Proposal Writing

Developing and managing budgets can be a challenging task for NGOs whenever they need to plan a project, write a proposal and implement an activity. Efficient financial management is essential for the growth of any organization. Besides, if you have well-managed and transparent financial system, it also enables donor agencies to gain confidence in your NGO and offer to support to it. However, setting up an efficient financial management system requires a sound understanding of financial practices and principles. Here we are providing a basic guide for NGOs so that they can improve their capacity in developing and managing budgets for their organization and project and contribute towards an overall effective financial system.

 Advantages of Effective Financial Management System in NGOs

What is a Budget – for NGOs?

“Budget” is a term that NGOs often come across when they need to plan and implement a project activity. Besides, we also come across this term again and again when we are in the process of developing a proposal. Any donor funding for NGOs is limited and a proper and planned budget is required to convince the donor to access this funding. Donor agencies also have their limitations and they distribute their financial resources evenly amongst NGOs based not only on their project plans but also according to the budget they present.

Budget, in simple terms, means a document where you specify how much money you are going to spend (in other words, expenditure), especially if your organization has received grants. In some cases, as in businesses, budgets can also include the money that the organization is going to generate or “income.” The latter is important for all NGOs now because managing any organization, including an NGO do not mean just spending – we also need to look at how costs can be covered and money can be saved for other activities.

In another sense, budget is all about planning your expenses and saving your costs.

What should not be done with a Budget – for NGOs?

We have read about what NGOs can do with a budget: manage organizational expenses and income, plan project activities, fulfill donor expectations and also work towards long-term sustainability of the organization.

Now we try to understand the essential things that should not be done with a budget. For example, we tend to believe that a budget submitted to a donor agency cannot be changed. Practically speaking, this is not true to some extent. Budgets can be changed, but in many cases, it is required to take prior permission from the concerned donor agency.

Myths about Budgets clarified:

How to identify NGO Funding Opportunities among Bilateral Agencies

There are several sources of grant opportunities available for NGOs from government to grant making foundations to multilaterals and to bilateral. Bilateral agencies are official aid agencies of developed countries providing financial assistance to NGOs and governmental agencies in developing countries. Although a substantial part of this aid is reserved for governments in developing countries, yet the official policies of many of these bilateral agencies require mandatory allocation of budgets for supporting civil society organizations directly. NGOs often ignore this potential source of funding and here we are providing some guidance information on how to identify this funding and apply for support.

Challanges In Writing a Proposal

Before we start learning about proposal writing, it will serve our purpose if we outline the exact difficulties we face working on the proposal.

The following are the common problems we face while trying to write a proposal:

Confused about the format?

There are as many proposal formats as there are a number of donors and each donor as a different format. Although the basic information requested by various donors is generally the same, yet we often encounter snags that make the entire process confusing.

A proposal is an essential marketing document that helps cultivate an initial professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a project to be implemented. The proposal outlines the plan of the implementing organization about the project, giving extensive information about the intention, for implementing it, the ways to manage it and the results to be delivered from it.