If you followed our page for a while, you will have read many times that we stress the importance of guidelines. But why is this actually? Today we will talk about the importance of guidelines for a project proposal and how they can help you to be more successful in your grant writing.
The guidelines are a catalogue of rules and regulations that the donor agency develops to help you write a proposal. The guidelines can be any size, from a couple of sentences and up to several pages. Some are very basic, while other can be incredibly technical. Normally, you find the guidelines in a separate document that accompanies the call for applications. Sometimes, the donor also publishes them on the website.
The donor takes the time to write detailed guidelines for a call for proposal, because they only want to receive a specific type of proposals by a specific type of applicant. This can just be their own priority or even laws and rules that the country the donor is based on applies. When they tell you exactly what they want to see in a proposal and who should apply, they can make sure that they only receive projects they can actually consider.
If there would be no guidelines, everybody would apply and no one would know exactly, which documents to send. Some organizations might send a Letter of Interest, while others might send a fully-fleshed proposal. There is no way to compare these two, thus it would be impossible to choose which one is better. With the providing of guidelines, donors make sure that everybody is on the same page and that the applications they will receive will be comparable.
Sometimes the guidelines are also a way to see if applicants are willing to do the extra legwork and properly read the accompanying documents. When an organization cannot adhere to guidelines, this might be a hint that they will also not follow through with their proposal in the future. Also, guidelines are a way to cut down on the number of applications a foundation gets, as they can be quite overwhelming.
You should always follow the guidelines meticulously. As stated above, some donors use this as a first test, and if you fail it you will immediately be disqualified. Even if it sounds unimportant to you, follow every step, from the content to the formatting. Even if you write a great project that would fit perfectly, the donor will not accept it if you do not follow the guidelines.
Another reason you should pay special attention to the guidelines is the fact that they can give you very important hints towards what is important to the donor. They tell you exactly what they want to see and you don’t have to wonder anymore, what to include in your proposal. Even a step further, if the guidelines focus specifically on one topic, you can be pretty sure that it is important. I.e., in guidelines I recently read, it was stated over and over again that the math in the budget should be checked and has to be correct. This tells you, that there is a lot of emphasis on the budget and that you should pay extra attention to it. Sometimes the donor even includes, how many points can be achieved for which part of the proposal in the process of evaluation.
Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.
Good woook
I need your support dear
Dear Saasi: We are here to assist you with everything related to proposal writing.
I need your help
Dear Subhash: You can reach Priti at pthapa@philantropia.org.
Hello,
I am sure you will find many useful resources on our website. Best of luck.
Hi Eva,
How are you? My name is Foley. I am in Liberia. I just read about you and your work. I am interested in reading some of your materials on writing proposals and concept notes.
Thank you.
Hello Foley,
thank you. If you want to read more of my articles you can go to my profile and find the full list there.
Kindly send me a typical/ standard Proposal Format .My regards
Dear Ibanga: You can download a generic templeate here.
How to find donor for ngos
Dear Birendra ji: You recommend you use this website to find open funding opportunities for NGOs. Hope this helps.
In this proposal what is the deadline ?
Dear Budhaikala:
This one is an article on why guidelines are important and not a proposal call.
Join the discussion…helow! I am bahati Jacob Sanga from Tanzania am asking for your assistance as proofleader of my project proposal
Hello Bahati, Please email us at info@proposalsforngos.com with specifics and we might be able to put you in contact with a Native editor.
Thenks alot I am waiting for your help to be connected to the native editor for more proofleading
Thanka alot I am waiting you For more proofleading of my educational project as you promised me
Hello Eva,
I’m happy to meet you here. I’m very much interested in learning proposal writing and concept note.
Thank you
Margaret from Uganda.
Dear Masudio: We are glad you found this article helpful. We will be publishing all of our expert advice daily to this site. So subscribe to our newsletter and check back regularly for more free resources!
We are srilanka. To do helping hands organization. Request for donate to ngo
Dear Jayanthimalar
Unfortunately, We are not a funding organization and do not provide grants. We are a social enterprise that provides a platform to connect you with expert advice on proposal writing to get your amazing projects funded.
Please check out the many resources available on our site to will help you on creating a fundraising strategy.
Thank you!
Awesome