Once the groundwork has been completed, proposal writing can commence. The key decision to be made at this stage is the structure of the project proposal (including the content and length). The structure is determined by the nature of the project as well as by the funding agency’s requirements. In the variety of formats, application forms, project design outlines, and grant application guidelines, it is possible to detect some common elements.
Proposed Format
Title page
A title page should appear on proposals longer than three to four pages. The title page should indicate the project title, the name of the lead organisation (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.
Project title
The project title should be short, concise, and preferably refer to a certain key projectresult 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
Contents page
If the total project proposal is longer than 10 pages it is helpful to include a table of contents at the start or end 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.
Abstract
Many readers lack the time needed to read the whole project proposal. It is therefore useful to insert a short project summary an abstract. 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
Context
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. The writer should take into consideration the need for a balance between the length of this item and the size of the overall project proposal. Large amounts of relevant data should be placed in an annex.
