3.1 Meaningful participation of people and organizations connected to the proposal process 3.2 Information-gathering 3.3 Time 3.4 Money, staff time and other resources

Step 3

Managing the Proposal Development Process

Now that you have decided which funders to approach, you will need good project management skills to develop the proposal. There are five key factors to consider while managing the development of your proposal:

Meaningful participation of all people and organizations connected to the proposal process
Time
Money and other resources
Information-gathering
Decision-making

If these elements are ignored or not managed well, problems are likely to occur:

A lack of participation can lead to decisions being overruled, delayed, challenged, or questioned by internal or external stakeholders.
Being late can result in missed opportunities, poor impacts, and stress to relationships with partners.
Unanticipated resource shortcomings (including staffing) or costs can create problems.
Information that is misleading, weak, or incomplete will result in poor decisions.
Good decisions are unlikely without proper time, creativity, and a supportive climate.

Clearly, poor project management can result in a poor proposal.