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Home » How to master the Art of Writing Powerful Concept Notes for raising Funds quickly?

How to master the Art of Writing Powerful Concept Notes for raising Funds quickly?

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A concept note is a shortest and quickest way to reach out to donor agencies with your fundraising requests and find out if your project can get funded. It saves tons of time and work for both NGOs and donor agencies to know about the project idea and whether or not it can get funded or not.

It is always better for NGOs to write down a summary of their project idea within 1-2 pages and present it to donor agencies. If any of the donor agency expresses interest in knowing about it, you can then involve yourself in preparing an extensive, full-fledged proposal.

So how to prepare a concept note? This article will help you understand what a concept note is, and how you can master its art to develop quick ideas on paper and help you raise funds quickly.

What is a Concept Note?

A concept note is an outline or framework of the development program that you are seeking funds for. To put it, it is a basic summary of the proposal containing similar ideas as in a proposal, albeit less detailed. It is worth noting that your concept note is the first opportunity to get your NGO and its work noticed and to introduce your project concepts or ideas to a donor.

A concept note gives your NGO the flexibility for detailing out your project at later stages of proposal submission. On the other hand, it also helps the donors or funding organizations to eliminate the proposals which are not likely to be funded- on account of not being in line with their priorities or due to other reasons, based on the concept notes submitted to them.

What are the contents of a Concept Note?

If you are submitting a concept note to an organization as per the call for proposals or if it is a solicited concept note, they will have their templates to be used. If not, you can use the outline and sample template given in this book. But in either case, the outline and template given in this book will help you in putting the concept together, as most of the sections are certainly to be included in a concept note. While the outline can vary depending on the type of opportunity, type of format or template, type of the project to be described and so on, a typical concept note has the following outline:

1. Title
2. Project or Program Summary
3. Organization Profile
4. Background or Problem Statement
5. Beneficiary and geographical information and insights
6. Program Goals and Objectives
7. Program Strategies and Activities
8. Expected outputs, outcomes and impact
9. Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
10. Budget and financial information (only if required by the donor organization)
11. Other relevant information to make your concept note stand out.

How to research ideas before writing the Concept Note?

Before developing your program idea into a concept note, it is worthwhile to invest time and energy into conducting proper research. Research plays a vital role in enriching your concept note and brings depth to your writing too. Typically, you might need to put in some research on the following aspects:

  • Context setting and needs assessment: It would mean using primary and secondary research to build the context, to define the problem and to establish the need for the solution that your program is proposing.
  • Knowing your target organization: Detailed research about your prospects is crucial. It enables you to understand the priorities of the donors and sets you up for the concept note application process.
  • Best practices: You can take your concept note a notch higher if you learn from the best practices in similar context and domains from across the world.

Qualities of a good Concept Note

A good concept note must explain the entire project idea, objectives, strategies and plan of action clearly and concisely. Here are the key characteristics of a proper concept note, and things one should keep in mind:

– Concise and Coherent

A concept note covers all the critical sections of a proposal, but in a concise manner. It has to contain explicit language to explain more in fewer words. Many organizations give ready-to-use templates and/ or web forms for submitting concept notes, and many of these templates have restricted word limits. One has to be mindful of these aspects while working on a concept note. Typically, a concept note can be 3 to 5 pages long.

– Clear, interesting and action-oriented language

The language is key to the quality of a concept note. Keep the writing clear and action-oriented. Do not over-explain the statements, but avoid being vague. You can make use of the numbers and data from your records to make your case more reliable and to show your NGO’s expertise and experience in the field. Try to keep the title and section titles attention-grabbing and make sure you include some hooks in the language.

– Articulation of the synergy

As explained in the previous sections, your research will inform the alignment of your proposed program with donor projects and funding priorities. Make sure this is reflected clearly and emphasized adequately in the concept note.

– References and Citations

It is always the best approach to use reliable secondary data to triangulate your own findings and learnings and to put the global or big picture context to your statements in the concept note. Adding references and citations will make it look impeccable and professional (if word limits/ web-page formats allow this).

Ref: How can Short Concept Notes attract Large Funding

Comments

  1. AvatarManohar S says

    April 28, 2020 at 2:11 am

    Really very much useful article on writing concept notes.

    Reply
  2. AvatarTabitha says

    April 29, 2020 at 10:32 am

    Thank you, quite informative and useful.

    Reply
    • AvatarOMAGOR J. M.S. says

      May 12, 2020 at 5:03 am

      Oh yes, we have enjoyed reading this article on concept notes. Please keep sending more information on funding alerts. You will attract more organisations to join fundsforNGOs.
      Pamo Volunteers
      Uganda.

      Reply
    • AvatarOMAGOR J. M.S. says

      May 12, 2020 at 5:08 am

      Oh yes, we have enjoyed reading this article on concept notes. Please keep sending more information on funding alerts.

      Reply
  3. AvatarDounyaazad says

    May 12, 2020 at 12:33 pm

    Thank you for the useful artical.

    Reply
  4. AvatarMorris Mtsambiwa says

    May 28, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    A very clear and useful article on the preparation of a concept note.

    Reply
  5. AvatarEustace says

    June 2, 2020 at 8:59 am

    This has given a clear picture and it will attract many to subscribe on the premium since some of us were hestant

    Reply
  6. AvatarMacDonald Ekemezie says

    July 1, 2020 at 10:01 am

    great insight

    Reply
  7. AvatarRichardson Sunday Adesuyi says

    August 2, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Very educative, very practical and simple to understand. It is wonderful.
    I will like to subscribe and persuade our NGO to register for the Premium option

    Reply
    • AvatarRimjhim says

      August 4, 2020 at 11:08 am

      Hello,
      The subscription is $49.99/year. If you have a credit or debit card, you can visit https://fundsforngospremium.com/pricing and make the payment of $49.99/year and instantly get your membership activated.
      Good Luck!

      Reply
  8. AvatarM. Chiwaya says

    August 12, 2020 at 8:06 am

    Useful information about concept notes. Thank you for posting

    Reply
  9. AvatarAsiimwe Tobius says

    August 26, 2020 at 5:42 pm

    Jericho foundation Uganda wishes to be in partnership with you how can this be done ?

    Reply
    • AvatarRimjhim says

      August 27, 2020 at 2:04 pm

      Hello,
      Thank you for contacting fundsforNGOs. fundsforNGOs is a social enterprise that provides fundraising guides, resources, and the latest funding opportunities to help you fundraise better and secure grant funding. We are not a funding organization and we do not provide grants.
      To find great opportunities for your cause, please visit: https://www2.fundsforngos.org
      Good Luck!

      Reply
  10. AvatarSamwel Mhaiki says

    August 29, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Very much helpful and enlightening on writing a concept note.

    Reply
  11. AvatarRachel Kalima says

    September 8, 2020 at 11:46 am

    Thank you for this important information on how best we can write our concept notes.

    Reply
  12. AvatarLawrence mpende says

    September 16, 2020 at 3:30 pm

    Thanks for the useful infor about concept Note

    Reply
  13. AvatarBrian says

    October 5, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Very helpful ‘eye opener’. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  14. AvatarDeepak Thapa says

    November 20, 2020 at 2:41 am

    Thank you for the tips for writing a project proposal

    Reply

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