Grants Proposal Writing Course

Course Details

Proposal writing training course is designed to teach you how to write a winning proposal. Winning proposals are persuasive and interesting but easy to read. They demonstrate clear objectives, specific time frames, reasonable budget requests, and doable deliverables. Through the proposal writing training course, NEWWAYS offers your organization access to our experienced proposal engineers who will teach your staff the key proposal writing techniques needed to develop a fully-compliant and winning proposal.

Winning a grant is not only about writing a good proposal. Proposal writing is one stage of a process including planning, research, building networks, and outreach to potential funders. As difficult as it is to seek for money, it is also difficult to trust an organization to donate the money one made through hard work. The proposal writing training course will help you understand the concerns of potential funders and try to address their concerns in your proposals. At NEWWAYS, our experienced instructors have the experience of being on the both sides of money seeker and money donor, which made them pros in both. Therefore, our instructors will give you a great perspective of what potential funders and proposal evaluators are looking for when they read your proposals.

An ideal partnership occurs when one party has the ideas and the capacity to do a particular work, but no budget to proceed, while the other party has the money to spend but not the other resources necessary to complete the work. A winning proposal, which is properly written and is reached to the proper hands, can bring these two parties together to build a successful partnership. The proposal writing training course intends to teach you how to seek potential partners who are right for your goals and, once you found them, how to present yourself to gain their trust.

Target Audience

The proposal wiring training is a 3-day course suitable for all mid- and senior-level staff. The course is particularly useful for:

• Grants writers
• Grants directors and managers
• Proposal contributors and coordinators
• Business developer
• Academic grants/funds writers
• Fund raisers

Training Objectives

Upon completion of proposal writing training course, the trainees are able to:

• Define the strategies and proper method for each proposal
• Apply the suitable proposal style
• Employ the best approach for winning a proposal
• Perform a need analysis and write a goal statement based on that
• Obtain diverse methods to improve writing skills
• Utilize relevant resources in order to develop a strong case
• Increase the proposal influence by using proper illustrations and case studies
• Proofread and edit effectively
• Polishing the proposal up to a level at which it has the shape of a final product
• Understand how the proposal evaluators would read your proposal
• Include proper and effective graphs and captions
• Collaborate effectively with other team members and get necessary information that can improve the proposal
• Identify and describe the difference between writing proposals and reports
• Explain the essential elements a proposal
• Articulate the importance of the executive summary to a successful proposal
• Incorporate cost analysis properly in a way that both the finance and non-finance people would understand
• Choose a proper template through which you can edit, add, or delete different sections during the proofreading and final touch phases
• Use a simple language which is easily understandable yet persuasive and effective
• Be specific about the outcomes of the proposal
• Demonstrate the ability of your organization of delivering the proposal promises
• Build a basic and doable evaluation plan
• Write a robust and as accurate as possible budget
• Write your proposal in logic model
• Identify and write to the funders that are suitable for you

Course Outline

• Overview Of Writing Proposal
• Definition of proposal
• What is the difference between proposal and report?
• How to spot the funders that are right for you and your organization?
• Understanding Proposals
• Basics of proposals
• Different types of proposals
• Key questions you must answer in your proposal
• Preparation
• Understand thoroughly the objectives of your proposals
• Learn what will be the most important concerns of your evaluators
• Know exactly what you are going to deliver
• Be prepared to prove that you can deliver your promises
• Know how you want to define the budget
• Get Started
• First step of the process
• State your goals and objectives
• Perform a needs analysis
• Planning
• Planning
• Information collection
• Project concepts and missions
• Time frame and milestones due dates
• Results and outcomes
• Budget and costs
• Creating An Outline
• Choosing a general format suitable to the type of the proposal
• Generating a framework
• Elaborating details
• Researching Potential Funders
• Define yourself
• Field of interests
• Location of the project
• Type of support you would need
• Resources
• Internet research
• Organize the information
• Tax related information
• Elements Of Proposal
• Contents
• Narrative
• Packaging
• Proposal Contents
• Title and table of contents
• Executive summary
• Goal statement
• Project description
• Organization information
• Budget
• Appendices and supporting materials
• Proposal Narrative
• Generate an outline
• Choose a meaningful and interesting name for the project
• Use simple and clear language
• Apply action words and active verbs
• Avoid acronyms as much as possible
• Revise and edit
• Needs Analysis
• Address issues and problems
• Audience
• Supporting facts and statistics
• Project Description
• Goals
• Objectives
• Methodologies
• Human resource
• Collaboration
• Evaluation
• Sustainability
• Budget and Costs
• Expenses
• Incomes
• Budget narrative
• Organization Information
• Mission and vision
• Background of the institute
• Programs and departments
• Board of staff and executives
• Executive Summary
• Where in the proposal
• What to include
• Appendices and Supporting Materials
• IRS information
• Financial documents
• Staff related information
• Other supporting materials
• Packaging the Proposal
• Include a cover letter
• Proposal
• References
• Writing Tips
• Spelling and grammar check
• Words
• Creating paragraphs
• Use strong transition words
• Building towards conclusions
• Readability Check
• Check if it is clear and easy to understand for your audience
• Use readability index
• General Hints
• Educate your audience
• Ghost the competition
• Use visual illustrations
• Proofreading and Editing
• How to proofread effectively
• Editing techniques
• Checking the accuracy of the facts
• Peer review
• Post Proposal Writing
• Follow up
• Make phone calls, build relationships
• Update your information
• If you win
• Send a thank you letter/email
• Keep the funder(s) in the loop, make sure they are always updated
• Build your network with the funder(s) for renewal requests
• If you lose
• Find out why, if it's possible
• Ask about the future funding opportunities
• Look for other funding resources