Writing a funding proposal that gets read

Small organisations usually write proposals in the wrong order: narrative first, budget last, problem statement borrowed from a report. Reversing that order improves the result more than better writing does.

Before writing: does this fit?

Read the funder's priorities, geography, eligibility and budget range. If you do not fit, do not apply. Reshaping the organisation to fit available money is how organisations lose their purpose, and it produces weak proposals because the fit is obviously forced.

Applying where you clearly do not qualify also costs you with that funder for later.

Write the problem statement first

A strong problem statement is specific, local and evidenced. Weak: "There is poverty and lack of clean water in our community." Strong: "The four villages of this parish have one functioning borehole between roughly 900 people. Households in the two furthest villages walk over an hour each way, and use an unprotected stream in the dry season. The health centre records diarrhoeal cases concentrated in those villages."

Note what the strong version contains: numbers you can defend, a named location, a described behaviour, and a consequence. If you do not have the numbers, collect them. A week walking the parish with a notebook produces a better proposal than a month of writing.

Then the budget

Writing the budget second forces the plan to be realistic, and stops you promising activities the money cannot cover.

• Itemise: unit, quantity, unit cost, total. Never round figures with no basis.
• Use actual local quotations, and keep them.
• Include what beginners omit: transport, communication, monitoring, bank charges, audit, and a modest contingency.
• Show your own contribution, including community labour and materials, valued honestly. It demonstrates commitment.
• Check the arithmetic. A budget that does not add up ends the application, and it happens more often than you would think.

Then the narrative

Structure it as the funder asks. Where the format is open:

1. Summary. One paragraph: who you are, the problem, what you will do, for how many people, for how much. Assume this is all that gets read.
2. The problem. As above.
3. What you will do. Activities, in sequence, with a timeline.
4. Who benefits. Numbers, by category, and how you will identify them.
5. How you will know it worked. Indicators you can actually measure.
6. Why you. What you have already delivered, your governance, your local standing.
7. Sustainability. What happens when the funding ends.
8. Budget and narrative.

The sustainability question

Most proposals answer this badly, with a sentence about seeking further funding. That is not sustainability, it is dependency.

Real answers: a maintenance fund collected from users; a committee trained and functioning; an activity that generates income; a practice that continues because households adopted it. If there is no honest answer, choose a different intervention.

Show that you have already done something

The single strongest element in a small organisation's proposal is evidence of delivery, however modest. A borehole committee you formed, a savings group still running after two years, a school block you contributed to. It shifts you from a group with a plan to a group with a record.

Common reasons proposals are rejected

• The organisation is not eligible.
• The problem is generic and could describe anywhere.
• The budget does not add up, or costs are unexplained.
• The plan is far larger than the organisation's demonstrated capacity.
• No governance or financial systems described.
• The deadline or format was not followed.

If you are rejected

Ask why, politely. Many funders will tell you, and the answer is usually reusable. Keep the proposal; a rejected proposal is a strong starting draft for the next opportunity, and the problem statement and budget rarely need rewriting.

Start smaller and closer

Before international funders, look at district government programmes, national funds, local businesses, diaspora networks and your own community. Smaller grants delivered well build the record that larger applications require.

IDPN works to strengthen the capacity of community organisations across Uganda, including proposal development and governance. Contact the office to discuss.