Writing Project Proposals

This course was designed by LEAD International as a resource for assisting learners to develop effective project proposals. For the purpose of this course, we have defined a project as an initiative to achieve specific goals that are related to, but go beyond, the normal mandate of an organization or institution, and require additional resources beyond the usual capacity of the organization or institution. A project usually has: a fixed time span, specific activities designed to achieve certain objectives, and provision for evaluation to ensure the project meets its goals. By the time you have completed the course, you will have reviewed all the steps required to develop and complete a project proposal that conforms to commonly accepted requirements of funding agencies. You may already be quite familiar with certain aspects of writing project proposals, therefore the course has been designed to be flexible to meet your own learning objectives. The course is broken down into three units that provide tools for the various stages of developing a project and raising funds for it: Unit 1: Project Concept Development - this is the first and most important step in writing an effective project proposal is to develop a sound project concept. The project concept describes the ideas about what can be done within a specified period of time to deal with a particular problem or situation; a situation that requires more time and resources than is normally available to an organization. It represents a collective vision of those directly involved in planning the project. This Unit provides a set of steps you can follow to develop a sound project concept. Estimated length of time required to complete on your own is 2.5 Hours. Unit 2: Identifying and approaching potential funders: the purpose of this unit is to provide some tools to assist you in identifying and approaching potential funders for a project. A funder is any agency that provides financial support for a project, and can include governmental organizations, intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, foundations and for-profit organizations. Estimated length of time required to complete on your own is 2.5 Hours. Unit 3: Writing and assessing a project proposal: the purpose of this unit is to provide you with some tools to write effective project proposals (or strengthen your current skills). It uses a project proposal template that includes the type of information requested in most funders' application forms. The unit is divided into two parts. The two parts are related to the two stages you should go through when you write a project proposal. Part One of this unit deals with writing the draft project proposal, and Part Two provides some tools to help you assess the project proposal and finalize it. Once the proposal is finalized, you are ready to send it to the funder. Estimated length of time required to complete on your own is 3 Hours. How to proceed? This course has been developed to be a flexible learning tool, suitable for different learning styles and aims. Learners can work logically through the units in the course, completing the exercises as appropriate, or the sections of the course can be tailored to individuals' learning objectives. The course is designed so that each unit can be taken independently of the other. For example, if your main goal is to learn about how to approach funders for your project, but you already have a good knowledge of project concept development and proposal writing, then we recommend that you proceed directly to Unit 2: Identifying and Approaching Potential Funders.

Table of Contents:
About This Course Instructions Anduga Case Study Unit 1 - Project Concept Development Unit 2 - Identifying and Approaching Funders Unit 3 - Writing and Assessing a Project Proposal Tools Bibliography Glossary

About the Author :
LEAD Background and History LEAD is an international non-profit organization with a fast growing network of 1600 leaders in more than 80 countries. Our shared mission is to inspire leadership for a sustainable world. We do this by searching worldwide for outstanding people, developing their leadership potential through innovative training programmes and working with them to mobilise others to make a real difference to the future of this planet. In 1991, the founders of LEAD identified the urgent need for a generation of new leaders for a new world. We began to recruit leaders, mostly from developing countries, and built strong relationships with them through intensive training and both face-to-face and virtual networking. We believe that in order to build a sustainable world, we need to build bridges between people, professions, and countries. LEAD's training and action network is coordinated through an international secretariat based at Imperial College London. There are fourteen LEAD Member Programme offices across the world. LEAD Training and Capacity Development These LEAD centres deliver training programmes that challenge traditional notions of leadership with progressive participatory techniques. Our trainees learn through multi-stakeholder dialogue, whole systems thinking, and inclusive cross-cultural processes. We train business executives, government officials, academics, NGO directors, activists, education and media professionals. Our multi-lingual training team works with top-level experts and practitioners from around the world who focus on emerging topics relevant to leadership and sustainable development. Each year since 1991, an average of up to 200 LEAD Fellows have graduated from our core training programme. Fellows gain first hand experiences of the problems facing their own and other countries and learn how to work effectively in teams to find solutions. We equip these "rising stars" with the skills and knowledge to make them valuable leaders in their own countries and on the world stage. LEAD also constantly works with like-minded partner organizations to co-design and develop new leadership programmes and training resources. Training courses and learning events for international organizations and various national bodies are developed and delivered, as are specialist publications in print and electronic format. LEAD Action Network In addition to delivering high quality leadership training, LEAD is committed to achieving real change through our global action network. We encourage our leaders to turn their ideas into action, become dynamic change-agents and build initiatives for a sustainable world. LEAD provides long-term support for individuals striving to find solutions to their countries' problems and we keep our leaders in touch with each other through in-country meetings, web services and peer learning initiatives. We identify best practice within our network and provide information to partners about our leaders most innovative policies and projects. LEAD also builds multi-stakeholder partnerships to develop and implement the network's best ideas and replicate them in other countries. LEAD sets targets and priorities within sustainable development for its leaders to collaborate on. These action programs mobilize and harness the collective talent, vision and synergy in this unique network.