HOW TO WRITE A GOOD PROJECT PROPOSAL

A project proposal is an outlined description of different activities geared towards solving a certain problem in a bit to gain success over the problem afterward. Most undergraduates are expected to propose a final year project topic, which will help to stimulate further studies. Projects help to provide final-year students and others logical presentation of gathered ideas, it also show the relationship of past actions and articulate the activities for the proposed project. A good project should consist of the following factors.

1. Project planning: plan ahead to get a good project topic, and explore to be certain that the topic is viable and there will be sustainability.

2. Make it a team work, if other people are involved in the project.

3. The project proposal should be realistic in terms of set time and the aim of the proposal.

4. There should be no use of abbreviations, initials nor jargon when writing the project proposal.

5. A clear concise and readable format should be used

6. There should be the employment of action words in the proposal to show the readiness of the proposal proposer or writer. 

STEPS TO START A PROJECT PROPOSAL

-     Decide on the problem to tackle and come up with a good idea

-     Identify your funding channel, especially for money-gulping projects.

-     Approach your sponsors if any on time to ascertain commitment on their part.

-     Build a project team, if the project needs more people, find more responsible partners and appoint a head with a good reputation.

-     Play an active part in most decision-making, to achieve the desired goal

-     Finally, hold a kick-off meeting with your supervisor or team head, then lastly with all partners. 

FORMAT FOR WRITING A PROJECT PROPOSAL.

A project proposal should have the following headings for easy navigation

Title page: A good project format must have a project title, the date of the project, and if possible the name of the sponsors or donor agency. 

Project title: The project proposal title should be short and straight to the point and outline the main project activity.

Abstract: There should always be a short summary of the whole project, since most readers may not be patient enough to assess the whole project proposal. The abstract should take limited lines and be straight to the point.

Context: Emphasize on the relevant data from the research carried out and don’t dwell on irrelevancies.

Project justification: A proposal project format should include reasons for the project this heading should include a problem statement, priority needs, the aims of the projects and ways of solving problems.

Target group: The format should show the size and features of the target groups.

Project Implementation: The format should also outline the activities, basically an overview of people or a person involved in the project when the project will begin, where or location of the project activities, and how it will be carried out to a conclusion.

Budget: The format should systematically detail the proposal's expected income and expenditure to be expended during and after the specified proposal period.

Monitoring and Evaluation: The format should have a monitoring and Evaluation subheading, which will indicate the progress of the project so far, and if some methods are not working as desired a more viable method could be adopted.

Reporting: A project proposal format must accommodate the reporting heading to ascertain the final progress, which will give proper feedback on the project i.e if the project is positively received or not.

Managers and Personnel Heading: The format used should provide space to outline the people involved in the project work. Their various names and roles if it was group work or just the proposer name and roles for the individual