case studies
Writing Proposals
Introduction
This case study describes the process of writing proposals for grant funds (or tenders). We look at how to write a proposal, offer some useful tips, and share our experience of working on specific proposals (in which we have removed the name of the client). There is also an FAQ section.
The purpose of this case study is to help our clients understand the process of proposal writing, to throw some light into the darkness. Too many people see proposal writing as complicated, bureaucratic and corrupted, and many give up before even starting. And if click this section called 4 stages that a project must go through you will realise that over 90% of project ideas get killed even before they reach the proposal writing stage. In Romania this proportion is probably higher because there is a tendency to belittle new ideas and initiatives which have not been done before. But the reality is that the donors want new ideas and innovative projects that can tackle the social and economic problems they try to grapple with and, every project, however vast it may be, started off as a simple idea in someone's head.
However, once you engage in the process you will realise that proposals are, in fact, very logical. The purpose of a proposal is simply to describe what you want to do, and you must back up that description with lots of detail of how you are going to do it, with whom, and exactly how much money is needed. The clearer you are about the project (in your own head) the easier writing the proposal will be. The worst case scenario is that you want to apply for a grant but don't have a clear idea of a project -- beyond wanting money -- and you make it up as you fill in the application form.
The problem with proposals is that you have to fit your project idea into the donor's format: often the donor's impeccable logic comes across as bureaucratic; and it is easy to make your project seem a lot more complex and irrelevant than it is.
It is really important to understand how the donor thinks before you start, and we have written an article on this issue, which you can see on our blog (your feedback would be most welcome). It is encouraging to realise that donors too are faced with challenges -- in particular, how to attract the right kind of proposal -- and it is interesting to contemplate that spending a huge amount of money can be a problem in itself. The donor organisations are made up of people much like me and you and if you speak to them, which you should try and do in each instance, you will realise that their challenges are probably very similar to yours. It is important to realise that donors are often very approachable, and usually willing to explain things and give useful advice about the application process.
Practical Advice about writing a proposal
Writing a good proposal can be both uplifting and very depressing. Even the best of proposals get rejected for any number of reasons: bad timing, lack of funding, opposing views on the same topic, bad luck. It can be very hard to cope with rejection, after you’ve invested time, energy and hope into the creative process of writing a good proposal.
But what makes a proposal good? We think a combination of the following:
• clear understanding of the topic you’re writing on
• solid research
• creative planning (brainstorming)
• inspiring vision
• empathy for your reader (the person / organization that will approve your proposal)
• clear, concise and eloquent writing
• previous experience
• patience and determination
Our specialty is the communication strategy proposal. We have written proposals to get funds for a project, to win a new client for the company, or paid by a third party (mostly consultancy companies in need of a proposal for an EU tender they were bidding for). No matter the type, we always go through three major phases: research, planning and writing.
Research
• understand your topic
• find out about the target audience you’re communicating with (try and think through how they would see it)
• find out what other previous activities were done on the same topic
• advise on the team who will implement your proposal if chosen (this isn't usually part of the proposal writing job, but an experienced proposal writer will usually know people who are good for the roles involved)
• asses risks and feasibility
Planning
• share, discuss and debate ideas with your team (including the consortium members, some of whom may be in other countries. You do this by sharing the drafts of the proposal)
• the key to a coherent project is an action plan, which you make by simply listing the activities that need to be carried out (in Gantt chart format), state who will be responsible, estimate how many days might be required, and how many months will be needed. This should then be adapted by the consortium. The rest of the proposal should back up and explain this plan.
• build the backbone of your proposal by defining the following: context or background, objectives and activities, target audience, project description, budget and any other information required by the donor
• make a check list of mandatory things that need to be found in your proposal
• flash of genius: find the one idea that will set your proposal apart from the others (a new insight into your target audience, a catchy message, a special mix of communication activities, a creative budget)
Writing
• clear you schedule, turn off the phone, switch the Internet off
• give yourself a deadline and try to stick to it
• share what you’ve written with others, for a fresh perspective
• remember your check list
• give it time to breath, let it aside for a day and then get back to it for a final edit
• always proofread
Once you’re happy with it, turn it in, hope for the best and if the worst happens, consider it useful experience and move on.
Examples
Here are a few proposals written by us along the years. Not all of them were successful, even though we think they were good. We have taken out the client reference in some.
For a Tourism Agency (in Romania), looking to relaunch itself on the market
For a Child Protection NGO, in need of fundraising
For a Phare project on Roma issues (in Romanian), hired by a consultancy company
For a Phare project on anti-corruption, who wanted to communicate more efficiently with the target audience
For a Riding Center in Baia Mare, as part of a long term business strategy
FAQ
What is a proposal?
A proposal is a document which explains your project idea to a donor. The proposal should address one of the problems that the donor organisation is trying to resolve (for example poverty or discrimination). A good proposal is divided into a strategic and a tactical part. The strategic part will explain what is the overall aim of the project, what does it want to achieve in the longer term and what is the vision (in the form of "objectives"). The tactical part will explain what activities are required, how much money is required, who will work on it, over what timescale, and how the project will sustain itself after the project funds have finished. If a proposal does not have a clear vision and coherent objectives, the project will have no coherence and will fail.
What is the definition of a failed project?
A failed project, or a bad project, is unable to implement its objectives. In addition, it will have no impact beyond the life of the actual project - which is usually less than 2 years. A project should have a long term impact on the problem it aims to address, and not just benefit the people who are actually working on the project. Most donor funds are public funds and they are given in "the public interest", which means that there must be a clear benefit for the public such as job creation or reduction of poverty. The people giving the funds need to be confident that they were given "in the public interest".
How do we know if we have clear objectives?
The key point here is that objectives form the basis of any project; they are the target you are aiming for, the basis for your strategy, and they are also what the donor should measure you by and hold you accountable for. The easiest way to check the clarity of objectives is to read them to someone who is not involved (and not really interested) in your work, and see how easily they understand them. The best way to develop good objectives is to involve as many people as you can in developing them. If the objective of the project is to "increase the number of employees by 10% at factory Y" this statement should be sent round all interested parties, all of whom should have the opportunity to comment, to disagree or to question them. If people don't understand the aims or objectives, or find them boring, complex or confusing, or de-motivating, they should be reformulated so that they are crystal clear and motivating. Although the objectives must be as clear as possible, the information within the proposal itself can be as complex as is required (as the process by which you achieve these objectives, namely the activities, may well be complex).
What does sustainability mean?
Sustainability means how will the proposed activities survive beyond the life of the project? If the project runs a new community centre, for example, who will run it after the project money runs out? Often the people working on projects get paid more than the usual local salary and this is unsustainable in that local authorities or local sponsors are unable to continue paying costs that are considered too high. For this type of project it is essential that local partnerships are set up early on and these sustainability issues worked out in advance. Sustainability is often a problem for NGOs which develop social projects, but less so for companies which seek grants for setting up new production facilities -- providing the company does not go bankrupt.
Why should I bother writing a proposal?
The quick answer to this is that you can get an interesting or important project funded, and you can develop your organisation. Donors are often looking for good projects so they can spend their money and achieve their own objectives. Many good organisations don't bother even thinking about applying for a grant as they assume it is too complex and time consuming and the process is too corrupted -- but these are assumptions and it is wrong to say the process is totally corrupted (Structural Funds in particular need projects badly and even if the process is corrupted, it still needs thousands of projects a year in order to spend their funds.)
How easy is it to write a proposal? What skills are required?
Only after you have written a proposal do you realise how easy it is. It is like writing a report; time consuming, needing some research and consultation, but nothing too complex. Some writing, arithmetical and presentation skills are needed -- as well as patience -- and there is never enough time. The hardest thing is to get into the task, to put aside all other tasks, and really commit yourself to it -- and this is probably why most organisations don't apply for grants (bosses don't want to take people off their usual jobs to write grants). It is hard to drop everything else and work on a proposal, but if this is the toughest thing about it then it can't be that hard. The key to writing a proposal is to read carefully the guidelines; each grant fund has one and it explains what is the aim of the fund, what sort of projects it is looking for and what information is required. These guidelines are often long and boring and most people don't bother reading them, preferring to ring the donor instead. Donors often complain that people ask them questions which are in the guidelines.
How can I quickly find out if my project idea is valid?
By reading the donors guidelines you will quickly work out if your project idea is valid. Each donor fund has guidelines and these invariably contain information about what kind of projects they fund, and what kind of organisations can apply. You can find this information in minutes and save yourself loads of work.
What does a proposal usually contain?
Each grant fund requires different information, and a different approach, but these are some elements that all most grant funds look for:
• objectives (which express the concrete aims of the project);
• activities (what practical actions are needed to achieve the objectives)
• tasks (more detail about each activity)
• monitoring and evaluation (how will progress be tracked and evaluated?)
• Risks and assumptions (what problems outside your control might negatively impact the project's progress?)
• Budget and cash flow (this can get quite complex if the donor is only giving a percentage of the project total and you need to prove you can get the rest.)
• Budget narrative (a very useful section which explains what is in the budget)
• Administrative detail (Structural Funds in Romania require a massive amount of details about the applicant, and have become the main burden (and obstacle) for applicants).
What is a concept paper?
A concept paper is a one or two page document which summarises the project idea. This can be useful for a donor who is looking for good ideas but does not want to read through really long application forms. If the donor is interested in the project he can then ask for more detail and can ask the applicant to submit a full proposal. Most donors don't specifically mention concept papers and it can be hard to find out if they will consider them; in such cases you should just go ahead and do one (especially if you have a clear project idea in mind). If you send it in the form of a letter, or attached to an introductory letter, you will almost certainly get a useful reply. To see a sample concept paper please click here.
Who usually writes proposals?
Most proposals are written by members of the team, company or organisation, by people with the ability to research, write and add up numbers. A good proposal writer is often a young graduate who has developed his/her analytical skills at university and has got an interesting range of work experience. Unfortunately, very few organisations in Romania hire dedicated proposal writers -- even though it could unlock grant funding -- and external consultants are often hired for the job. Most people with a decent education and some work experience could write a proposal, if they put their minds to it.
Who gives out grants?
Grants are given by donors. Donors are made up of international organisations like the EU, UN, and World Bank, as well as bilateral donors such as the American Government, which has a famous fund called USAID, which is run by Hillary Clinton's State Department. Bilateral in this context means "government to government" and before Romania's EU accession, all the major economies of the world gave generous grant allocations to Romania. Since 2007, however, bilateral aid has dried up and EU Structural Funds (SF) have come in -- at least theoretically; at the time of writing this the SF were blocked by red tape (bureaucracy). There are scores of other donors too, such as private family trusts, foundations set up by companies and discretionary funds by the big Embassies. Most ministries in Romania have grant funds but these tend to be the most complex and inaccessible of all. We once worked on a database of funding organisations, and available funds, and it can be seen here. There are many other online funding databases in Romania but the one we recommend is www.finantare.ro
What kind of pressures are the donors usually under?
As mentioned above, many donors can't find enough good projects to fund, and without good projects they have no chance of achieving their own aims. Donors are not usually very good at PR and communication, much of their energy is consumed by administrative tasks, and so the people who should apply for the projects often don't know about the funds. In other cases the donor is inundated with requests for information and often they don't have the resources to handle it
Why do they give grants?
Donors give grants in order to try and implement a policy. A bilaterial (government) donor might want to reduce discrimination against women in Romania and the best way of achieving this is to finance a project in the affected community, or support the local government body to carry out some relevant activities. Often the donors fail to achieve their aims as their own aims are too complex, the local organisations (particularly in poor areas) lack capacity and the problems they are trying to address are just too complex to be resolved in a short project.
How long does a project typically last?
Most donor funded projects last about 1-2 years. Some people think this is not enough time as the kind of deep rooted social and economic problems the donors try and address require constant support and attention for years, even generations.
How are proposals usually evaluated?
There is always some sort of evaluation process involved, but it is hard to know how fair and correct these are. There should be about 3 people evaluating each project and there might be a scoring system, which might even be made available in the applicants guidelines, and each evaluator should read each project and assign scores. It doesn't always work like this as some people push pet projects, others aren't interested and just do what is easiest. The best situation is when the evaluators are really looking for good projects, are honest, and take the process seriously. It is difficult to find out this information as the evaluators should not be known, or approached by the applicants (see conflict of interest below). But it is a mistake to assume that all evaluation processes are corrupt and they already know in advance what they want. Some evaluation committees for large projects have more than 18 people, as well as observers, and it is practically impossible to bribe such a large group. Our advice is to assume they are looking for good projects, they will be objective and to just go for it.
What is a conflict of interest?
A conflict of interest, in this context, is when a member of an evaluation committee has a close relation to an applicant (or has worked for an applicant), or is currently being paid by an applicant. The head of the evaluation committee should ask all evaluators if any of them have worked with any applicants and, if this is the case, that evaluator should leave. The same rule applies to any project which is carrying out a local tender.
What services does Productive International Invest offer?
Productive International Invest has experience in all aspects of grants and donor funds, from the application process, through the evaluation process to managing a grant fund. We see our main role as guiding you through the seemingly impenetrable jungle of donor funds, by offering down to earth advice that will, in the first instance, help you understand donor funds. We also have a large network of experts who specialise in writing proposals for EU Structural Funds, a service that is very useful for public and private sector organisations in Romania.
We can add most value by writing proposals for international consortiums bidding for large EU projects, in international tenders, but also for donor agencies -- to whom we offer our communication solutions. Our experience with EU, UN, World Bank and bilateral funds in Romania, former Yugoslavia and Russia give us an understanding about the dynamics of donor funds -- and put us in a good position to help them communicate more effectively.
Links
Contact us if you are interested in this service
The 4 stages that a project must go through
Our article on fundraising
Data base of funding organizations
www.finantare.ro
Some of our proposals:
For a Tourism Agency (in Romania), looking to relaunch itself on the market
For a Child Protection NGO, in need of fundraising
For a Phare project on Roma issues (in Romanian), hired by a consultancy company
For a Phare project on anti-corruption, who wanted to communicate more efficiently with the target audience
For a Riding Center in Baia Mare, as part of a long term business strategy
Concept paper on green energy
Introduction
This case study describes the process of writing proposals for grant funds (or tenders). We look at how to write a proposal, offer some useful tips, and share our experience of working on specific proposals (in which we have removed the name of the client). There is also an FAQ section.
The purpose of this case study is to help our clients understand the process of proposal writing, to throw some light into the darkness. Too many people see proposal writing as complicated, bureaucratic and corrupted, and many give up before even starting. And if click this section called 4 stages that a project must go through you will realise that over 90% of project ideas get killed even before they reach the proposal writing stage. In Romania this proportion is probably higher because there is a tendency to belittle new ideas and initiatives which have not been done before. But the reality is that the donors want new ideas and innovative projects that can tackle the social and economic problems they try to grapple with and, every project, however vast it may be, started off as a simple idea in someone's head.
However, once you engage in the process you will realise that proposals are, in fact, very logical. The purpose of a proposal is simply to describe what you want to do, and you must back up that description with lots of detail of how you are going to do it, with whom, and exactly how much money is needed. The clearer you are about the project (in your own head) the easier writing the proposal will be. The worst case scenario is that you want to apply for a grant but don't have a clear idea of a project -- beyond wanting money -- and you make it up as you fill in the application form.
The problem with proposals is that you have to fit your project idea into the donor's format: often the donor's impeccable logic comes across as bureaucratic; and it is easy to make your project seem a lot more complex and irrelevant than it is.
It is really important to understand how the donor thinks before you start, and we have written an article on this issue, which you can see on our blog (your feedback would be most welcome). It is encouraging to realise that donors too are faced with challenges -- in particular, how to attract the right kind of proposal -- and it is interesting to contemplate that spending a huge amount of money can be a problem in itself. The donor organisations are made up of people much like me and you and if you speak to them, which you should try and do in each instance, you will realise that their challenges are probably very similar to yours. It is important to realise that donors are often very approachable, and usually willing to explain things and give useful advice about the application process.
Practical Advice about writing a proposal
Writing a good proposal can be both uplifting and very depressing. Even the best of proposals get rejected for any number of reasons: bad timing, lack of funding, opposing views on the same topic, bad luck. It can be very hard to cope with rejection, after you’ve invested time, energy and hope into the creative process of writing a good proposal.
But what makes a proposal good? We think a combination of the following:
• clear understanding of the topic you’re writing on
• solid research
• creative planning (brainstorming)
• inspiring vision
• empathy for your reader (the person / organization that will approve your proposal)
• clear, concise and eloquent writing
• previous experience
• patience and determination
Our specialty is the communication strategy proposal. We have written proposals to get funds for a project, to win a new client for the company, or paid by a third party (mostly consultancy companies in need of a proposal for an EU tender they were bidding for). No matter the type, we always go through three major phases: research, planning and writing.
Research
• understand your topic
• find out about the target audience you’re communicating with (try and think through how they would see it)
• find out what other previous activities were done on the same topic
• advise on the team who will implement your proposal if chosen (this isn't usually part of the proposal writing job, but an experienced proposal writer will usually know people who are good for the roles involved)
• asses risks and feasibility
Planning
• share, discuss and debate ideas with your team (including the consortium members, some of whom may be in other countries. You do this by sharing the drafts of the proposal)
• the key to a coherent project is an action plan, which you make by simply listing the activities that need to be carried out (in Gantt chart format), state who will be responsible, estimate how many days might be required, and how many months will be needed. This should then be adapted by the consortium. The rest of the proposal should back up and explain this plan.
• build the backbone of your proposal by defining the following: context or background, objectives and activities, target audience, project description, budget and any other information required by the donor
• make a check list of mandatory things that need to be found in your proposal
• flash of genius: find the one idea that will set your proposal apart from the others (a new insight into your target audience, a catchy message, a special mix of communication activities, a creative budget)
Writing
• clear you schedule, turn off the phone, switch the Internet off
• give yourself a deadline and try to stick to it
• share what you’ve written with others, for a fresh perspective
• remember your check list
• give it time to breath, let it aside for a day and then get back to it for a final edit
• always proofread
Once you’re happy with it, turn it in, hope for the best and if the worst happens, consider it useful experience and move on.
Examples
Here are a few proposals written by us along the years. Not all of them were successful, even though we think they were good. We have taken out the client reference in some.
For a Tourism Agency (in Romania), looking to relaunch itself on the market
For a Child Protection NGO, in need of fundraising
For a Phare project on Roma issues (in Romanian), hired by a consultancy company
For a Phare project on anti-corruption, who wanted to communicate more efficiently with the target audience
For a Riding Center in Baia Mare, as part of a long term business strategy
FAQ
What is a proposal?
A proposal is a document which explains your project idea to a donor. The proposal should address one of the problems that the donor organisation is trying to resolve (for example poverty or discrimination). A good proposal is divided into a strategic and a tactical part. The strategic part will explain what is the overall aim of the project, what does it want to achieve in the longer term and what is the vision (in the form of "objectives"). The tactical part will explain what activities are required, how much money is required, who will work on it, over what timescale, and how the project will sustain itself after the project funds have finished. If a proposal does not have a clear vision and coherent objectives, the project will have no coherence and will fail.
What is the definition of a failed project?
A failed project, or a bad project, is unable to implement its objectives. In addition, it will have no impact beyond the life of the actual project - which is usually less than 2 years. A project should have a long term impact on the problem it aims to address, and not just benefit the people who are actually working on the project. Most donor funds are public funds and they are given in "the public interest", which means that there must be a clear benefit for the public such as job creation or reduction of poverty. The people giving the funds need to be confident that they were given "in the public interest".
How do we know if we have clear objectives?
The key point here is that objectives form the basis of any project; they are the target you are aiming for, the basis for your strategy, and they are also what the donor should measure you by and hold you accountable for. The easiest way to check the clarity of objectives is to read them to someone who is not involved (and not really interested) in your work, and see how easily they understand them. The best way to develop good objectives is to involve as many people as you can in developing them. If the objective of the project is to "increase the number of employees by 10% at factory Y" this statement should be sent round all interested parties, all of whom should have the opportunity to comment, to disagree or to question them. If people don't understand the aims or objectives, or find them boring, complex or confusing, or de-motivating, they should be reformulated so that they are crystal clear and motivating. Although the objectives must be as clear as possible, the information within the proposal itself can be as complex as is required (as the process by which you achieve these objectives, namely the activities, may well be complex).
What does sustainability mean?
Sustainability means how will the proposed activities survive beyond the life of the project? If the project runs a new community centre, for example, who will run it after the project money runs out? Often the people working on projects get paid more than the usual local salary and this is unsustainable in that local authorities or local sponsors are unable to continue paying costs that are considered too high. For this type of project it is essential that local partnerships are set up early on and these sustainability issues worked out in advance. Sustainability is often a problem for NGOs which develop social projects, but less so for companies which seek grants for setting up new production facilities -- providing the company does not go bankrupt.
Why should I bother writing a proposal?
The quick answer to this is that you can get an interesting or important project funded, and you can develop your organisation. Donors are often looking for good projects so they can spend their money and achieve their own objectives. Many good organisations don't bother even thinking about applying for a grant as they assume it is too complex and time consuming and the process is too corrupted -- but these are assumptions and it is wrong to say the process is totally corrupted (Structural Funds in particular need projects badly and even if the process is corrupted, it still needs thousands of projects a year in order to spend their funds.)
How easy is it to write a proposal? What skills are required?
Only after you have written a proposal do you realise how easy it is. It is like writing a report; time consuming, needing some research and consultation, but nothing too complex. Some writing, arithmetical and presentation skills are needed -- as well as patience -- and there is never enough time. The hardest thing is to get into the task, to put aside all other tasks, and really commit yourself to it -- and this is probably why most organisations don't apply for grants (bosses don't want to take people off their usual jobs to write grants). It is hard to drop everything else and work on a proposal, but if this is the toughest thing about it then it can't be that hard. The key to writing a proposal is to read carefully the guidelines; each grant fund has one and it explains what is the aim of the fund, what sort of projects it is looking for and what information is required. These guidelines are often long and boring and most people don't bother reading them, preferring to ring the donor instead. Donors often complain that people ask them questions which are in the guidelines.
How can I quickly find out if my project idea is valid?
By reading the donors guidelines you will quickly work out if your project idea is valid. Each donor fund has guidelines and these invariably contain information about what kind of projects they fund, and what kind of organisations can apply. You can find this information in minutes and save yourself loads of work.
What does a proposal usually contain?
Each grant fund requires different information, and a different approach, but these are some elements that all most grant funds look for:
• objectives (which express the concrete aims of the project);
• activities (what practical actions are needed to achieve the objectives)
• tasks (more detail about each activity)
• monitoring and evaluation (how will progress be tracked and evaluated?)
• Risks and assumptions (what problems outside your control might negatively impact the project's progress?)
• Budget and cash flow (this can get quite complex if the donor is only giving a percentage of the project total and you need to prove you can get the rest.)
• Budget narrative (a very useful section which explains what is in the budget)
• Administrative detail (Structural Funds in Romania require a massive amount of details about the applicant, and have become the main burden (and obstacle) for applicants).
What is a concept paper?
A concept paper is a one or two page document which summarises the project idea. This can be useful for a donor who is looking for good ideas but does not want to read through really long application forms. If the donor is interested in the project he can then ask for more detail and can ask the applicant to submit a full proposal. Most donors don't specifically mention concept papers and it can be hard to find out if they will consider them; in such cases you should just go ahead and do one (especially if you have a clear project idea in mind). If you send it in the form of a letter, or attached to an introductory letter, you will almost certainly get a useful reply. To see a sample concept paper please click here.
Who usually writes proposals?
Most proposals are written by members of the team, company or organisation, by people with the ability to research, write and add up numbers. A good proposal writer is often a young graduate who has developed his/her analytical skills at university and has got an interesting range of work experience. Unfortunately, very few organisations in Romania hire dedicated proposal writers -- even though it could unlock grant funding -- and external consultants are often hired for the job. Most people with a decent education and some work experience could write a proposal, if they put their minds to it.
Who gives out grants?
Grants are given by donors. Donors are made up of international organisations like the EU, UN, and World Bank, as well as bilateral donors such as the American Government, which has a famous fund called USAID, which is run by Hillary Clinton's State Department. Bilateral in this context means "government to government" and before Romania's EU accession, all the major economies of the world gave generous grant allocations to Romania. Since 2007, however, bilateral aid has dried up and EU Structural Funds (SF) have come in -- at least theoretically; at the time of writing this the SF were blocked by red tape (bureaucracy). There are scores of other donors too, such as private family trusts, foundations set up by companies and discretionary funds by the big Embassies. Most ministries in Romania have grant funds but these tend to be the most complex and inaccessible of all. We once worked on a database of funding organisations, and available funds, and it can be seen here. There are many other online funding databases in Romania but the one we recommend is www.finantare.ro
What kind of pressures are the donors usually under?
As mentioned above, many donors can't find enough good projects to fund, and without good projects they have no chance of achieving their own aims. Donors are not usually very good at PR and communication, much of their energy is consumed by administrative tasks, and so the people who should apply for the projects often don't know about the funds. In other cases the donor is inundated with requests for information and often they don't have the resources to handle it
Why do they give grants?
Donors give grants in order to try and implement a policy. A bilaterial (government) donor might want to reduce discrimination against women in Romania and the best way of achieving this is to finance a project in the affected community, or support the local government body to carry out some relevant activities. Often the donors fail to achieve their aims as their own aims are too complex, the local organisations (particularly in poor areas) lack capacity and the problems they are trying to address are just too complex to be resolved in a short project.
How long does a project typically last?
Most donor funded projects last about 1-2 years. Some people think this is not enough time as the kind of deep rooted social and economic problems the donors try and address require constant support and attention for years, even generations.
How are proposals usually evaluated?
There is always some sort of evaluation process involved, but it is hard to know how fair and correct these are. There should be about 3 people evaluating each project and there might be a scoring system, which might even be made available in the applicants guidelines, and each evaluator should read each project and assign scores. It doesn't always work like this as some people push pet projects, others aren't interested and just do what is easiest. The best situation is when the evaluators are really looking for good projects, are honest, and take the process seriously. It is difficult to find out this information as the evaluators should not be known, or approached by the applicants (see conflict of interest below). But it is a mistake to assume that all evaluation processes are corrupt and they already know in advance what they want. Some evaluation committees for large projects have more than 18 people, as well as observers, and it is practically impossible to bribe such a large group. Our advice is to assume they are looking for good projects, they will be objective and to just go for it.
What is a conflict of interest?
A conflict of interest, in this context, is when a member of an evaluation committee has a close relation to an applicant (or has worked for an applicant), or is currently being paid by an applicant. The head of the evaluation committee should ask all evaluators if any of them have worked with any applicants and, if this is the case, that evaluator should leave. The same rule applies to any project which is carrying out a local tender.
What services does Productive International Invest offer?
Productive International Invest has experience in all aspects of grants and donor funds, from the application process, through the evaluation process to managing a grant fund. We see our main role as guiding you through the seemingly impenetrable jungle of donor funds, by offering down to earth advice that will, in the first instance, help you understand donor funds. We also have a large network of experts who specialise in writing proposals for EU Structural Funds, a service that is very useful for public and private sector organisations in Romania.
We can add most value by writing proposals for international consortiums bidding for large EU projects, in international tenders, but also for donor agencies -- to whom we offer our communication solutions. Our experience with EU, UN, World Bank and bilateral funds in Romania, former Yugoslavia and Russia give us an understanding about the dynamics of donor funds -- and put us in a good position to help them communicate more effectively.
Links
Contact us if you are interested in this service
The 4 stages that a project must go through
Our article on fundraising
Data base of funding organizations
www.finantare.ro
Some of our proposals:
For a Tourism Agency (in Romania), looking to relaunch itself on the market
For a Child Protection NGO, in need of fundraising
For a Phare project on Roma issues (in Romanian), hired by a consultancy company
For a Phare project on anti-corruption, who wanted to communicate more efficiently with the target audience
For a Riding Center in Baia Mare, as part of a long term business strategy
Concept paper on green energy
Blog:
Get on your bike and see Romania
Another major asset that Romania has regarding cycling is its sleeper trains.
In my experience the cultural, ecological, hiking and biking types tend to love Romania.
Confessions of a Small Business Director
Why no Romanian documentary about 1989?
Romania should withstand the international adoptions pressure
Romania should continue to stand firm in the face of this intense lobby for international adoption.
There are thousands of grant funds in the world and there is one golden rule valid for all of them.