project Implementation Timeline

Name of applicant: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RFA-RDAPN-USAID-RADP-NORTH ALL CLINs-

RFA #:
001,"Financial Management Training"

Province: Jauzjan, Balkh, Samangan, Baghlan, Kunduz & Badakhshan

Date: October 22, 2015

Timeline
Activity No. Activities Location Month 1 Month 2
1st Week 2nd Week 3rd Week 4th Week 5th Week 6th Week 7th Week 8th Week
Phase 1: Preparatory & Set-up at the field level
1 Project Staffing/ team establishment & Orientation Mazar-e-Sharif X X

2 Coordination with relevant stakeholders & relevant institutions Provinces X X X

3 Identification & Selection of Participants/ Beneficiaries Provinces X X X

4 Developing Training Materials Mazar-e-Sharif X X

5 Identification of Training Venues Provinces X X
6 Logistics Supply Provinces X X
7 ToT for trainers Provinces X
Phase 2: Implementation/ Deliver of FInancial Management Trainning

Mazar-e-Sharif, Jawzjan, Samangan, Baghlan, Kundoz &

8 Pre-Test of trainees X X X X
Badakhshan

Mazar-e-Sharif, Jawzjan, Samangan, Baghlan, Kundoz &

9 Delivery of 6-days Financial Management Training X X X X
Badakhshan

Mazar-e-Sharif, Jawzjan, Samangan, Baghlan, Kundoz &

10 Post-Test of Trainees X X X X
Badakhshan

Phase 3: Development of FInal Report & project Closeout

11 Monitoring of the Project Activities (regularly) Provinces X X X X X X X X
12 Monthly Reports Mazar-e-Sharif X X
13 Milestone Reports Mazar-e-Sharif X X
14 Developing Final Report Mazar-e-Sharif X
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Definition and meaning of evaluation :
• Rigorous analysis of completed or ongoing activities that
determine or support management accountability, effectiveness,
and efficiency.
• A project evaluation reviews the production process and
determines the effectiveness of a completed project.

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Definition and meaning of evaluation plan :

• An evaluation plan is an integral part of a grant proposal that provides information to

improve a project during development and implementation.
• The systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristic and outcomes
of an activity or action, in order to determine its worth or merit .
• It is a major part of learning, and can provide a wealth of useful information on the
outcomes of a project or action, and the dynamics of those who undertook the work.

77a
Importance of evaluation plan:
• Findings
• plan for future project phase
• present findings at a specific event

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Importance of evaluation plan:

• Consequently, your proposal must include how you will evaluate

your project, when you will do it and how you will report your
results.

• Of course, you expect to succeed, or you wouldn't be proposing

your project to a funder.

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How to Do Evaluation

• Here are some tips to help you develop that crucial evaluation
section of your grant proposal.
• Internal Evaluation or External?
• Determine Goals.
• Quantitative or Qualitative?
• Integrate the Evaluation.
• Keep Checking.

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Internal Evaluation or External?
• Decide if you are going to do an internal assessment with your
staff, or if you want to hire outside expertise to conduct your
evaluation.
• Foundations often allow nonprofits to designate 5-10 percent of
the total project budget for evaluation

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Determine Goals.
• Before you design your evaluation, consider the reasons to do
it. Step by Step, suggest that assessments can accomplish
these six purposes:
1. To find out if the hypothesis was right. Did you do what you set
out to do?
2. To determine if the methods specified were used, and if
the objectives were met.
3. To find out if an impact was made on the identified need.

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Determine Goals.
4. To obtain feedback from the people served and other members
of the community.
5.To maintain control over the project (evaluations often take
place at various points in the project allowing for corrections).
6. To make changes in the program mid-stream, if necessary, to
ensure the program's success.

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Quantitative or Qualitative?
•
Decide if you will use quantitative or qualitative methods for
your data collection, or what combination of the two types you
will use.
• Develop a good description of these methods and why you're
using them.

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Steps of creation of E plan
• Step 1: Identify project Goals and Objectives
• Step 2: Define Indicators.
• Step 3: Define Data Collection Methods and Timeline
Step 4: Identify E Roles and Responsibilities.
• Step 5: Create an Analysis Plan and Reporting Templates
• Step 6: Plan for distribution and Donor Reporting

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Objective Intervention Indicator Target Means of Frequency Responsible
(Projected Collection Party
Result )

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What is Annexes?

• Annexes is, add as an extra or subordinate part,

especially to a document.
• The definition of annexes means to attach something,
particularly to a larger entity.

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Annexes Vs Appendix

•Annex is a addition to a document

•Appendix is an addition made towards the end of a
proposal.
•An appendix contains data that cannot be placed in the
main document and has references in the original copy
or file.
•An annex, on the other hand, is usually a standalone
document than contained in the main document.

88a
89
What an executive summary is?

• A well-written summary invites the reader of your grant proposal

to read further, and delivers quickly, the basics of what you are
asking for.

• The summary may be the hardest part of the proposal to write

because it demands both completeness and brevity.

90a
What to focus on in your summary

•Indentify the key points in each section of you proposal

and include only those point in the summary.
•Highlight the key points that you know are important to
the funder. Which match the funder’s interests.
•Be consistent. Don’t introduce new information at this
point. Only use information that has already appeared in
some part of your proposal

91a
What to focus on in your summary…

•What are your organization’s identity and mission? Identify

yourself clearly.
What are the proposal program’s title, purpose, and who will
it help? Describe the specific need you’re meeting and
objectives.
Why this project important?
Why should your organization do this program(as opposed
to any other group)

92a
Fonts and Spacing

• Because it is the first section, the executive summary should

have the same general look as the rest of the proposal.
• Use the same font type for the body of the executive summary
as in the report. Make sure the font size is at least 12 pitch and
that paragraphs are double-spaced between each section so
that the document is easy to read.

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Top Ten Tips

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What an executive summary is?

• A well-written summary invites the reader of your grant proposal

to read further, and delivers quickly, the basics of what you are
asking for.

• The summary may be the hardest part of the proposal to write

because it demands both completeness and brevity.

95a
What to focus on in your summary

•Indentify the key points in each section of you proposal

and include only those point in the summary.
•Highlight the key points that you know are important to
the funder. Which match the funder’s interests.
•Be consistent. Don’t introduce new information at this
point. Only use information that has already appeared in
some part of your proposal

96a
General Structure:

• Front Matter
• Body
• End Matter

97a
Front Matter

• Letter of transmittal/cover letter

• title page
• Summary
• Table of contents
• List of figures and tables .

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Transmittal Letter/ cover letter :

• The transmittal letter provides the recipient with a specific context in which to place the
larger document and simultaneously gives the sender a permanent record of having
sent the material.
• Transmittal letters are usually brief. The first paragraph describes what is being sent and
the purpose for sending it. A longer transmittal letter may summarize key elements of
the proposal in one or two sentences and provide the recipient with other useful
information.
• End transmittal letters with a one-sentence paragraph that establishes goodwill by
thanking or complimenting the recipient.

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Title page:
• A title page should include
the title,
 the author or authors,
their affiliation (if appropriate)
 date.
 It may also include additional information, such as a specific
grant or project number

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Table of contents
• A table of contents is a list of the main subject
headings and subheadings of the document.
• Hence, a table of contents not only helps readers find
materials in the report but also outlines the topics of there port.
• The table of contents is often prepared from the
document's outline.
• A table of contents is an excellent way for the prospective
reader to get an overview of the document. The most useful
tables of contents are made up of descriptive subject headings
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List of figures and tables
• Figures concentrate information in unusual ways and show
critical details, configurations, and evidence. Readers often
review them independently of other sections of a proposal .
• If figures do not accompany your report or proposal, look for
ways to include them

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Summary
• A proposal summary, sometimes called an executive summary
• provides a concise overview of the proposal itself. Summaries
are an important part of a proposal because they're usually the
first part of the proposal a supervisor or other authority reads.
• A person's impression of the summary influences whether or
not he decides to continue reading the proposal

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Body

• Introduction
• Management requirement
• Technical approach
• Work plan

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In the introduction to a proposal, do the following:

• Identify the motivating need or problem.

• Develop the immediate context in which this problem has been
highlighted.
• In external proposals be sure you are responding to the
published need and motivation as identified by the outside
agency.
• Focus your proposal by stating the key technical issues, as
you perceive them, underlying the motivating problem.
• State explicitly, and with unbiased language, your objectives.
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Technical Approach

• Identify and explain fully the technical approach you are taking
to reach your objectives.
• Ground your technical approach in a brief explication of
necessary theoretical background, applicable theory, analytical
models, previous work, and hypotheses.
• Present your method and design for reaching your stated
objectives. You will most likely make reference to figures in this
section.
• State how pertinent data will be acquired, and just as
important, describe your data analysis methods.
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Management Requirements

• Explain clearly how you will manage the development of your proposal project.
• Proposal reviewers pay strict attention to this section because here you show that you have
the required know-how to bring a project to completion.
• In this section, you will present the following information:
• A timetable (or Gantt chart)
Required facilities and resources
• Materials and equipments
Personnel (include résumés in appendix)

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Work Plan

• Include a work plan, sometimes called a project plan, as a

separate section in all lengthy proposals. Preliminary project
plans are also sometimes appropriate in feasibility and
recommendation reports.
• In addition, most progress reports refer to all or part of
previously existing project plans.

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End Matter

• Bibliography/factsheet
• Resumes/cv
• Appendixes/annexes

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