funding presentation for Not for profits, civil societies, non government organizations, trusts, charity organizations, requesting donors for funding, proposal guidelines for getting financial support from the donors, international organizations, for conducting various activities in the communities to empower and train the beneficiaries for the sustainability and reducing the poverty in the society.

1. 1
Funding proposal writing
May 2017

2. 2
Objectives
- Increase understanding of the proposal writing process
- Speed up & improve the quality of future proposals
- Ultimately better serve the Indian Development sector
Key messages
- Proposals are very exciting opportunities
- They can be complex, tedious, draining – and rewarding
- Win together if know what, when and who to do what

3. 3

4. 4
• Speculative, direct approach to a funder
• Can be to any funder
• Can happen at any time
• No set timings or conditions
• Rarely a set structure for submission
• No guarantee of any award at the end
Positives
• Potentially non competitive / builds on
relation
• Can be structured in own / impactful way
Challenges
• No guarantee of funding
• Open ended and (maybe) ambiguous
criteria
There are 2 key types of proposal and require quite different approaches
Solicited proposal
Unsolicited proposal
• Specific request from a funder (RFP)
• Often major funders, to multiple suppliers
• Usually part of an overall program
• Time specific and with preset conditions
• Clear structure for submission
• Contract will be awarded
Positives
• Money likely to be awarded
• Clear criteria to answer
Challenges
• Competitive pitch
• Sophisticated judges so need highest
quality

5. 5
While unsolicited proposals often require more upfront, unstructured
work, they can then follow the solicited proposal format / structure
Large foundations will use a solicited proposal structure for unsolicited proposals
Solicited proposal – at Dasra
Approach
1. RFP received with required structure and PDL appointed
2. PDL creates summary & shares with key decision makers (NBG / other)
3. If proceeding then governance established
4. PDL creates an offline version of the bid with all limitations
5. PDL creates checklist of documents
6. PDL allocates specific sections to custodians
7. Proposal is evolved (see following)
8. PDL co-ordinates submission including all technical documents
2–4 weeks to propose
1-3 months for confirmation
Donor has done
a lot of the thinking
Approach
1. Target funder identified / has been having ongoing discussions
2. Proposal Development Lead (PDL) socialize the opportunity internally
(New Business Group (NBG) in SPBU) for desirability & doability
3. PDL to approach client for discussion
4. PDL develop concept note with internal support
5. When the terms of the proposal are laid out then the PDL will need to
determine the structure of the proposal
Unsolicited proposal – at Dasra
Time period of 2 weeks
to 1+ years
Need to do the thinking
with and for the funder
Points to note

6. 6
There are many forms of proposal but broadly there are simpler and more
evolved proposal formats
(Can be used for pitches too)
• Summary
• Problem
• What we do + How we do it?
• Our achievements - Include stories here
• Our key differentiator
• Our financial model - Include budget and
supporters here
• Team
• Governance
• Conclusion - Compelling reason for
someone to meet / support you
• Contact
Simpler donor proposal template
Efficiency is achieved when clear ownership by function for content
and core content is quickly updated and recycled
Evolved donor proposal example
PRH PROPOSAL NARRATIVE (Total 3-10 pages)
• Executive Summary: Amount requested;
proposed grant duration; total project
budget, duration, and other sources of
funding; intended outcomes, primary
activities and expected challenges; key staff
and consultants
• Organizational Background
• Organizational experience and capacity
• Organization’s sustainability strategy
• Proposal Details
 Description: Long-term goal; Short-term
outcomes; major activities; assumptions
 Evidence showing a need for the project
 Project phases and timeline
 Monitoring and evaluation plan
 Outcomes and Indicators Table
 Project Budget and Narrative

7. 7
Time and effort can be saved by the PDL splitting the elements amongst
relevant teams
Activity & insights to date
Standard elements Source
Organization history & key results Strategic Philanthropy
Organization capacity & sustainability strat PDL
Organization affiliations (Supporters etc.) Strategic Philanthropy
Historical & future financial indicators Finance
80g, FCRA & certificates of incorporation Finance
Board members & backgrounds Finance
Project specific elements Source
Proposal details – introduction PDL
Outcomes & Activities PDL
Project phases / operational plan PDL
Monitoring & evaluation plan PDL
Dissemination plan PDL
Budget narrative PDL
PDL
A
B
C

8. 8
Time and effort can be saved by taking a structured approach
1) Agree on Outcomes and Activities
- Core part of the proposal and where essential iteration happens
2) Develop the Operational Plan
- Build on the O&A. Who does what and when – how feasible is it?
3) Create the budget narrative
- The business model. Chance to understand if the proposal is affordable
4) Create the overall narrative
- Selling the organization, the concept and the ability to deliver it
Order of proposal tackling: Project specific elements
Ensure focus on Outcomes & Activities & with the right seniority of team
Ensure alignment of proposal to ongoing programs & targeted outcomes

9. 9
Time and effort can be saved by taking a structured approach
Task Target time Teams involved
1) Agree on Activities and Outcomes 1-2 days
- Core part of the proposal and where essential iteration happens
Order of proposal tackling

10. 10
Aside on Theory of Change, Log frames and Results frameworks
See also: www.linkedin.com/pulse/theory-change-vs-logic-model-ann-murray-brown

11. 11
Watch outs & best practice in the proposal documents
Watch outs
- Ensure full team and buy in at start to minimize extended process
- Carefully manage applications to multiple donors for the same work
- ensure there are clearly owned deliverables by each funder
- If multiple donors, ensure unpopular and popular deliverables are shared
- Do manpower budgets at designation level and not at personal level
Best practice
- Use previous proposals as the base for new ones – see following resource
- Ensure teams supplying content are warned in good time
- Ensure exact specs of submission are shared (word count, format etc)
- Use case studies as short cuts to explain the breadth of our work
- Ensure Contracts team and Finance team have signed off content
And finally…
- Sense check on the time that will be allocated vs. $ raised ($20k+ / day?)

12. 12
Aside on Theory of Change, Log frames and Results frameworks
Theory of Change
In practice, a Theory of Change typically:
• Gives the big picture
• Shows all the different pathways
• Describes how and why you think
change happens
• “if we do X then Y will
change because…”
• A diagram with narrative text.
• The diagram is flexible and doesn’t
have a particular format
• Describes why you think one box will
lead to another box
• Is mainly used as a tool for program
design and evaluation
Logical Framework
In practice, a Logical Framework:
• Gives a detailed description
• Shows how the program activities will
lead to the immediate outputs, the
outcomes and goal
• “we plan to do X which will give Y
result”
• When a matrix = logframe
• When a flow chart = logic model.
• The diagram is linear and includes
space for risks and assumptions
• Doesn’t include evidence for why you
think one thing will lead to another.
• Is mainly used as a tool for
monitoring

13. 13
Aside on Theory of Change, Log frames and Results frameworks
Theory of Change
In practice, a Theory of Change typically:
• Gives the big picture, including issues related to the environment or context that you
can’t control.
• Shows all the different pathways that might lead to change, even if those pathways
are not related to your program.
• Describes how and why you think change happens.
• Could be used to complete the sentence “if we do X then Y will change because…”.
• Is presented as a diagram with narrative text.
• The diagram is flexible and doesn’t have a particular format – it could include
include cyclical processes, feedback loops, one box could lead to multiple other
boxes, different shapes could be used, etc.
• Describes why you think one box will lead to another box (e.g. if you think increased
knowledge will lead to behaviour change, is that an assumption or do you have
evidence to show it is the case?).
• Is mainly used as a tool for program design and evaluation.

14. 14
Aside on Theory of Change, Log frames and Results frameworks
Logical Framework
In practice, a Logical Framework:
• Gives a detailed description of the program showing how the program activities will
lead to the immediate outputs, and how these will lead to the outcomes and
goal (the terminology used varies by organisation).
• Could be used to complete the sentence “we plan to do X which will give Y result”.
• When shown as a matrix it is called a logframe. It can also be shown as a flow chart,
in which case it is called a logic model.
• Is linear, which means that all activities lead to outputs which lead to outcomes and
the goal – there are no cyclical processes or feedback loops.
• Includes space for risks and assumptions, although these are usually only basic.
Doesn’t include evidence for why you think one thing will lead to another.
• Is mainly used as a tool for monitoring.