Tips For Writing A Proposal

For Raising In-Kind Resources | For Writing A Proposal

What do funders like to see in a proposal? The following list suggests principles to keep in mind as you proceed:

Frame your project as an innovative and unique initiative

Does your proposal reflect that your project is unique, cutting edge and innovative? Or could you project simply be an extension of a local agency that already has a budget to provide similar services to community members? The funder’s perspective is that they can only make a perceptible difference by reserving their support for programs or projects that might not be undertaken or completed without their assistance.

Fit the funder’s mandate, not yours

Funders prefer to support projects that are expressed in simple terms, and which meet a clearly identified need. Proposals that appeal to funders will speak to your needs and their interests, and will be based on a complete review of the funder’s printed and published materials.

Funders must balance competing interests through their funding decisions. Whereas funding agencies used to have general categories of support such as social sciences and humanities, today the divisions reflect a more mission-oriented approach to grant support. With the current trend toward narrowing the parameters of grant support, you should make an extra effort to relate your project to the interests and aspirations of the funder.

Express your ideas clearly and thoughtfully

If the mental health promotion project you are proposing is well planned, the application should reflect that. Agencies fund projects that build on logical arguments. They don’t fund good ideas; they fund projects they can defend.

Watch your language

Write your proposal using simple and understandable language. Where appropriate, use the terms used by the funding agency, and change your language to match the purpose of each section of the application. Every sentence should be calculated.

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Build community support

Most organizations that make grants will want to know that your ideas have community support. This is because, generally speaking, part of a funder’s mission is to serve the community. If you can build support before you start, that can be a big point in your favour.

There are several ways of generating community support for your project. If you’ve followed the steps outlined in the previous chapters of this tool kit, you’ve undoubtedly already got a great deal of community support, from organizations and individuals in the community.

Identify your group’s contribution to the project and demonstrate this support to the funder through a detailed account of in-kind and other resources promised or already contributed to the project.

Keep track of the time you and others have spent researching and planning your mental promotion project. If you are working for an organization that supports your work, your hours will count as donated staff time. If you are volunteering, think about how much it would cost to purchase your time, and include this dollar figure as your group’s contribution to the project.

Circulate an outline

Circulating an outline of your proposal as a rough draft, and seeking feedback will help build community support for your ideas, and will also serve to:

• validate (or occasionally, fail to validate) community interest in the idea;
• get others actively interested in the project;
• make it easier to obtain formal letters of support in a full-scale application, if they are needed;
• provide useful corrective feedback about your idea - others may think of points you hadn’t thought of before.

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Seek the input and advice of others

Most of the time, you’ll want to gather the input of others in planning your grant application. Even if those people aren’t experts in proposal writing, they may have interesting content ideas, good strategic thoughts, and often bits of specialized knowledge which one person alone will rarely have. And even if they don’t provide input on any of those areas specifically, they can provide you with the support you need to get the job done.

When you do have a proposal draft, perhaps you know of a person with expertise in the area who would be willing to review your draft and give advice. Their expertise could take several forms - knowledge of the field of mental health promotion, a general understanding of how funding agencies work, or a particular familiarity with the funder you’re applying to.

Tell them a little bit about yourself

Funders are very interested in finding out about you, the people responsible for carrying out the proposed mental health promotion project. They want to know if you have the experience and competence necessary to carry out the project. It’s important, therefore, to describe the ‘human element’ of your project - the background and accomplishments of those individuals who will play a leading role in the project.

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Identify organizational commitment

While it may not always be possible, or even preferable, for mental health promotion projects to be affiliated with a certain institution, funding agencies tend to prefer to support projects that have some measure of organizational or institutional commitment.

This commitment can take several forms. It may mean that the project is actually housed within a certain organization², (such as Inclusion in Community and Helping Skills projects, which were housed within CMHA). Or it may simply mean that you have established a relationship with local institutions and organizations that will lend your project conceptual credence and some material support.

Either type of commitment provides funders with evidence of your project’s accountability, as well as an indication that the activities of the project will be sustained after the initial funding runs out. Make sure to refer to in-kind support you have received for examples of concrete kinds of organizational commitment.

Include a budget

Funders need to have a clear understanding of what they are being asked to support and what others (both additional outside sources and, if there is one, the sponsoring organization) will contribute. That’s why it’s important to include a simple line item budget along with your proposal, to show how you intend to spend the funds you are requesting.

What financial or in-kind contributions (such as staff hours, administrative assistance, goods and services) are being made from other sources? Provide a detailed account of any other funds or resources you have accessed. Putting a dollar value on these resources demonstrates that you have already raised both funding and community support for your initiative.

Although the kind of items that will appear on budgets will vary greatly across projects, there are a few helpful rules of thumb and new ideas to help you set up your budget:

• A minimum of 10% of the total financial resources should be allocated to evaluation;
  
  
• You might want to include an amount for honouraria, to recognize the hard work put in by your volunteers - especially those with limited incomes;
  
  
• Many funders will support the development of internet-based resources, such as a project web page. This will help you to publicize and disseminate the Iearnings of your project, and the funder will appreciate the publicity they will receive by having their name on your website.

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Include an evaluation plan

The ability to critically assess the value of the process and the outcomes of your project is crucial to its overall success, and funders want to see that you have a well-thought-out plan for doing so. Your proposal should include a detailed breakdown of the procedures you will use to evaluate the success of the project.

Have a plan for spreading the word

It’s important to address how the results and Iearnings from your project will be disseminated. Funders are increasingly interested in finding ways in which the results of their funded activities can be shared with a larger audience than just those receiving the grant. They want to see how you can generate broadly applicable themes, wide participation and meaningful impact from the thoughtful use of scarce resources.

Funding agencies often want to support projects that can serve as models or examples that could help other communities and organizations achieve similar goals. Try to articulate why you are in a good position to take a leadership role in mental health promotion, how your project has evolved, and its potential to contribute innovations well beyond your immediate community.

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Ensure sustainability

Just as crucial as providing a clear explanation of the importance of you project is including a discussion of how your project will be supported when the funding period ends. Funders prefer that community mental health promotion initiatives an activity that they may have helped launch.

Tell them if you’re applying for other sources of funding

Funders are interested in knowing if you are submitting requests for funding to other agencies, of if you have other parallel fundraising strategies on the go. Try to show them that you are thinking creatively about how to leverage funds from a variety of sources.

Make a visual impact

Your proposal should be clearly laid out and double-spaced, with an introduction, a statement of need, and a plan of action. Appropriate headings and sections should be included so that the reader can easily identify each major point that is being made.

The proposal should be submitted with a cover letter highlighting the main points of the proposal, and most importantly, indicating why the project is a priority and has the support of the community. A statement such as this is important because it calls the funder’s attention to the significance of the project and implicitly, suggests that the proposal should be reviewed with the same amount of attention that went into the preparation.

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Follow up with the funder

It’s a good idea to work with a grants officer at the funding agency as much as possible through the entire process of developing your request. Your proposal will have a much better chance of being considered for funding if it has been preceded by contact with staff of the agency and/or an inquiry letter:

Keep in touch with the potential funder to answer any questions they may have and update them on any new developments relevant to your proposal. Build in a strategy to seek the funder’s advice and assistance in locating other funding sources, especially if your request is declined.

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