Proposal Writing Handbook

This document was prepared by Dorothy L. M. Crumbly, Director, Office of Development and Title III at Fort Valley State University.   It provides general guidelines for writing of proposals for private and government funding.

Outline for Writing a Proposal

I. The Summary or Abstract

The summary appears at the beginning of the proposal, but don't prepare it until you have completed the proposal. In foundation proposals, the summary should be the first paragraph in the proposal - not in the cover letter. In government formats, there is often a space on the sheet where you are asked to place a summary or abstract. A clear, concise summary should include the following:

 

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II. The Introduction

The proposal introduction is the section in which you describe your school's qualifications as an applicant for funding. In a proposal for private funding to a foundation or corporation, the introduction should be extensive - perhaps even half the length of your proposal. That is because your qualifications, credibility, may hvae more to do with your being funding than anything else. In a government proposal, you will seldom be asked for an introduction. Instead, you may be asked for a description of the applicant or background of the applicant.

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III. The Problem Statement or Needs Assessment

The problem statement, or needs assessment, is one of the most critical parts of the plan. It represents the reason behind the proposal. A needs assessment generally focuses on the conditions in the lives of the students that you wish to change. A problem statement looks at that particular situation, relates it to similar situations that exist in other communities, and shows the broader implications of your program. A poor example of a Statment of Needs can be studied in order to avoid common mistakes. Likewise, a good example of a Needs Assessment Problem Statement can provide a guideline that can be mimiced.

Whether your orientation is to the needs of specific students, to broader social implications or both, this section of the proposal has certain basic requirements.

  1. It should be clearly related to the purposes and goals of your organization.
  2. It should be supported by evidence drawn from your experience, from statistics provided by authorative sources and/or from the testimony of person and organizations known to be knowledgeable about the situiation.
  3. It should be of reasonable dimensions - a concern that you can realistically do something about ove the course of the grant.
  4. It should be stated in terms of students rather than the needs or problems of your organization.
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IV. Program Objectives

Program objectives are "outcomes" of your activities, not to be confused with the activities themselves. The difference between methods and objectives is the difference means and ends.

Too often, grant seekers confuse means and ends. Distinguishing between them is of critical importance in planning programs and writing proposals. The means are your methods. The ends are your objectives. Objectives are problem-related outcomes of the program.

If you begin your statements with words like these, you are sure to be talking about methods, and not objectives:

If you use words like these, you are more likely talking about objectives: Program objectivees that are measurable become the criteria by which you judge the effectiveness of your program. To be really useful, program objectives should:
  1. Tell who
  2. Is going to be doing what
  3. When
  4. How Much
Remember: It is most difficult to write measurable objectives beginning with: To provide, To Create, To Establish and so on. A good measurable objective may be a paragraph or several sentences. Study these examples for more guidance.

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V. Methods

When needs and problems have been described, and objectives stated, the next step is to spell out the methods by which you propose to achieve those objectives. The terms tasks, statement of work, methods, methodology, activities, procedures, or strategies may be used, but this portion of the proposal describes the steps to be taken to achieve the desired results. The review of an example of an Extended Methodology can be helpful in formulating your methods for achieving your defined objectives.

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VI. Evaluation

Most funding sources will require that your proposal contain an evaluation section. Think of the evaluation as having two components. One evaluates the results of the program. This is a product evaluation, (sometimes called outcome evaluation, program evaluation, impact evaluation or summative evaluation.) A successful product evaluation uses procedures that determine:
  1. The extent to which the program has achieved its stated objectives.
  2. The extent to which the accomplishment of objectives can be attributed to the program.
The second component examines the conduct of the program. This is a process evaluation. Process evaluation utilizes procedures that determine:
  1. Whether the program has been conducted in a manner consistent with the plan.
  2. The relationship activities to the effectiveness of the program.
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A Poor Example of a Statment of Needs

The Up State University College of Education has studied the problem of dyslexia in children. Dyslexia is a learning disability that causes children to reverse words and letters as they learn to read. This leads to poor school performance, emotional trauma, and even the mistaken classification of such children as mentally retarded. Some of these children are placed in special classrooms for the mentally retarded, cause an array of other complications

Pre-Service Teachers have worked with these children for some years. They have developed an effective "one-on-one" tutoring program which has virtually eliminated the dyslexia and greatly reduced the accompanying problems.

Remedial programs offered elsewhere are conduced by highly-trained professionals who provide their services at a sizeable fee. Pre-Service Teachers, on the other hand, have trained a large number of elderly voluntees in specialized techniques. This term has produced great satisfacction for the volunteers and has also enabled the agency to work with children from a range of economic backgrounds. Most of their students could not afford the fees usually charged for professional tutoring.

Now Up State University wishes to expand its services, for it receives far more requests for tutoring than it can handle. Many of these requests come from families of limited means who have heard about the program's success.

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A Good Example of a Needs Assessment Problem Statement

Washington and Hancock Counties, Maine, lie in the most northeastern corner of the United States. The area has a population of slightly over 70,000, of which more than 85 percent live in rural areas. In almost all categories of employment, health services, and income, the area is disadvantaged compared to state and federal figures. The Maine Departemtn of Manpower has cited unemployment ranging up to 29 percent over the past several years during which time the national average never exceeded 8 percent.

Incomes in the area are extremely low. One-third of all families have incomes under $15,000 annually with 74 percent having incomes under $20,000. Within the state of Maine, which has the lowest per capita income in the U.S., Washington County has the greatest percentage of families below the poverty level. Of the employed labor force of 32,000, more than 30 percent work seasonal jobs (e.g. cutting pulp, lobstering or clamming) and are paid the minimum wage.

At the same time, there are several underutilized natural resources in the area, including shellfish, low-grade bardwood and peat moss. The Department of Interior surveys in 1990 revealed that there were more than 200 million tons of peat moss in the area. The market price of Maine peat moss is currently $100 per ton. Currently, only 5,000 tons of peat are mined each year in Maine, while the U.S. annually imports as much as one million tons of similar quality at comparable prices (see U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1989 Annual Report in the appendix.)

Peat moss production is an industry involving a number of activities, including mining or harvesting, drying, grading, packaging and shipping. End products include peat pots and filters for septic systems and industrial use. A 1990 U.S. Economic Development Adminstration report established the strong market potential of peat and peat products. But traditional economic development strategies, such as community industrial parks and plant relocation, have not been successful in stimulating industry to locate in the area. Maine's location in the extreme northeastern section of the U.S., and the anticipated high transportation costs of products and raw materials, are cited as significant reasons (1990 State of Maine Labor Department report). Peat, however, costs less to transport from Maine to major U.S. cities than it does to transport the maritime provinces of Canada, the source of most imported peat.

Critical to this issue is the unrealized economic value of raw peat moss. At the bog, the value of Maine peat is 2 1 / 2 cents per pound. A supermarket in Washington, D.C. sells peat as a soil conditioner in three-pound bags for $1.79, or 59 cents per pound. The total cost of harvesting, drying, grading, packaging and shipping raw peat allows not only a substantial profit for the entrepreneur, but promises the employement on a more regular basis of persons with a range of skills. The development of the peat moss industry in this area of Maine is the subject of this proposal.

The proposed program has two primary objectives. First to increase employment in the peat moss industry in Hancock and Washington Counties from the current (1990) 150 workers to 500 workers by October of 1992. This increase will come from local workers who are presently unemployed or seasonally unemployed with annual incomes of under $15,000.

Second, to increase the annual peat production in these counties, from the current 5,000 tons of 500,000 tons by October 1992, thus generating $25,000,000 in new revenue for the area.

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Good Objectives Examples

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An Extended Methodology Example

Methods:

Peach County's Chapter I program is designed to improved the reading achievement of educationally disadvantaged children. All components of the program - teach training, parental involvement, and auxiliary services - aim toward this goal. This proposal is limited to the teacher training component. It introduces the idea of using skills specialists, or specially trained teachers to assist classroom teachers and aides in diagnosing student's strengths and weaknesses and in devising supplementary materials. The plan described here covers the areas of staff selection, staff training and participant selection.

Selecting the Staff

Peach County's Chapter I program will employ 25 skills specialists, 15 reading specialists, 10 math specialists and 33 instructional aides, in addition to the district's administrative staff. The reading and math specialists must be certified teachers. They must also be knowledgeable about techniques for individualized instruction and be able to organize workshops, establish classroom learning stations, and work easily with teachers, aides, and students. The 33 instruction and know how to prepare classroom materials, how to work with individuals and small groups of students, and how to assist in reading and math instruction. Most aides will have worked in Peach County's compensatory education program for 5 years or more.

Training the Staff

To make the reading system a success, the Peach County Chapter I Program will first train the skills specialists and aides; they in turn will organize in-service workshops at their respective schools to acquaint classroom teachers with the program, to help them establish learning stations, and to illustrate ways of creating supplementary learning materials that correspond with the program's reading objective.

The intensive training of the skills specialists and aides will occur throughout the 1998-99 school year. Following is the calendar of activities from August 1998 through June 1999.

August 1998

September 1998 October 1998
(continue through 1999)

In 1995, skills specialist will attend summer school at Fort Valley State University and select a course that offers four different types of learning situations. Group workshops, which the specialists attend together, cover such topics as scheduling students in learning centers, new methods for teaching basic skills, and teaching writing skills. The curriculum consultant will hold one-on-one conferences with each specialist, emphasizing the importance of adapting a classroom management system with a teacher's own style of teaching and needs. In addition, the specialists will teach the summer school classes, incorporating the ideas they gather in workshops and conversations with the curriculum consultant. A major part of the summer training will be the development of "treasure kits." The specialists make the materials for their own kits, which will be used in conjunction with the learning stations at their respective schools. The kits contain games, worksheets, and other materials and are color-coded to correspond to program objectives and make filing easier.

The in-service training of skills specialists and aides will continue during the 1996-97 school year. They will visit schools and classrooms, continue in-service training in individualized instruction, develop models of instruction, and continue developing and screening new learning materials for Chapter I students.

The skills specialists will plan in-service training programs for classroom teachers at their respective schools at least once a month.

Selecting the Participants

The schools receiving Chapter I funds in Peach County will be selected according to the percentage of children from families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The participating schools will have 16 to 37 percent of their student population from AFDC families, schools with less than 16 percent of AFDC cases will not be eligible for Chapter I sevices.

Within the 10 participating schools, Chapter I students will be selected on the basis of standardized test scores. Any student who scores a year or more below grade level is considered educationally disadvantages. In 1997-98, the enrollment in each participating school and the number of Chapter I students were as follows:
School Total Enrollment No of Eligible Chapter 1 students
Fort Valley High School 326 210
H.A. Hunt Primary 522 266
H.A. Hunt Elementary 588 170
Peach County High School 122 35
Byron Elementary 323 110
Bryan Middle  269 50
Classroom teachers, assistetd by both Regional Educational Service Agency (RSEA) and Chapter I skills specialists, will test and place all students on a reading skills continuum, using existing criterion reference tests. In Chapter I schools, there will be a skills specialist, (either district or Chapter I salaried) for each grade lever; other schools may have one skills specialist for every two or three grades, depending on a school's size. The skills specialists will divide their time among all teachers at their grade level; beginning in 1997-98 each skills specialist will be assigned to one classroom teacher for most of the day. However, they will also work with the other teachers in the creation of learning centers and the development of new materials.

The skills specialists, both district and Chapter I, will concentrate their attention on the lowest achieving students in each classroom.

Rationale An individual learning structure has the advantage over more traditional reading programs in that lessons are tailored to each student's fundamental needs. Individualized instruction takes the student at the level of his accomplishment and build on already known skills to learn new skills. Peach County's efforts to date have demonstrated the potential of this program. Of 410 students who participated in a pilot program last year, 307 (75 percent), advanced by more than two grade levels over a period of nine months.

SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTATION

Personal Development                                  Parenting Classes                                   2
    Component Year                                      Component Activity                               Year

Goal:Present systematic training for effective parenting classes for teen parents and young adult parents.

Objective:October 1998 to September 1999- to decrease the number of school based incidents for misbehavior of 20%, the FLC staff and consultants will conduct parenting classes for teen parents and young adult parents.
Activity Measures Responsible Parties Method(s) Time Line Anticipated Outcome
1. Identify youth participants and families  Prevention Specialist 
Youth Participants
Parents
Consultant/Evaulator
Partnership members		 Review Behavior reports
Partnership consults		 Oct. 1, 1998
Sept.30, 1999		 List of all participants to determine required resources
2. Contact, schedule and coordinate classes  FLC Director 
Prevention Specialist
Admin. Assistant		 Select consultant(s)
Schedule classes		 Oct. 1, 1998
Sept.30, 1999		 Well organized curriculum and action plan
3. Implement classes  Consultant Lectures and guided discussions Oct. 1, 1998
Sept.30, 1999		 Change in violent attitude and behavior
4. Measure outcomes  Prevention Specialist 
Consultant(s)		 Survey of class participants Oct. 1, 1998
Sept.30, 1998		 Determine project effectiveness

EVALUATION PLAN - Year 1

Goal:Educate and train junior high and high school children on alternatives to violent conflict.

Objective:By b>September 1998 to decrease the number by 10% of reported violent incidents for Fort Valley/Peach County youth, the FLC staff and counsultants will educate and train participants on conflict resolution measures and violent prevention strategies.
Activity Responsible Parties Method Time Line Anticipated Outcome
1. Identify youth participants Prevention Specialist 
Youth Participants
Partnership members		 Youth interviews
Parent interviews
Partnership consults		 Oct. 15, 1997 List of all participants to determine required resources
2. Determine days, time frequency of program conducive for maximum effectiveness FLC Director 
Prevention Specialist		 Strategy meeting(s) Oct. 15, 1997 Schedule of and mandatory learning activities
3. Review Violence Prevention Program materials (handouts, visual aids, etc.) for changes and updates Prevention Specialists Examination of materials Oct. 17, 1997 Use the most current and reliable
4. Implement Violence Prevention Program and curriculum Leadership/Followership Prevention Specialist 
Volunteers
Consultant(s)
Youth Participants		 Guided discussions Oct. 20, 1998
to Sept.30, 1998		 Help students realize violent behavior is a choice with negative short and long term consequences
5. Monitor and evaluate youth participants Prevention Specialist 
Evaluator/Consultant		 Completing tasks, attendance and participation level Oct. 20, 1997
to Sept.30, 1998		 Determine project effectiveness

Bibliography
1 The Grantsmanship Center, Los Angeles, CA 90017, 1993