Introduction
For non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to achieve their objectives, they need direct funding for their projects. The key to their success lies in crafting project proposals that are precise, comprehensive, and tailored to their needs. To achieve this, NGOs must adopt a cohesive approach to project management.
This guide aims to provide a foundation for conducting training sessions that focus on the process and final outcome of project design.
A project proposal is a detailed description of a series of activities aimed at solving a certain problem. The proposal should contain a detailed explanation of the:
- Justification of the project;
- Activities and implementation timeline;
- Methodology; and
- Human, material and financial resources required
The project proposal should be a detailed and directed manifestation of the project design. It is a means of presenting the project to the outside world in a format that is immediately recognised and accepted.
The training sessions on project proposal writing aim to create an understanding of:
- the role of the project proposal and the activities related to each stage;
- how to deal with projects and project proposals from an organisational perspective;
- how project proposals fit into project management; and
- how to structure a good project proposal
Objective of the Guide
This guide will lead trainers through project proposal writing sessions and exercises.
It enables the user to:
- improve participants’ skills in developing quality project proposals;
- show them how to manage projects within an organisation; and
- help them to understand a project’s value as a tool to achieve and further the organisation’s mission.
The challenges that come out of these problem areas can be classified into three groups:
- Enhancing skills and organisational procedures
- Learning proposal-writing techniques, as well as developing skills in designing and
- writing successful project proposals, is the objective of most participants
- Establishing systems and standards related to developing projects within the NGOs is also a key objective
- Understanding the role of project proposals in project management
- The project proposal is a tool — not a goal. It should be followed as closely as possible, and deviations should occur only when necessary.
- Proposal writing is only one of the phases of project It is one of the numerous actions that form a logical sequence of events usually referred to as the project cycle.
- Conducting preparatory work prior to proposal writing
A quality project proposal is the final product of a participatory process that involves considerable study, discussion and learning from past experiences.
