What sort of project do donors like? When and when not to

write a full proposal

What sorts of project do donors or funders like

Circumstances under which scientists write proposal:

• Thesis or academic proposal

• Competitive grant

• Proposal for donors

• To secure resources during annual planning

Whatever the circumstances you want your proposal to convince the reader

Sources of fund

• Most of the international funding for NARES researchers and extension

workers come from development donor

• There are a few donor agencies specifically interested in research for

generating knowledge. One such is the Canada based IDRC- international

research centerresearch center

• But for the most part, development donors are only interested in research

results that can contribute to development goals and objectives i.e.,

research for development (R4D)- R4D vs R&D

Development funding partners want to give their support to the following:

• Project that can make marked, measurable and rapid n the living conditionsof poor or marginalized and vulnerable people

• Project that can make a marked, measurable improvement in theenvironment

• Project with low risk and high returns

• Project that beneficiaries (end users) have themselves claimed as prioritiesi.e., demand driven and client oriented

• Proposals that offer a team composed of strong research partners whoseexperience and qualifications give them a comparative advantage over otherscarry out the project i.e., multidisciplinary and multistakeholder involvement

• Proposal whose level of detail indicates that the authors have given carefulthought to the design and implementation of the project- project logic

• Proposals with a modest yet realistic budget that is within the means of thetarget donor

• Project that are novel or innovative

Funders will not like all of the following

• Over ambitious projects that claim more than they can possibly achieve in

the time specified and for the fund requested

• Project that call for infrastructure and capital investment, unless the need

for these can be very clearly identified and links directly to the projectfor these can be very clearly identified and links directly to the project

activities

• Poorly written and poorly presented proposals i.e., lack of clarity

When and when not to write a full proposal

• Preparing concept note takes a fraction of the time need to prepare a full

proposal proceed to a full proposal when,

– Your are responding to a competitive grants program

– You have submitted an unsolicited (unasked for) concept note to a

donor, who has responded by asking you to provide more informationdonor, who has responded by asking you to provide more information

– A funding partner/donor has asked for more than a 3-7 page concept

note, and wants you to submit a full proposal

• The best basis of a full proposal is a good concept note

What is a concept note?

A concept note is a short version of a proposal

• It has the same structure as a full proposal

• It has fewer details and takes far less to prepare

• It is a useful format for getting your project details

– Approved internally linked with the details of your partners– Approved internally linked with the details of your partners

– Communicated to busy donors

• You are you are submitting a sole source proposal

• You want to find out if a donor is interested

• You ideas are at a primary stage

Differences between a concept note and a full proposal

Concept note Full proposal

3-7 pages long 10 pages minimum, average 20 pages

Summarized in bulletin (title, budget., etc) Begins with a summary section

Background section one page or less Background section about 10% of the totalBackground section one page or less Background section about 10% of the total

Activities summarized, in time lines Activities are written up in detail

Beneficiaries, impact summarized End users and impact described in detail

Summary budget is adequate Budget details required including budget

cost

Annexes summarized Annexes often required

Moving from a concept note to a proposal

• You will need to add or expand several sections

• You will need t reassemble your project design team and partners to think

though the additional details required to write a full proposal

• You now have a chance to make changes to the project that you described• You now have a chance to make changes to the project that you described

in your concept notes

• So long as the basic concept of the project remains the same, you should

feel free to make these changes in the light of evolving internal and

external realities