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Create Your own Proposal with this Master Proposal Template to write more Proposals easily

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Introduction

Writing proposals for funding is one of the most crucial aspects of any NGO. Proposals are important for any organization as they decide the success or failure of an organization. No matter how big or small your organization is you cannot get away from writing a project proposal. As an NGO staff, you might be aware that the primary purpose of a project proposal is to convince the donor agency to fund your project.

Thus, you must write a proposal that is innovative, practical, and methodological. Your proposal should look at solving an important socio-developmental issue and, at the same time, should be appealing to the donor.

This guide aims to help NGOs develop a master proposal template that can be used for developing proposals that can convince donors to fund their respective projects.

To start with, let us first understand what a project proposal is. A project proposal is a document that presents a logical process of solving a problem. It provides a detailed description of the problem, the intended plan of action for tackling the problem, and the budgetary requirement for implementing the same.

This document is then submitted to the donor in anticipation of funds so you can continue your efforts. A funding proposal forms the basis of your relationship with the donor and, therefore, should be developed with utmost care and diligence.

A hastily written proposal will create an impression that you are not a serious contender and would reduce the possibility of getting funded. On the other hand, if you plan the entire process of proposal development, not only your chances of getting the desired resources to increase, you will lay down the foundation of a strong relationship with the donor.

Proposal Writing

While drafting the proposal, make sure that you read a few winning proposals (these are usually available online), before drafting your proposal. This will help you in structuring your proposal and will give you insight into the terminology, format, and language that is preferred by donors. Depending on the size of your organization, you can build a team to develop the proposal. The team members should possess good writing skills along with sound technical knowledge of the related subject.

In the following pages, various sections of a proposal are described; you can draft the proposal using this template and customize it to suit donor guidelines. To help you develop your proposal, suitable examples have been used to describe the content of each section.

Title Page: The title page typically contains the project title, along with contact details of the organization and the donor. Remember that the project title should be catchy and capture the essence of the project proposal. The project title should provide a general idea of what the project is about and, at the same time, be straightforward.

Your title page should be attractive and should not look cluttered and unprofessional.

Example:  

Executive summary: This section is the summary of the project and presents a snapshot of the project to the reader. The executive summary not only summarizes the project proposal but also analyses important points relating to the problem, the solution, the uniqueness of the proposal, and the reason your organization is suitable to carry out such a project.

To set the right tone, it is important that you are able to address the Why, How, and what of the proposal (Why- why do you want to start a particular project/why is the particular problem so important, How relates to the approach you will use to resolve the problem, and What refers to the goals you want to achieve at the end of the project.)

Even though the executive summary is the first section in the proposal document, you can always draft this section once you have completed drafting the entire proposal. This way it will be easier for you to take important points from the proposal body and use it in summary. Some points that you should keep in mind while summarizing the proposal are given below:

The ideal executive summary length is usually around one page long, approximately 300-500 words.

Example: The Global Widows Report demonstrates that disadvantage in widowhood is not limited to one culture, society, or region. The majority of the widows globally live in extreme poverty and are often ostracized by society. They have to struggle for gender equity on the one hand and for their rights as a widow on the other.  

Women in Busia face similar problems as men in society tend to control them through the use of violence. The area also has significantly higher rates of polygamy and promiscuity which further enhances cases of high GBV. Owing to the high incidence of GBV in the area, there is a need to develop a program to help women get rid of such problems, be made aware of their rights, and be empowered.

The proposed project seeks to usher 100 vulnerable women (widows and victims of all forms of GBV) from extreme poverty through entrepreneurship development in Busia County, Kenya. The project will be implemented over 12 months.

Project Rationale/Background: This is an important section of the proposal as it presents the argument of why your project needs funding. It describes the issues and problems that a particular community faces and how your organization would address the given problem.

Many organizations also refer to this section as the project background or context, as it provides the reader with all necessary information about the project area. While writing the proposal’s rationale, you must quote facts and figures as evidence to your problem. These facts can be from data that your organization has collected or can be from research articles etc. Along with stating data to justify the project, you should also mention why your organization is suitable to carry out the project (mention about similar projects that you have implemented). Some points that should be considered while drafting the project rationale are:

There is no standard rule for writing the project rationale, but most experts consider that the following four elements should be covered by the rationale.

  1. Situation Analysis: This section should briefly explore the current situation in the area. You can quote facts about the problem in this particular section.
  2. Purpose: Here, you should talk about why it is important to solve the particular problem and what approach can be used to resolve the issue.
  3. Organization Strength: In this section, focus on your organization’s strengths and your experience in resolving similar issues.

Example: The 2015 report estimates the total number of widows globally to be 258,481,056 – a 9% increase since 2010. Of these, it is estimated that 14.8% of widows live in extreme poverty where basic needs go unmet. Apart from financial, cultural and social neglect, widows also undergo severe psychological and emotional trauma. Their problems are further aggravated by their inaccessibility to proper education, legal and social reforms. The problems faced by widows have far-reaching consequences in developing countries.

Women in Busia face similar problems as men in society tend to control them through the use of violence. The area also has significantly higher rates of polygamy and promiscuity which further enhances cases of high GBV.   The proposed project seeks to usher 100 vulnerable women (widows and victims of all forms of GBV) from extreme poverty through entrepreneurship development in Busia County, Kenya.

Empowering them towards economic development will not only facilitate improving the socio-economic condition of women but will also help the betterment of the entire family. Financial independence gained through entrepreneurship development will give women confidence and enable them to avail their rights.

The project will be implemented over 12 months.   This project aims at tapping the potential of women through investment on awareness generation, capacity building, and setting up of enterprises in the area. Considering the socio-cultural and financial needs of the villages, the proposed project is socially feasible, economically viable, and environmentally sound.

We have been working in the area for the last five years under our Women Empowerment initiative. The mission of ABC is to empower women in tribal areas through awareness and enterprise development. Over the last three decades, we are striving to empower the illiterate and poverty-stricken people of this region and mainstream them into society.  

Project Goal: A goal is a broad statement that defines what you plan to do in a project. Always remember that a well-written goal statement is a marketing tool that will help you in getting funded. The goal defines the purpose of the proposal by giving an idea to the reader of what problem your organization intends to address. As the goal of the proposal shows the reader your intention towards solving a particular problem, it should be linked with the problem statement.

For instance, if the problem that you are addressing is related to widow rehabilitation and well-being your goal should state that you seek to empower widows in the area through the proposed project. While writing the proposal, you can use words like decrease, deliver, develop, establish, improve, increase, produce, and provide.

Framing a quality Goal

Example: To empower 100 widows and vulnerable women in Busia County through Entrepreneurship Development and capacity development.

From the example above, you will see that the goal statement is broad but at the same time also provides some specific details about your project and is not vague. The goal here clearly indicates the following:

Objective: Objectives are detailed statements describing the ways through which you intend to achieve the goal. Use the S.M.A.R.T. method of writing your objectives which means writing Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound statements. All the objectives should contribute to and supports in achieving the specified goal. While framing the objectives, ensure that they provide answers to the 5Ws:

Your objectives should always be written using action verbs like create, identify, promote, enhance, increase, and develop, etc. These verbs help describe the course of action and clarify your object.

Example: For the goal that was framed in the previous step, the following objectives can be framed-

Objective 1: To provide counseling to 100 identified Vulnerable Women to increase their participation in public life as informed citizens with constitutionally mandated rights.

Objective 2: To improve the quality of life of the 100 identified Vulnerable Women by improving family health, interpersonal relations, and coping capacities.

Objective 3: To support 100 Vulnerable Women with IGAs and entrepreneurship skills in tailoring and jewellery making.

Project Strategy: Project Strategy refers to the methods used to achieve project goals and objectives. These are broad approaches and provide direction in project implementation. The strategy will align your project activities with the project goals and objectives.

Example:

Project Activities: These refer to the smallest identifiable and measurable pieces of work planned for completion throughout a project. Defining the activities helps the project staff to understand what actions to do and at what time. Every activity is associated with a definite interim goal or objective.

Example:

Project Management/Personnel: This section talks about project management aspects. Here, you mention the implementation staff, the implementation schedule, and other related stuff. You can describe the people hired as part of the project and their respective roles. Example:   The Project team will comprise the following staff members:

Similarly, you can also mention the implementation schedule of various activities.

Monitoring & Evaluation: This section discusses the proposed mechanisms and procedures for monitoring the project activities so that one can ensure that all activities occur as planned. You should have a well-defined plan to monitor your project activities and evaluate the project’s success. Monitoring allows the project team to keep a check on the progress, while evaluation helps the team to appraise data and improve project implementation in the future.

Example:

This section generally describes the overall results that the project is expected to accomplish.

Example:

Performance Indicator: Performance indicators form an important part of the proposal as they indicate whether the objectives have achieved meaningful results. Performance indicators help the project team in identifying the quality and level of the result that has been achieved. Performance indicators have been categorized into qualitative, quantitative, process, and result. Quantitative indicators are numerical in nature, while qualitative indicators require subjective evaluation. Similarly, process indicators are used to define a process or an activity, while results indicators refer to the indicators that indicate the result achieved from implementing the activity. While identifying the performance indicators keep the following in mind:

Example:

Sustainability: To sustain the impacts of any community-based project, it is essential that suitable linkages are developed with the local community, government department, and all relevant stakeholders. You should spell out the sustainability measures in your project.

Example: Some ways through which you can ensure sustainability.

Review and Editing: Read the proposal again and again so that you can reduce the occurrence of mistakes. Be sure that the proposal is clear and easy to understand. Has your proposal been read by two-three to eliminate all sorts of errors in the text? Many organizations also get their proposals reviewed by a cold reader (a person who was not involved in the project writing). This sort of review helps you in improving the quality of the proposal. Once all the necessary changes have been incorporated, you can submit the proposal to the identified donor agency.

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