Will it work?
When funders are making a decision about funding one of their considerations will be about how confident they are that what you are proposing to do (The Project Plan) will achieve the outcomes ( What difference will you make?) you are trying to achieve.
Therefore as part of any proposal you will want to be able to provide evidence that what you are going to do will achieve the things you say it will. There are three ways of doing this:
Show that a similar approach has been successful somewhere else
Explain how you think your approach will be successful - your theory
Involving the beneficiaries in the planning process
Finding similar approaches
You may have conducted similar projects in the past, in which case you could think about ways in which this project worked well, and for areas that didn’t small changes that would make the project work better. Don’t worry if you have not carried out such a project before, you may have a totally new idea or have been inspired by seeing or hearing good practices from elsewhere. For help in finding details on other projects that have done similar projects the forums and support organisations may be helpful and know of groups or organisations that have succeeded using similar approaches.Other useful sources for project ideas are by looking at what other kinds of projects have been funded by the organisations from which you are applying. However bear in mind that funders often want you to be able to demonstrate new approaches.
Explain your theory
You may be attempting something very innovative and therefore it is impossible to identify similar approaches to doing what you are proposing to do. However, it is rare that you are doing something in an entirely new and fresh way - often you will be adding a new approach on top of existing or tried and tested ways of doing things.
If you are taking a new approach it is important that you have a grasp of what is different about it and why you think that this approach will work. Perhaps you are doing things differently because another way did not work? Perhaps this time you are working with a different set of people or places?
Involving the beneficiaries
If you are doing a project to improve the local park, show that you will be using local people who go to the park to help in your project planning or activities. Perhaps you can agree to get children or local schools involved if possible. Feedback from funders themselves is that they like to see evidence of people outside of the organisation who are applying taking part in the planning of projects or project activities. Demonstrating that local people are willing to be involved helps to show that the project is supported by others outside your organisation.
