Proposal Framing 1

Framing a Proposal

What are foundations looking for in a proposal?

Here are some general common attributes of "fundable" projects:

• They have a beginning, middle and end (or a credible plan for sustainability after the
grant.)
• They have a clearly defined goal directly tied to one of the foundation's expressed
interests.
• They commit to providing measurable results. For example, training 100 farmers in West
Bengal in sustainable agriculture practices, resulting in 500 acres under sustainable
cultivation, as opposed to holding a conference at which experts discuss world hunger
solutions.

It is important to create answers to these questions about your project:

• What social, educational or research question will you address?

• What will change as a result of your proposed work?
• How much will it change? (a standard of measurement that makes sense given the
problem addressed)
• How will you know? (How will your work be evaluated?)
• Foundations do not often fund ongoing budget needs, endowments, conferences, and the
production of videos or media. There are exceptions to every rule.

Basic components of a proposal

Private foundation proposals differ greatly from most federal proposals. While foundations often
outline the general format that they prefer, there is more latitude regarding the structure of the
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narrative. Always frame your proposal to align as closely as possible to the funders programs'
stated mission, without going so far that you are compromising your research interests.

Further, if there is a published list of judges/reviewers available, as is usually the case for
scientific applications, try to compose your proposal so that it piques the interest of one or more
of the judges' expertise.

1. Abstract/Summary

• The abstract is the most important component of the proposal. Spend time developing the
best possible title. If the length is not mandated, it should be no longer than one half to
one page maximum.
• Use bolded subheadings. Include highlights in the topic sentence in each section of the
proposal.
• What will be done, by whom, how, over what period of time? What is the problem/need?
Who will the outcomes benefit?

2. Statement of Need

• What is the issue that you are addressing and why does it matter?
• Why is what you propose necessary? What is the void in Knowledge?
• Who benefits? Indicate the public good, not just the effect on campus.
• Why hasn't this issue been addressed sufficiently in the past? Who else is working in this
field, what have they done, and why isn't that enough? Demonstrate your knowledge of
the field.
• Provide convincing evidence that what you are proposing does not duplicate other work.
Replication of someone else's work in a new environment or larger scale may be
fundable.
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3. Project Activity, Methodology and Outcomes

• Why did you choose to address the issue in the manner that you have? Are there other
approaches? If so, why aren't they appropriate to the situation?
• What are the specific activities involved? Who will do them?
• Present a timeline of activities. Tables and charts work best here. They crystallize data,
break up pages of narrative, and convey extensive information well in a limited space.
• What specific outcomes will be achieved? What will change?
• Why are you/your organization the best one to do what you propose to do? Is it an
extension of successful, innovative work or a pilot project you already completed?

4. Evaluation

• Essential piece that should be both quantitative and qualitative, if feasible.

• Outline clearly the methodology that you will use to assess the project’s success.

5. Dissemination

• Dissemination should be linked to your project goals and objectives. If you are trying to
affect policy, your dissemination plan should target policy-makers, media, and affected
populations.
• Describe your communication strategy.
• Be creative. Sending an article to a professional journal is only one of many options.
Consider submitting op-ed pieces to newspapers and articles to more popular periodicals;
work with University Relations to obtain newspaper coverage and interviews on local
radio stations; engage in conference presentations, community outreach activities,
presentations to policy-makers and community groups, such as the Chamber of
Commerce; launch a web site or blog; convene work groups of your peers; create briefing
papers, press releases, videos; and, list yourself on speakers bureaus.
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6. Budget and Continuation Funding

• Show your budget in table form and use a budget narrative to explain each item.
• Only include other sources of funding if the funder mandates its inclusion.
• Indicate how the project will be funded or be sustainable after the grant funds have run
out.

Questions to think about when planning a project

• Writing the proposal is the end of stage one of a project, not the beginning. As you begin
to write, think about the questions below. If you can’t answer these questions, return to
the beginning. You are missing something important. It does not mean the program
should not be done. It means that there is more planning to be done before you are ready
to request funding.

What do you want to do?

1. Describe the project.

2. What is the problem that you are trying to solve or the question that you are trying to
answer?
3. Is this the beginning of a process which requires further work or the end of a process?

Why are you doing it?

1. How does this program fit with the goals of your unit/organization? Does it help push
the mission forward? Does it build upon other programs? If not, does the new direction
in which you are going fit within the strategic plan?
2. Why is it important to you? Why would it be important to anyone else? Besides you,
who cares, that this will happen? Who are the folks who would think it is important?
3. What do you expect to happen by the end? Is there a product? Is the result
measurable?
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4. What difference will it make in the world beyond the program?

Who is involved in doing it?

1. Who is going to be involved on your staff, on someone else’s, volunteers, in the
community?
2. Do you have partners? If so, who are they? What are their roles? Do they need
resources to do what they have committed to do? Do you have a written agreement with
them? Are you going to get one?
3. How many kids/adults are you going to serve? How are they to be recruited? How old
are they? Why that age? When do they become involved? What are their ethnicities?
What is their socio-economic background? Is there anything else that is important about
them—disabilities, gender, weight. Where do they live/work/go to school? Is this
important to understanding the program?

Structure
1. What does the staffing look like? Who is going to supervise whom? Who does what
and who is responsible for what? Who is doing what to whom?
2. If you have partner organizations, how is the work divided? How will disputes be
settled? Is there a written agreement?
3. Is it an ongoing project? When will it start? End? Is it a seasonal project? If so, why
and what are its dates?
4. How often does the program meet? Why have you chosen this plan?

How and When?

1. What are the elements of the program? What specific things do the participants do?
2. Do different things happen at different times? Month by month, or week by week if
necessary, what is going to happen? Can you chart it? If you can’t, why not? If you
can’t, how do you explain to someone who is not familiar with your project how it
works?
3. Do different participants do different things? If so, what makes all these things into a
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whole?
4. What do you need to do this? Permission? Insurance? Equipment? Supplies? Extra
help?
5. What is the plan that must be followed to ensure that everything happens?
6. When you show the results to someone who does not know anything about the project,
will they understand where you started, how you got to the end, why you took this route
to get there, and how the results relate to the beginning?

How much is it going to cost?

1. If you need to pay for anything….find out what it will really cost. Don’t guess.
2. What are all the real costs? Whose time is involved and how much is their time worth
even if they are not part of the proposal?
3. Do you need to pay for consultants? Stipends? People at partner organizations?
4. Do you need to pay for computers, paper, electricity, heat, light, etc.?
5. How are you going to pay for the recordkeeping, billing, and other administrative tasks
necessary to do the project?
6. Are there expenses that the foundation will not pay for, e.g. travel? If so, how are
those going to be covered?

What is likely to go wrong?

1. Where are the problem areas and have you left enough time, resources, options to solve
them? For instance: How long will recruitment really take? If it takes longer, then what
happens to your schedule?
2. How will you keep the program on track?

How will you know your project met its goals?

1. How will you evaluate the project? What methods will you use? Why did you choose
those methods? What will the evaluation tell you? Why is that information useful and to
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whom?
2. Is there a research aspect to this proposal? If so, do you have the right data? Do you
have the people involved who can analyze the data?

What makes this project special?

1. There are lots of good programs in the world. What makes this program unique,
innovative, worthy, exceptional, stand out from the others?
2. Basically, why should anyone who is not you, your staff, or your participants care
what happens in this project?