Project design and evaluation proposal writing.pptx

how to write a project proposal and how to do log frame budget etc

1. Project Design & Evaluation Course ID: HSC-541 Dr. Zenat Zebin Hossain Assistant Professor DPH, IUB

2. Designing Project Proposal

3. Before writing a project proposal Transform your vision (idea) into a project proposal. A logical framework may help you to structure this idea in a systematic way, and clearly define the aim, purpose, outputs, activities, means, costs and the methodologies for monitoring and evaluation, and will thus from the basis for the preparation of the narrative of the proposal. Find the right program for you and your idea. It is necessary to find out in advance what sources of funding are available, through governments, international cooperation agencies, some international NGOs or private foundations. Continuously look for the RFA (Request for Applications) Build a project proposal team, a leader will be needed to manage the proposal development in an efficient way, and therefore it is advisable to assign the lead role to one specific person. Bring in the necessary expertise to the project: Experts with more detailed technical knowledge, finance expert etc.

4. Donor mapping A Donor mapping is a tailored research document that identifies donor prospects and/or grant opportunities for your organisation or project/program. It is built around your specific needs (i.e. sectors, countries of operation or types such as foundations, governments, etc.) and includes contact details, program priorities and application information.

5. Benefits A donor mapping helps you to: Raise more money for your NGO or social business/origanisation Increase your project or program portfolio Broaden your donor base and reduce the risk of donor dependency Increase the fundraising capacity of your staff

6. Mapping May Include Donors: foundations, governments (i.e. USAID, DFID, EU), funds, UN agencies, development banks, NGOs, business incubators, crowdfunding, impact investors, etc. Sectors: agriculture & rural development, health, education, economic development, climate change, energy, disability, food security, governance, peace & conflict resolution Countries: Eligible countries might include all developing countries

7. Steps for Proposal Application Set the fund seeking strategy: Finalize if you need the short term or long-term funding. Looking for RFAs (Request for Application s related to grants) focusing on your thematic area or geography where you work; or Looking for funds and expanding or diversifying your work and strategy accordingly.

8. 2. Start donor mapping Some key headings in a typical Donor Mapping Matrix are Donor Prospect Name, Key focus themes, geographical presence, funding mechanisms, current partners/ projects funded, typical budget, etc. Example of online portal about funding information from various donors: https://www.fundsforngos.org/ 3. Donor research strategy Search for the same thematic areas or the cause they support, geography or type, and magnitude of support you seek and they offer. To understand the capacities of the donors, it would be helpful to look at the projects and organizations these donors have funded in the past and the ones they are funding currently to get an idea of the magnitude of the support. Prioritize the application according to funding application timeline C heck the eligibility criteria for applying for all your prospective opportunities to seek funds

9. 4. Application Process and Considerations U nderstand their application process and requirements in detail Compile the d ocuments required for the application Y ou can work on the application while you receive the required information and documents Develop a timeline for proposal preparation Understand criteria used to evaluate proposals Understand the review process and reviewers Write the proposal logically and clearly Prepare budget with a strong justification Hold a kick-off meeting: It is helpful to discuss and develop the proposal in a small team and share drafts with experts of all relevant disciplines not just from within the administration, but also from outside it.

10. RFA (Request For Application) A request for application (RFA) is a type of solicitation notice in which an organization announces that grant funding is available. An RFA informs researchers and other organizations that they may present bids on how the funding could be used. An RFA will include an outline of the project in question and how applications will be evaluated. An RFA will also include the timing of both the submission and evaluation process and more key information A request for application is commonly associated with  government agencies  and  non-profit institutions , as these organizations are more likely than non-governmental agencies to release money in the form of grants. 

11. What is in RFA ?  Outline of the project in question, H ow applications will be evaluated, T he timing of both the submission and evaluation process M ore key information.

12. Example https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/rfa-innovative-water-infrastructure-workforce-development-program https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-14-013.html

13. Designing Project Proposal Concept Note Project Proposal

14. Concept Note A concept note is a summary of a proposal containing a brief description of the idea of the project and the objectives to be pursued. A brief outline of your proposed project. Sometimes, funding agencies require a concept note before the submission of a full proposal, in order to decide whether the proposed project is in line with the priorities of the program and to eliminate proposals that are not likely to be funded.

15. Facts In order to prepare a successful concept note, you will have to spend time carefully thinking and planning the action. Most donor agencies request a minimum of three pages to a maximum of five pages. (3000 words) Should be catchy, writing is very important.

16. Advantages Concept notes have many advantages for seeking funds, as it practically gives a framework for ideas when they are organised on paper. It is also the first expression of the project and gives the flexibility for the organisation to work and re-work on idea before presenting it to the donor. Concept papers help donor assess whether or not the proposed project is aligned with its funding priorities and enables them to offer suggestions to the applicant before the submission of a full proposal. As a concept note is much shorter than a full project proposal, less time and resources are needed to prepare a full project proposal.

17. Structure of a Concept Note Title Background Objectives Outputs Activities & duration Impacts Monitoring and evaluation plan Budget (If requested by the donor)

18. What is a Project Proposal? The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing organisation 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 detailed description of a series of activities aimed at solving a certain problem. If a donor give green signal on concept note, a detail description of the proposal is needed. Not always concept note is looked for.

19. What is a Project Proposal? The proposal should contain a detailed explanation of the: background and justification of the project; activities and implementation timeline; methodology; and human, material and financial resources required.

20. Issues to be considered ■ Beneficiaries of the project ■ Project team and cooperative partners ■ Success criteria ■ Goal and objectives ■ Methods chosen to achieve project goal ■ Costs and expenditures ■ Own contribution ■ Potential funders

21. Considerations for Each Planning Step-1 Step Element Considerations 1 Identifying the Goal, Objectives, Background of the project, results expected and target group Defined goal and objectives The societal vision of the organisation Expected short-term and long-term results Beneficiaries of the project Problems solved by the project 2 Content of the project Theme and main issues to be covered Methods chosen to realise the goal and objectives Activities to be implemented Further needs to continue the project 3 Project location(s) and time schedule of activities Location of different activities Duration of the project Starting and ending dates of the project Schedule for individual activities Summarised timeline of the project 4 Resources Human resources Financial resources Infrastructure

22. Considerations for Each Planning Step-2 5 6 7 Step Element Considerations 5 Cost/income sources Detailed budget by activities and cost types Rate and form of own contribution Potential funders and sources of income 6 Description of the implementing organization Description of the implementing organization and partners Capacity & capability analysis of the implementing organization Description of cooperative partners Analysis of partners’ capacity and capability 7 Project team and management The project coordinator Communication method of the project team Communication strategy and practice with the external environment 8 Monitoring, evaluation and follow-up Success criteria of the project Methods and timing of monitoring and evaluation Further plans and follow up

23. Format of the Project Proposal If a funder does not specify order of information, the generic structure offers a pattern to follow. Sometimes, funders specify the exact order of information for a proposal and do not explicitly ask for all the generic proposal slots. The structure is determined by the nature of the project as well as by the funding agency’s requirements.

24. Format of the Project Proposal In the variety of formats, application forms, project design outlines, and grant application guidelines, it is possible to detect some common elements. Title Content page Abstract Context/Background/Current situation/Introduction Aim and Objectives Project plan/Methods/Activities Expected outcomes/End results Qualifications/Human resources Activity plan (Schedule) Resource plan Costs (Budget) Benefits

25. Title The title page : the project title, the name of the lead organization (and potential partners, if any), the place and date of project preparation and the name of the donor agency to whom the proposal is addressed. (Depending on the donor’s requirement) Title : The project title should be short, concise, and preferably refer to a certain key project result or the leading project activity. Project titles that are too long or too general fail to give the reader an effective snapshot of what is inside

26. Effective and Ineffective Project Titles (Examples) Effective Combating Cholera caused by Climate Change in Bangladesh Ineffective Protecting climate change affected low-income population from cholera in Bangladesh

27. Content Page If the total project proposal is longer than 10 pages, it is helpful to include a table of contents at the start of the document. The contents page enables readers to quickly find relevant parts of the document. It should contain the title and beginning page number of each section of the proposal.

28. Abstract/Summary The abstract should include: the problem statement , the project’s objectives , implementing organisations ; key project activities ; and the total project budget . Theoretically, the abstract should be compiled after the relevant items already exist in their long form. For a small project the abstract may not be longer than 10 lines . Bigger projects often provide abstracts as long as two pages .

29. Context/Background/Current situation/Introduction The proposal’s introduction makes a first impression on readers. This part of the project describes the social , economic , political and cultural background from which the project is initiated. It should contain relevant data from research carried out in the project planning phase or collected from other sources. Introduce the subject/subject population to readers. Explain why the subject is important to readers. Give your readers a reason to take action. State the proposal’s purpose in one sentence. Rationale : Due to its importance, this section is sometimes divided into four or more sub-sections : Problem statement Priority needs The proposed approach (type of intervention) The implementing organisation Project aims

30. Goal and Objectives Project goal (or overall objective) This is a general aim that should explain what the core problem is and why the project is important, i.e. what the long-term benefits to the target group are. Some examples of a project goal might be: raising environmental awareness; improving the quality of life in the community; and fostering social empowerment among women from deprived rural areas.

31. Objectives The goal or aim will be broken down into several objectives. The objectives should address the core problem in terms of the benefits to be received by the project beneficiaries or target group as a direct result of the project. Indicators provide the project team with a quantifiable basis on which to judge the project’s success in reaching its objectives. Example – improving the water supply in quantity X and quality Y for the population of village Z; and reducing by X the rate of acute infections by Y period.

32. Five Steps to Develop Good Objective Indicators Project objective: Reduce the rate of acute infections in the community – Quality (the nature of the indicator): Infection rates reduced; Target Group (Who?): Infection rates reduced among school children ; Place (Where?): infection rates reduced among children of Village Z ; Quantity (How much?): infection rates reduced among children of Village Z by 45 percent ; Time: infection rates among children of Village Z reduced by 45 percent by 2004 .

33. Target Group Define the target group and show how it will benefit from the project. The project should provide a detailed description of the size and characteristics of the target groups, and especially of direct project beneficiaries.

34. Project plan/Methods/Activities Should be synchronized with your objectives Forecast your major steps or methods to fulfil the objectives Be sure to sufficiently break apart complex steps so your reader can understand how you will meet your objectives. Describe “how” you will complete steps. For example, simply stating “training faculty” as one of your steps is not sufficient (this is a major step that needs to be broken down). How will you train faculty? Do you have training materials? Will you use workshops?

35. Expected outcomes/End results Results describe the services or products to be delivered to the intended beneficiaries. The results are more detailed than the objectives and the goal and should be possible to measure using objective indicators. The results would be written as: increased number of households connected to the water supply system; increased number of water taps in the village

36. Flow chart

37. References https://triple-funds.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Donor-mapping-final.pdf https://sswm.info/sswm-solutions-bop-markets/affordable-wash-services-and-products/financial-marketing-and-sales/project-proposal-writing https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/cfwriters/Graduate_Student_Writing_Resources/GrantOutline.pdf https://cpdcngo.org/download/developing-skills-of-ngo-project-proposal-writing/ https://www2.fundsforngos.org/premium-resources/how-to-research-and-identify-new-donors-for-your-ngo/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/request-for-application.asp