How to Write a Proposal to get Funds for NGO Prt5

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.

Strategies in a project can include:

• Capacity-building/ awareness raising
• Organizational development
• Research & Development
• Advocacy
• Victim Support Strategy
• Micro-finance and CBO development Strategy
• Participatory Infrastructure Development Strategy

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 SHGs and cooperatives
• Building irrigation tanks, demo plots etc

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

Activities are usually listed out in a Gantt Chart. A Gantt Chart is a kind of a time table of all project activities given along with the role and responsibilities of the project staff.

Performance Indicators
A Performance 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.
There are 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” and Results Indicators refer to the indicators that indicate the result achieved from the implementing the activity like ‘number of women aware about gender rights.”

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 as we go down and down implementing the project.
For example, ‘Government policies/ officials are supportive of the project activities’ or ‘ongoing peace and stability may get hampered by sporadic violence.’

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.
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.”

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.”

Monitoring and Evaluation

Although it is the responsibility of the donor to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the project, 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 Management Information Systems (MIS) is often used as a mechanism to undertake monitoring. The baseline information is critical to the monitoring process.
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.

Budgeting and Packaging your Proposal
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. It there is any recurring income from the project activities, it needs to be clearly given in the budget section.

Proposal Packaging

When the proposal writing is complete, it is important to ensure that the packaging has been done properly before submitting it to the donor. Below are some important points to be kept in mind while packaging the proposal.

• the 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
• 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