This presentation helps to understand the process of proposal writing for NGO.

1. Introduction to Proposal Writing
Khalid Saifullah
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2. What is
Proposal?
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3. Proposal
• An essential marketing document that helps cultivate an
initial professional relationship between an organization and
a donor over a project to be implemented.
• The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing about
the project, giving extensive information about the intention,
for implementing it, the ways to manage it and the results to
be delivered from it.
• A proposal is a very important document. In some cases,
a concept note precedes a proposal, briefing the basic facts of
the project idea.
• The proposal has a framework that establishes ideas formally
for a clear understanding of the project for the donor.
• Unless the ideas are not documented in writing, they do not
exist. 3

4. Proposal
• Enormous opportunities existing in the sector
have led to the trend of making proposal
writing a profession.
• Proposal writing poses many challenges,
especially for small and unskilled NGOs.
• We discuss some basic and necessary
information required for developing a
proposal based on our experiences.
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5. Problems in
Proposal Writing
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6. Problems in Proposal Writing
• Difficult Formats
• Language
• Putting problems in to solution
• Fear of rejection
• Tight Deadlines
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7. Before Writing a Proposal…..
• Do some research, go to the communities
• Consult with relevant stake holders
• Check donor’s priorities, strategy paper
• Previously funded projects history
• SWOT of your organization
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8. General Proposal
Format
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9. General Proposal Format
• Organizational Background
• Problem Statement
• Rationale or Justification for implementing the
Project
• Project Goal & Objectives
• Strategy & Activities
• Results: Outputs and Outcomes
• Budget
• Implementation Plan
• LFA
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10. Problem
Statement?
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11. Writing Problem Statement/Project
Rationale in a Proposal
• An explanation about the issue that is being addressed by
the proposed project.
• It also argues in favour of implementing the project in the
proposed area in the existing conditions.
• Providing evidences of what we are writing in this section
of the proposal. Evidence can be in form of other research,
secondary data or data collected by the organization itself.
• It has to be precise and point-to-point basis.
• Use of quotes, live examples, references, research data and
press articles would be very helpful.
• It has to be very specific to donor issues and priorities.
• Giving references of other NGOs, Governmental work in the
area working against the same problem would be useful.
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12. Problem Statement
• Country, region, area details (location in
region, government, population etc);
• Poverty information, including information on
the state of the economy
• Employment/unemployment
• Gender issues
• HIV / AIDS situation
• Health and education
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13. Problem Statement
• What do you want to communicate?
• Who are your audiences?
• What do you want them to do?
• What do you need to tell them?
• The History and Experience of your
organization
• Background (area, theme etc)
• Current Similar Actions
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14. Problem Statement-Example
• For example, suppose there is high child mortality rate in
our project area and we wish to put up a proposal on it, we
cannot mention this as a problem because this is an effect
of a problem, while the problem is something else. In this
case, it could be the prevalence of diarrhea that is leading
to high child mortality. So the problem here is “the
prevalence of diarrhea” and not “high child mortality rate.”
• It is also necessary to mention the cause of the problem
because it is an integral part of the project implementation.
In this scenario, the cause of the problem for the
prevalence of diarrhea could be the “poor knowledge of
the community about proper hygiene and sanitation.”
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15. Effect > Problem > Cause
• The relationship between the three (Effect,
Problem and Cause) has to be outlined in the
Problem Statement of the proposal. If we have
an issue, it will be a good exercise to go a step
back and forth to find out its cause and effect
relationship. The best way to understand the
cause of an issue is to ask “Why”
continuously. This will help reveal the cause of
the problem. A problem can have many causes
and effects.
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16. The Why?
• Projects evolve out of identified problems
• It is the problem that comes before a project
• The secret of solving a problem is proper
identification of the problem. This requires a
thorough participatory investigation.
• A problem does not happen in isolation. It
goes hand in hand with cause and effect.
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17. Analyzing Problem
• A way to analyze a problem is through analyzing the root
causes and its effects.
• State the problem as effectively and precisely as possible
• Refer to any research data that is available, including
publications, reports, newspapers etc.
• Give a narration of community perception with quotes.
• Check back how well it matches with the donor guidelines
or issues.
• Give thorough background information about the region,
community and resources available.
• Explain the organizational strength and capacity in
countering this problem and achieving long-term results.
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18. Project Goal?
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19. Project Goal
• A project goal is a very general, high-level and long-term
objective of the project.
• It is different from project objectives because the latter are
very specific and have to be addressed alone by the
project. But a goal cannot be achieved by the project on its
own since there will be other forces like the Government
and other agencies as well working to achieve it.
• It is a major benchmark to compare work between
different projects.
• Usually there is one project goal only and it can be
reflected in the title of the project also.
• It should ideally support the overall policy of the
government or the donor agency.
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20. Goal-Example
• “Providing housing facilities to earthquake-
affected victims” – This cannot be a project
goal, but can be a general objective
• “Reducing the impact of natural disaster over
communities belonging to the hilly region” –
This can be a project goal, as you are
contributing to the problem in addition to
other efforts.
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21. Objectives?
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22. Writing Project Objectives
• Project Objectives should be:
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-
bound.
• Project objectives are the specific objectives for which the project
works to achieve them within a stipulated time.
• They should directly address the problem mentioned in the
Problem Statement.
• They should be specific: the more specific it is the better to design
activities, indicators and the Logical Framework Analysis.
• Specific objectives also help address the problem stated and
convince the donor easily.
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23. Writing Project Objectives
• Think about what success means for your project and how you
would show that success
• Refer to the results, you expect from the project
• Describe the focus population and the desired change among the
population
• Include the location and time period for each objective
• Reflect the intended changes in systemic conditions or behaviors
that must be achieved to accomplish the goal/strategic objective
• Objectives should have measurable indicators which show what,
when, and how conditions, behaviors, and practices will change
• Objectives must be verifiable at some point during the execution
of the project
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24. A Good Objective Can Be…
• “To increase the income-level
of women farmers from 5% to 15% in the 20
disaster prone villages of district Layyah till
December 2012”
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25. Some Relevant Words to be used while
writing Objectives
• Decrease…
• Increase…
• Strengthen…
• Improve…
• Enhance…
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26. Some Inappropriate words not to be
used while writing Objectives
• Train
• Provide
• Produce
• Establish
• Create
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27. Strategies and
Activities
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28. Strategies and Activities
• Proposals are required to outline how the
objectives of the project would be achieved.
Here, it will be necessary to mention the
strategies and the activities to be
implemented in the project.
• There is lot of difference between strategies
and activities. Strategies are broad concepts
under which activities are placed.
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29. Strategies in a project can include:
• Capacity-building/ awareness raising
• Organizational development
• Research & Development
• Advocacy
• Affected Persons Support Strategy
• Micro-finance and CBO development Strategy
• Participatory Infrastructure Development
Strategy
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30. Activities can include:
• Training workshops, street shows, rallies
• Staff selection, staff training
• Baseline, PRA, FGD
• Conferences, meetings, articles, publications
• Establishing shelter homes, counseling, legal
support
• Forming COs and cooperatives
• Building irrigation tanks, demo plots etc
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31. To develop activities:
• Refer back to the lessons learned from previous
projects.
• Identify best practices from other agencies/
projects/sources.
• Activities as identified by the communities
• Develop activities by listing numbers, so that they
can referred back easily
• Leave space for unplanned activities that can be
added later during project implementation
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32. Implementation, Co-ordination
• The type of approach, facilitation
• What others are doing?
• It is important that donors know we are co-
ordinating with other actors.
• It is useful to state which co-ordinating
mechanisms we are working with, and which
communities we intend to work with if this is
known.
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33. Indicators……
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34. Indicators
• An Indicator is a measure of the result. It gives
a sense of what has been or what is to be
achieved.
• For example, the number of households
keeping their surroundings clean and hygienic
or the number of women participating
in training programs.
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35. Types of Indicators
• There are generally two types of indicators,
namely, “Process Indicators” and “Results
Indicators.”
• Process indicators define the indicators for a
process or an activity like ‘number of women
participating in the training on gender
development”.
• Results Indicators refer to the indicators that
indicate the result achieved from the
implementing the activity like ‘number of women
aware about gender rights.”
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36. 36
Risks &
Assumptions

37. Risks & Assumptions
• Risks and Assumptions are part of the concept
based on the principle that we have less and
less control of the project results (WHY?) as
we go down and down implementing the
project.
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38. Why?
• ‘Government policies/ officials are supportive
of the project activities’ or ‘ongoing peace and
stability may get hampered by periodic
violence.’
• Communities ownership is Key
• Stakeholders involvement (Media, Politicians
etc)
• External Interferences
• Disasters
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39. Risk Analysis
• What could put your project at risk?
• How likely is it?
• What would be the impact on the project?
• What steps could be taken to avoid impact?
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40. Results?
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41. Results
• Results are changes that we
expect to take place after
implementing the project
activities. The results are
generally positive experiences
undergone by the beneficiaries.
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42. Results are divided into three types
1. Outputs
2. Outcomes
3. Impact
Outputs are immediate results that we achieve
soon after the completion the project or any
specific project activity.
For example, if a training on human rights is
carried out in a project, the output or the
immediate result of it is “a greater understanding
of human rights amongst the participants.”
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43. Results
The outcomes are results that have been or that are to
be achieved after a period of time, but not immediate.
In the above example, it could that “the participants
have gone further to communities to inform them
about human rights or carrying out policy advocacy in
favor of human rights.”
The impact is the longer-term result that has happened
because of the activities undertaken in the project. The
impact in the example given above could be “policies
are framed by the Government to protect the human
rights of the people.”
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44. 44
Monitoring &
Evaluation

45. Monitoring & Evaluation
• It usually seeks the plan from the
implementing NGO about it.
• Monitoring and evaluation enables constant
check on the activities and helps review the
progress made at every step.
• Monitoring should be the integral part of project
implementation; in fact, there should be an
internal mechanism to monitor the results, risks,
assumptions and performance regularly through
meetings and submission reports. The baseline
information is critical to the monitoring process.
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46. Monitoring & Evaluation
• Involving external entities such as donors,
government people, consultants etc in
monitoring would give a good opportunity to
collect feedback, provide exposure to the
work and also explore new options.
• Evaluation is carried out by an external agency
during the mid-term or in the end part of the
project.
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47. Sustainability
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48. • Most grant makers do not fund beyond 3
years
• Need to show how the project will continue
• Communities Ownership
• Skills and information transferred to
Communities
Sustainability
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49. Budget and Proposal Packaging
• The budget has to be itemized as clearly as
possible, presented in the required format.
• It should be in line with the activities set in the
project.
• It will be an additional advantage to mention
contribution from other sources such as the
community or other donors.
• Contribution made by the
proposing organization should also be
mentioned.
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50. Editing & Formatting
• Once you’ve written a document take a break,
ask a colleague to read through it, and then edit
for relevance of information and ease of reading.
• Make sure that the most important information is
the most prominent in the document.
• Spell-check the document.
• The layout of a document can make a huge
difference in terms of how the reader
understands the information.
• Look through the guidelines of donors
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51. Proposal Packaging
• Title Page should have Project title, name of the
donor agency and name, logo & contact info of
the NGO.
• there should be a Table of Contents
• there should be one page for explaining
acronyms
• there should be a Project Summary- not more
than one page, narrating goal, objectives, results
and activities.
• An Organizational overview
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52. Proposal Packaging
• Ensure that page numbering, header & footer
are complete.
• While writing, use active sentences more.
• Keep in mind the limit for the total no. of
pages for the proposal.
• Attach appendices, if necessary
• Give Bibliography and references.
• The proposal should be signed and sealed.
• Covering letter is essential
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53. Dos and Don’ts
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54. Be Simple
Short
&
Simple
The 10 Commandments has
only 179 words
US Declaration of
Independence has only 300
words
European Commission
Directive on a minor food
matter – 3,427 words!
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55. Successful Writing
• Use the language of the reader
• Be Simple
– Short sentences: Simple words: Short paragraphs
• Avoid jargon
• Feature real people and cases – if possible
• Communicate the need, issues
• Remove unnecessary detail
• Don’t be too clever
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56. + Points in Proposals
• Get the Name, Position and Address Right
• Easy to Read - standard fonts, sub-headings, white
paper, short paragraph
• Accurate and realistic Budget
• A clear ask
• Include an appropriate reference
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57. Effectively Communicating
with Donors
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58. Know Your Donor
Know your donor as well as you know your
friends - before you approach!
Ask the W W W W W H Questions
Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
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59. You never get a second chance to make
a first impression
Three major actions should occur:
1. Make donor feel at ease
2. Re-affirm donor’s previous
involvement with charity/cause
3. Link towards next step
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60. Remember
Don’t give up
Try to find out the ‘true’ reason for
‘No’
Ask if another time would be
more suitable
Be prepared to bargain down
“What can I do to help you say
Yes?”
Continue the positive contact
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