Learning how to develop sustainable, fundable projects is a skill that enables you to prepare carefully formulate and design projects that warms the heart of donors and adds value to a community. As such before I give you any further information, there are several introductory information you need to know and questions you will need answers to.

Who will your proposal for funding go to? It is recommended you seek multiple sources of funding, so you don’t get stock with one. Your project must be carefully formulated and designed. Remember, that your funding proposal forms the basis for your relationship with a donor. Your presentation must be honest and totally void of deceit, each item must be thoroughly justified and neatly written without any unnecessary information. Who will your ideal donor be? What do they expect from you? Know yourself. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Does your track record portray you as good risk? What is your level of expertise? How will you plan the project? etc.

Planning a community project requires great skill. The following steps will guide you tremendously when planning a community project.a)Always start with the community, b)Involve local leadership and constituted authorities, c)include local initiative, d)Conduct an analytical problem survey. This will allow you to identify what the community really needs, e)Draw up a cost benefit analysis, f)Identify solutions to the problems earlier identified, g)Look for scientific evidence of success to back up your plan for a solution, h)Identify your means of transferring the solutions identified, I)craft the project schedule and budget using modern project presentation tools such as a project log frame,project schedule and a professional looking budget template, j)make your presentation to a donor in a presentation book that contains all of this information alongside a compelling statement aimed at warming the hearts of everyone that reads it.

When writing a proposal these few tips will help you. a)be simple and avoid the use of technical jargons, b)be precise, use short sentences that say what you want to say, c)use active rather than passive lines, d)number your pages accurately, e)arrange your documents in the right order, f)bind your documents in the right order. Read the rest of this entry »