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Executive Summary: Financing

This document provides guidelines for writing an effective concept note to propose projects to funding agencies. It explains that a concept note is a brief summary of a project idea that captures the interest of donors to warrant further consideration of a full proposal. The document offers a template for a concept note, which should be no more than 3-5 pages, and include sections that describe the project title, background, objectives, outputs, activities, beneficiaries and impacts, management plan, and budget if requested. Tips are provided such as keeping the language clear and concise, tailoring the note to the specific donor, and establishing contact within the organization when possible.

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Naina Chetwani
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79 views3 pages

Executive Summary: Financing

This document provides guidelines for writing an effective concept note to propose projects to funding agencies. It explains that a concept note is a brief summary of a project idea that captures the interest of donors to warrant further consideration of a full proposal. The document offers a template for a concept note, which should be no more than 3-5 pages, and include sections that describe the project title, background, objectives, outputs, activities, beneficiaries and impacts, management plan, and budget if requested. Tips are provided such as keeping the language clear and concise, tailoring the note to the specific donor, and establishing contact within the organization when possible.

Uploaded by

Naina Chetwani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Executive Summary

A concept note is a summary of a proposal containing a brief description of the idea of the
project and the objectives to be pursued. In some financing programs, funding agencies
require a concept note before the submission of a full proposal, in order to decide whether the
proposed project is in line with the priorities of the program and to eliminate proposals that
are not likely to be funded. Concept notes are also submitted to donors without a formal call
for proposals, who prefer to understand a project through a brief summary rather than a full-
fledged proposal document. This factsheet contains a set of guidelines on how to write a
concept note, offering also a template to help you drafting an eye catching document to
ensure the success of your project.

A concept note is a brief outline of your proposed project. “The purpose of a concept paper,
from the funding agency’s point of view, is to help applicants develop more competitive
proposals and to save time by eliminating proposals that are not likely to be funded. The
applicant’s purpose in developing a concept paper is to capture the interest of the funding
agency and demonstrate that the idea they are proposing is worthy of further consideration.
Therefore, the first sentences of a concept paper are very important. You want the funding
agency representatives or board members to continue reading!” (AUB 2010).
“Any proposal needs the involvement of different team members, such as from the technical,
financial and administrative side. Input from stakeholders or other specialists with different
backgrounds helps bring in the necessary expertise, but also a larger variety of ideas on how
to solve a particular issue and achieve the previously agreed objectives. To manage the
proposal development in an efficient way it is advisable to assign the lead role to one specific
person. This person is then responsible for the coordination of the overall proposal
development, for communication with potential funders and for making sure that all different
pieces of input are brought together in a consistent and coherent text” (PHILIP et al. 2008).
In order to prepare a successful concept note, you will have to spend time carefully thinking
and planning the action. How well you plan the action will largely influence how good the
actual results are. The planning is perhaps the most critical stage of a project and this should
reduce the risk of you preparing a concept note that is rejected by the donor agencies
(REPOA 2007). To ensure that the project will contribute to the implementation of the
overall action plan for a sustainable sanitation and water management in your locality, the
activities of the concept note to be drafted should aim at meeting at least one of the objectives
of the overall strategy and/or community action plan.
The length and the format for writing a concept note actually depend upon the donor agency.
Usually donors do not have a format for a concept note as they have for a full proposal. But
there are some agencies that issue solicitation for concept notes based upon a basic format
given in their guidelines for funding request (FUNDS FOR NGOs 2010). In general, it is
important to keep in mind that it should be the shortest possible text for the project idea. So,
the shorter the better! Most donor agencies request a minimum of three pages to a maximum
of five pages.

Template for Concept Note

(Adapted from PHILIP et al. 2008)


1. Title: it should be snappy, informative, and distinctive. It may be divided into two
parts with the first one being short and catching the readers’ attention and the second
one more ‘serious’ and informative.
2. Background: it may be composed following two guiding questions: 1. Why it is
crucial to address the problem identified?; 2. What has already been done to solve the
problem?
3. Objectives: they should relate to the more general objectives as previously agreed and
entered into the local action plan.
4. Outputs: they should be directly related to the project objectives. Typically they are
tangible items, such as a newly constructed technical facility, the publication of
information materials, or events, such as workshops or stakeholder meetings.
Depending on the project in question, intangible items might also be mentioned, such
as a rise in awareness.
5. Activities and duration: a summary of the planned activities to achieve the project
objectives should be included here.
6. Beneficiaries and impacts: this section will be important for getting “buy-in” from the
donor. It should contain: The expected benefits, both in quantitative and qualitative
terms, and when and where they will occur; The underlying assumptions and the
reasons why these benefits can be expected; for a specific group of beneficiaries;
Considerations concerning how and by whom the impacts will be assessed.
7. Project management (includes monitoring and evaluation): this section should explain
how the objectives will be achieved and how the project will be managed and
evaluated. It should become clear who will lead the project and what roles and
responsibilities the various people in charge of tasks such as financial management,
monitoring and evaluation will have.
8. Budget (only if requested by the donor agency): before drawing up the budget, it is
necessary to get an overview of the inputs needed to achieve the objectives. These
may be, for example: people, travel costs, vehicles, equipment, supplies, services,
works, facilities and overheads.

More Tips for The Development of your Concept Note:

 Do not overwhelm the reader with details, but avoid sounding vague or unsure about
what you want to accomplish. Be positive and definite (AUB 2010).
 Consider your audience. In most cases, you will have to write different concept notes
for different donors for the same issue. Only when your concept note fits into the
framework of the donor, your request will have a chance. Get as much information as
possible on objectives, “hot topics” and interests of the organisation you are sending
the concept note to.
 Consider your language. If your concept paper is going to be reviewed by scientists in
your field, scientific terms and technical jargon may be acceptable. However, if your
proposal is being reviewed by generalists or lay persons, this type of language will not
communicate your ideas effectively.
 Only include budgetary information if it is specifically requested.
 Appearance is important. This concept paper represents you! The type size should be
large enough to read easily, and margins should be standard size. Check for spelling
errors before submission. Attention to details is important. Number all pages. Place
your name and date in the header. Include your contact information with the concept
paper (AUB 2010).
 Identify a door opener if you are not writing your concept note for an announced call
from the organisation. Sending random concept notes to the general address of an
organisation are rarely successful. If you do not know anybody who could introduce
you to somebody of the targeted organisation, try to establish personal contact by
phone or with in a meeting. Only once you have convinced somebody who supports
your concept idea within the donor organisation, you will have a realistic chance with
a “wild” concept note submission

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