Introduction

Proposal and report writing serve important functions in humanitarian agencies and are common and necessary tasks for staff in various levels and roles throughout the organisation. Nevertheless, writing proposals and reports can be challenging. The ability of NGOs to deliver aid is dependent on their access to funds, and the quality of project proposals determines whether or not funds are ultimately received. Reports must analyse the information that is presented, draw consistent conclusions, and make sensible and practical recommendations, otherwise they risk falling short of their objective.

It is essential to understand how to write reports and proposals that get read. We write reports in a range of formats and a variety of purposes. Whether you need to report on a product analysis, inventory, feasibility studies, or something else, report writing is a skill you will use again and again. Having a method to prepare these documents will help you be as efficient as possible with the task. This course will build on a solid base of writing skills to present information in formal, informal, and proposal styles.

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• To highlight the basic concepts on a project proposal and what a project report entails
• To introduce participants to problem identification, understanding the cause-effect, and means-ends relationships for identifying a meaningful
• To introduce participants to the log frame- a Project design and analysis tool
• To highlight the important writing skills needed and the steps to generate quality reports to share with readers/stakeholders
• To enhance the capacity of trainees to develop highly competitive project proposal for donor funded projects.
• To increase the ability of trainees to generate and compile high quality technical reports.

Who should attend…?

This course is aimed at programme officers, managers, and other humanitarian and development agencies staff whose roles involve producing proposals and reports for their organization.

Course Content:

Day 1

• Introduction to resource mobilization principles and practices.
• A snapshot of the current funding environment for non-profit organizations.
• Relevance of strong proposals and quality reports in a competitive scenario.
•  Basic proposal elements, proposal formats, and proposal summary.

Day 2

• Call analysis, project concept development, formulation of the project objectives and a preliminary work plan.
• Needs assessment, project design frameworks,
• problem statement, problem justification, project goals and objectives setting,
•  Project output and outcomes, project strategy and approaches, and Project implementation planning.

Day 3

•  Monitoring and evaluation framework and plan, organizational frameworks.
• Defining the work packages developing a Gantt chart and a PERT diagram, establishing a complementary partnership, discussion on impact and exploitation issues.
• Importance of quality reporting in a competitive business environment.

Day 4

• Determining suitable reporting for different audiences.
• Key elements of technical reporting.
• Monthly progress reports, activity reports, routine reports, field trip reports, meetings reports.
• Elements of a good budget.
• Finalizing the proposal with the Budget Development discussing final issues and introducing a real proposal.

Day 5

• Local and international trends in report and proposal writing
• Why the business world is now trying to simplify reports.
• Taking a reader-centered approach.
• Concept to construction-a practical guide to report-building
• How to produce a powerful one-page executive summary
• Why knowing how to self-edit is a must for anyone writing a report.