Once the groundwork has
been completed or an RFP (Request For Proposal), has been received, a 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 organization (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
project result 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
organizations;
• 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.
Project Context
This part of the project
describes the social, economic, political and cultural back- ground 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.
Project justification
Rationale should
be provided for the project. Due to its importance usually this section is
divided into four or more sub-sections.
Problem statement
The problem statement
provides a description of the specific problem(s) the project is trying to
solve, in order to “make a case” for the project. Furthermore, the project proposal
should point out why a certain issue is a problem for the community or society
as a whole, i.e. what negative implications affect the target group. There
should also be an explanation of the needs of the target group that appear as a
direct consequence of the described problem.
Priority needs
The needs of the target
group that have arise, as a direct negative impact of the problem should be prioritized.
An explanation as to how this decision was reached (i.e. what criteria was used)
must also be included. For example, if the problem is stated as “... poor
infrastructure in the community” the list of needs associated with this problem may be:
•
Improved water supply in quality and quantity;
•
Better roads; and
•
Improved solid waste collection.
These
three needs would then be given higher or lower priority according to the level
of importance for the community, and a description would be given of how that
decision was reached (e.g. a poll taken from the local population, costs associated
with project intervention, etc.). This procedure provides credibility to the
selected intervention.
The
proposed approach (type of intervention)
The
project proposal should describe the strategy chosen for solving the problem
and precisely how it will lead to improvement.
One way to describe the
approach related to the need previously stated as improved water supply could
be: “intervention to provide basic water supply facilities in the com- munity,”
with some description of the specific features of the solution proposed.
The implementing organization
This section should
describe the capabilities of your organization by referring to its capacity and
previous project record. Describe why exactly your organization is the most
appropriate to run the project, its connection to the local community, the
constituency behind the organization and what kind of expertise the organization
can provide. If other partners are involved in implementation provide some
information on their capacity as well.
Project aims
The first issue to deal
with is naming the objectives. Several other English terms may be used
including “project goal/aim,” “project purpose,” etc. Often one major “goal” is
declared and then broken down into various objectives.
Once this issue has been
dealt with, the hierarchy between objectives needs to be established, as well as how many
levels the hierarchy should present. In reality, an organization should have
already resolved this issue in the project-planning phase.
Project goal (or overall
objective)
This is a general aim that
should explain what the core problem is and why the project is important, i.e. what the
long-term benefits to the target group are.
Some examples of a
project goal might be:
•
Raising environmental awareness;
•
Improving the quality of life in the community;
and
•
Fostering social empowerment among women from
deprived rural areas.
Some
rules for setting a project goal are shown below in italic. If it is difficult
to follow these rules then the project itself may have to be redefined or
reconsidered.
Rules for
Setting a
Project Goal
ü
There should be only one
goal per project.
ü
The goal should be
connected to the vision for development.
It is difficult or impossible to
measure the accomplishment of the goal using
measurable indicators, but it should be possible to prove its merit and contribution to the vision.
Project objectives
The
objectives should address the core problem in terms of the benefits to be
received by the project beneficiaries or target group as a direct result of the
project as shown in Figure 6. The objectives from Figure 5 may be defined as:
• Improving the water supply in quantity X and quality Y for the
population of village Z; and
• Reducing by X the rate of acute infections.
Project objectives provide a more detailed breakdown of the project
goal. A project will likely have multiple objectives.
Project results
Results describe the
services or products to be delivered to the intended beneficiaries. This is
what the project management is promising to deliver. The results are more
detailed than the objectives and the goal, and should be possible to measure
through the use of objective indicators. Special consideration should therefore
be paid to this area.
The results should address
the main causes of the problem that the target group faces. To ensure relevant
results, project management should have correctly identified the group’s needs.
Relating back to the
previous example, the results would be written as:
• Increased number of
households connected to the water supply system; and
• Increased number of water
taps in the village.
Target group
Define the target group and
show how it will benefit from the project. The project should provide a
detailed description of the size and characteristics of the target groups, and
especially of direct project beneficiaries.
The criteria for target
group analysis may be ethnic composition, gender, age, etc. When these analyses
are more elaborate, they may be attached as an appendix.
Project implementation
The implementation plan
should describe activities and resource allocation in as much detail as
possible. It is exceptionally important to provide a good overview of who is
going to implement the project’s activities, as well as when and where. The
implementation plan may be divided into two key elements: the activity plan and the resource plan.
Activity plan (schedule)
The activity plan should
include specific information and explanations of each of the planned project
activities. The duration of the project should be clearly stated, with considerable
detail on the beginning and the end of the project. Figure 7 breaks down the
various steps involved in preparing an activity plan.
In general, two main
formats are used to express the activity plan: a simple table and the Gantt
chart.
A simple table with
columns, as shown in Figure 8, for activities, sub-activities, tasks, timing
and responsibility, is a clear, readily understandable format for the activity
plan.
The Gantt Chart, a
universal format for presenting activities in certain times frames, shows the
dependence and sequence for each activity.
Resource plan
The resource plan should
provide information on the means necessary to undertake the project. Cost
categories are established at this stage in order to aggregate and summarize
the cost information for budgeting.
Budget
In simple terms, a budget
is an itemized summary of an organization’s expected income and expenses over a
specified period of time.
Budgeting forms and
financial planning procedures vary widely, especially in the non-profit sector.
It is nevertheless essential that financial officers comply clearly and
punctually with a funding organization’s budgeting and reporting requirements.
The two main elements of
any budget are income and expenditures.
Income (sometimes referred to as
revenue) is the amount of financial assets and in- kind contribution used as sources of
support for the project. If the funding source is unique, the income side of
the budget may not be shown. However, many projects have more than one source
of support. The income side should show the share of contribution of each of
these sources.
Expenditures (also called
expenses or costs) are all the costs that are anticipated to occur during the project’s
implementation. Regardless of the calculation and classification criteria used,
the project costs should present a reasonable reflection of the activities
presented in the project proposal.
A projection of the specific amounts of time
needed at different phases of project implementation represents a basis for
calculating the spending dynamics at different periods of the project.
Budget categories classify expenditures into smaller groups according to a certain
criteria. This is to monitor spending and ensure compliance with the plan.
The two main costs are
direct costs and operational costs. Direct costs are associated with a certain activity (e.g. organizing a workshop). Operational costs are related to
internal activities of an organization and are considered fixed costs in the
short term (e.g. staff salaries, rent, utilities, etc.).
Units, quantity per period and estimated unit costs are the three elements that are needed to calculate costs associated
with any of these categories.
Monitoring and evaluation
The basis for monitoring is
set when the indicators for results are set. The project proposal should indicate:
• How and when the project management team will conduct activities to
monitor the project’s progress;
• Which methods will be used to monitor and evaluate; and
• Who will do the evaluation?
Reporting
The schedule of project
progress and financial report could be set in the project proposal. Often
these obligations are determined by the standard requirements of the donor
agency. The project report may be compiled in different versions, with regard
to the audience they are targeting.
Management and personnel
A brief description should
be given of the project personnel, the individual roles each one has assumed,
and the communication mechanisms that exist between them. All the additional
information (such as CVs) should be attached to the annexes
Annexes
The annexes should include
all the information that is important, but is too large to be included in the
text of the proposal. This information can be created in the identification or
planning phase of the project, but often it is produced separately. The usual
documentation to be annexed to the project proposal is:
• Analysis related to the general context (e.g. a civil society sector
assessment);
• Policy documents and strategic papers (e.g. a local environmental
action plan);
• Information on the implementing organizations (e.g. annual reports,
success stories, brochures and other publications)
• Additional information on the project management structure and
personnel (curriculum vitae for the members of the project team);
• Maps of the location of the target area; and
• Project management procedures and forms (organizational charts,
forms, etc.)
ASSIGNMENT:
You are required to prepare a project proposal to undertake a project. The project title is:
" To undertake an upgrading of a Shawl Boutique, exterior and interior of the boutique in Bangsar South Area. You are allow to select an existing shop and turn into a Shawl Boutique. The Shawl Brand name is AKAR SCARF." AKAR SCARF has an existing online business and expanding to a Boutique outlet while having its online business."
Number words: 2,500 -3,000
Font :Arial
Size: 12
Spacing: 1.5
PRESENTATION
You are to select a project that will be launch in your real life. This presentation is a project presentation and you are required to present it to the key management of your company or to a project owner and project sponsor (This is a group presentation and group work but every member of the group must present).
