Putting It All
Together
During the past six lessons,
we have focused on many elements of the proposal writing process.
You should always use the Request for Proposal (RFP) as a guide
to writing your proposal. The RFP will tell you how long your
document can be and which specific topics the grant giver wishes
for you to cover. Be sure to check out how the proposal will
be scored. I try to allocate space based on the grant RFP. For
example, if we know that the Needs section of the RFP will be
worth 30% of the total score, and if your grant cannot exceed
10 pages, your proposal's needs section would take up about 30%
or 3 pages. In lieu of an RFP, use the guide that follows.
A Guide to Preparing Proposals
A. Title Page
To whom are you submitting?
Organization's name
Address
Telephone
Project Director
Contact Person
Who is submitting the proposal?
Usually this is your school
district.
What is it?
State the title of your proposal
and give a brief, one-sentence description of the proposed project.
For whom?
Who will be the benefactors
when your proposal is successfully funded?
What is the need for this
project?
Why should it be funded?
What are the objectives? How are you going to do it?
How much will it cost?
Give a general budget breakdown.
Briefly describe the major activities.
B. Abstract
Include:
1. Project Title
2. Need
3. Objectives
4. Methodology or Procedures
5. Resources, Personnel,
Facilities, Uniqueness
6. Budget
Hints:
• Keep it short.
• Keep it simple
• Be precise.
• Don't use personal pronouns.
C. General Overview
Present a clear and concise
narrative describing the program proposal. Emphasize that this
project is important and will be more effective than present or
past programs. For example, you may wish to:
Indicate that the project
is aimed at answering a need in education today.
Show how the project is
an extension of important research or development projects carried
out by this writer or others.
Show how the project will
contribute knowledge.
D. Assessment of Needs
The needs assessment forms
the justification for the development of a program. Needs data
could include:
Educational Records
Tests
Observational Studies
Surveys
E. Goals and Objectives
The needs should be used to
formulate the general program goals and specific objectives.
Goals are statements of what
the writer views as the ideal state of affairs.
• Limit the number of goals.
• Rank order your goals in
importance.
Objectives represent strategies
for eliminating the discrepancies which exist between actual conditions
and what is desired.
• Who is the target group
of the project?
• What will the target group
be doing or receiving?
• How long will they be doing
or receiving it?
• What will be the result?
• How will you know (measure)
the result?
F. Activities
Solution procedures or program
activities must be developed that describe your plan to achieve
the objectives. Develop solution procedures in instruction and
instructional support in a clear and concise manner.
Describe the instructional
strategies that will be used.
Enumerate the innovative
curriculum materials that will be developed.
Focus on staff development
procedures, plans for community involvement, and/or parent participation.
Elaborate on the creative,
innovative aspects of the program.
Indicate a timeline (event
schedule) that shows when the major activities will take place.
G. Personnel, Facilities,
and Budget
Consider:
• Salaries and other stipends
paid to project personnel.
• Fringe benefits.
• Materials required to implement
the program.
• Preservice/inservice activities.
• Outside consultants, if
needed.
• Project evaluation.
• Equipment.
• Indirect costs.
H. Evaluation
Description of the method
to be used for evaluating the success of the project (product)
and documenting the implementation of the proposed design (process).
Process (formative) Evaluation
monitors and provides a continual
flow of information regarding procedural design and program implementation.
Product (summative) Evaluation
determines the degree to which
objectives have been achieved. Include:
The methods and procedures
to be used to evaluate all project components.
An identification of the
instruments to be used in the evaluation of the program.
An identification of the
person(s) responsible for the evaluation (project employee, district
employee, and/or independent contractor).
An indication of how the
evaluation feedback information will be used to improve the program.
