 The donating agencies search for, more and more, integrated focuses with

development projects. This means that it is interesting to study up to which point your
project supports and complements existing activities, and is designed to overcome
identified difficulties.
 Almost all gubernatorial and United Nations agencies, foundations, and private and
volunteering agencies have their own system of proposals and want you to follow them.
If you are not in contact with any regional or local representatives, write a letter
requesting information about the adequate procedure, application forms, and
requirements for obtaining funds. Although formats vary, all agencies and foundations
request the same information.
 Find out the budget cycle of the agency, if it is annual, trimestral or continual. Check if
there is any deadline for the submission of applications.

3. Structure of the project (profile of your proposal)

These introductions (structure) do not intend to explain what to write, but how to write the
proposal. If you are responsible for your composition, it is because you are the “expert” (in the
good sense of the word). If you are the one responsible, then know what you want to get and
which way is the best to do it. In any act, do not get scared after the perspective of winding up
alone because of the technical jargon that unfortunately is used quite often.

Do not try to compose the proposal alone. Ask help from your friends and colleagues, program
leader, personal director and all of those who can help you with concepts and style. Think about
preparing the proposal as a written form of “dialogue” in which each successive step is a
continuation of the process.

The chapters of your proposal do not have necessarily have to be written in the order presented
here, but rather what is said in each one of them should be related in a specific way with the
other chapters. Ensure yourself that you put the appropriate content in each chapter. Check that
all topics are related to each other and the whole proposal.

4. Title page (cover)

It is a simple page, the cover of the proposal. In it there must be:

 Date
 Project title
 Project locations
 Name of the organization
 Whatever other simple necessary information
After the cover should be the summary, but the proposers should not think about it now, it is
better to first continue reading near the other sections of the proposal.

5. Background (causes of the problem)

It is hoped that this section answers why your project is necessary. Here you must give a
description of the situation and emphasize the factors that drive the creation of the project that
you propose. Explain how the need for this project has been identified and who is involved in
your development. Relate the origin or context of your project.

It is advisable to involve all of the community in identifying priority problems; this is called
“participatory research.”

The first thing you have to do in this chapter is identify the problem. This means that the
problem must be defined and found. Name the recipients (beneficiaries), the sector, the
magnitude and other collaborators who are working to resolve the problem. Also, it should
indicate the point to which the problem has been the result of other co-participants and what is
the what your group has gotten up to this point.

While you examine the problems you should refer, various questions arise.What are the
conditions of the recipients that justify the donation and even personal transfer? An outline of the
community, its group or project is not necessary, but a brief summary can be useful. More
importantly, what conditions or changes in conditions make a donator give funds to the project?

It is advisable to include:

 Project area (considerations and problems, not descriptions);

 Reasons to make this proposal;
 Circumstances that have led to the making of the project; and
 The broadest plans or strategies from which it forms a part.

If your project is now new, the situation should also include whatever change that you have
made from when you began. Remember that the situation chapter describes the factors that
unleash the problem that your project tries to solve. Everything in this section should be
justification for what your project is approved and the funding assistance required. The large
histories and analyses go here in detriment of the proposal.

6. Goals and objectives (solution = result);

The goal of your project should be to solve the problem or problems described in the background.
The goals and objectives are described in the previous chapter, establishing the solution to all
these problems already mentioned. You need a collection of goals (general) and various groups
of objectives (specific).

Begin with the specific “goals”, which are verifiable, measurable, finite and have specific dates
of attainment. For example: “reducing illiteracy” is a goal, while “give basic lessons to 20
students before March 2nd is an objective.

You should be as specific as possible at establishing the objectives of your project. They have to
be reviewed considering the results for which the project hopes, not how you think to attain them.