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HOW TO INCREASE SUPPORT FOR YOUR PROPOSALS

11/2/2020

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DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THE PROPOSALS YOU SUBMIT GO INTO A BLACK HOLE?

Do you sometimes wonder why your proposals, once sent, don’t actually turn into projects? All that effort and ... nothing.

We all want our proposals to be successful. After all, we put a lot of effort into them – and we know that implementing the proposal is going to benefit end-users. But donors are just not responding.

There are many reasons why a proposal might not get a response. Let’s look at a few here.


1. THE PROPOSAL’S OUTCOMES DO NOT REFLECT THE DONOR'S AREA OF CONCERN

Well, that’s a big issue. If the proposal doesn’t offer value, if it doesn’t align with the donor’s strategic objectives, or address a national, regional or global priority, it’s very unlikely to get your donors excited.

2. THE ISSUE DOES NOT STRIKE THE READER AS SIGNIFICANT

While this may be because it doesn’t match the donor’s interests, it could be something else. The most important part of a proposal is the problem description. This is where you ‘sell’ the need for the project. So, even if you have an amazing project that fully lines up with you donor’s interests, you still not have convinced them because you just didn’t explain the problem well enough.

3. THE PROPOSAL IS POORLY WRITTEN AND HARD TO UNDERSTAND

One of the reasons we fail to get our message across is simply that we didn’t explain the problem well enough. But there’s the rest, too – the background, the project description, explaining how the project will be monitored and managed, as well as the budget. It may be hard to follow because the ideas are organised poorly and the main ideas don’t come through; or the writing may lack clarity.

4. THE WRITER DID NOT FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES

Donors need to evaluate proposals in a consistent way. Ignoring the guidelines or template is another sure way to have your proposal rejected without consideration.

HOW TO INCREASE SUPPORT FOR YOUR PROPOSALS

Clearly, then, we need to firstly identify projects that our donors are likely to support. This means a project which firstly offers VALUE. It needs to align with the donor’s strategic plans, or contribute to a national, regional or global development goal.

We also need to demonstrate that we have support towards solving this problem. That support can be internal (i.e. it is in line with your own organisation’s purpose and mandate) as well as the support of key stakeholders such as government, NGOs and other institutions.

And the project needs to be where you have comparative advantage. What unique skills do you have that means you can do this better than others? What do you bring to the table in terms of capacity, reputation and experience?

Once the project is identified, of course you will also need a project plan – as well as the skills to organise that proposal well, express your ideas clearly and convince your donor that:


  • There is a problem that deserves their attention
  • There is a solution
  • You have the ability to deliver

You can learn all these skills in our online training on Project Planning & Proposal Writing.

Learn what makes proposals successful and how to identify a project your donors will support. Learn the steps of project design as well as the key skills of writing a persuasive project proposal.

Start delivering proposals that your donors actually want to support.


PROJECT PLANNING & PROPOSAL WRITING ONLINE TRAINING
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HOW TO WRITE A WINNING CONCEPT NOTE

4/11/2019

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Having a good project matters, obviously – something based around solving a genuine problem within the target group or community. And elsewhere, we’ve discussed this – Problem Analysis, Stakeholder Analysis, and other steps to designing a project that genuinely gets results – positive changes for the stakeholders.

But organising those ideas into a well-organised concept note that persuades donors to support your project can be a challenge for many.

Your concept note / proposal needs to do three things.

Firstly, it has to convince the reader there is a problem that needs to be solved. Next, it has to show that there is a solution. And, finally, you need to convince the reader of your ability to make that happen.

So here’s a template you can use when organising your project ideas into a concept note / proposal that will persuade your donor of those things.

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WHY MOST REPORTS ARE USELESS

10/12/2018

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Sometimes I can't believe how useless so many development reports are.

Seriously.

Monitoring reports are NOT just about numbers. They're not about ticking boxes.

We did this. We did that.

So what?
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A HOUSE OF CARDS

2/12/2018

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I love metaphors, and here's one.

Reporting is a house of cards.
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At the top we have our evaluation. This is where we reflect on EVERYTHING. The project's over, and it's time to hand over to the community, pack up and go home and say 'job done'.

But how do we know that we succeeded?

And how do we even define success?

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THE STEPS OF REPORTING

14/9/2018

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Writing reports - we seem to do a lot of it.

And no-one can deny it matters - tracking outputs and progress towards higher-level results, helping management make decisions that steer projects, and of, course, accountability to our donors and other stakeholders - yes, reports do matter.

In over 20 years training people to write better, I know having an understanding of Professional Writing and following a writing process helps a great deal.

But I've Also Seen Many Humanitarian Workers - Managers Included - Don't Seem To Have A Logical Approach To Reporting.

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HOW TO WRITE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

12/9/2018

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STILL TRYING TO FINISH THAT REPORT?

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As humanitarian and community development workers, we seem to do an awful lot of writing - proposals, field reports, evaluations, case studies ... reporting to donors and stakeholders on project results.

Of course, reporting is an important part of any MELS / accountability system. And while for many of us collecting and analysing the data isn't such an issue, communicating is - especially if English isn't our first language.

And are we supposed to write like those fancy UN reports we see when we are telling stories from the field?

And What Is Professional Writing Anyway?

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