PROJECT FORMULATION

Preparing a project proposal is a daunting task for an individual or an organization. A project

proposal on any aspect of urban development should identify the scope of the project to be
undertaken and describe the audience to be benefited. It needs to cover the objectives, activities
and expected outcomes to be derived out of the project. The proposal should also describe the
resources, both financial and human, that will be needed to achieve the project goal and
objectives. It has to propose a time frame for development and delivery of the programme.

The proposal must be carefully crafted and its presentation must be professional. It is
important that the proposal be technically sound, grammatically correct, and well designed,
because the project proposal would most likely to compete with similar proposals submitted
by other agencies and consultants. The proposal must communicate ideas and plans with
eloquence that it will rise to the top of possible competition.

PROJECT PROPOSAL: CONCEPT AND MEANING

According to Connor [Link] (1996), “a proposal is a request for action. Its purpose is to persuade
decision makers that a need exists for action and that the action described in the document is
the best response to that need”.

According ITTO, “a project proposal is a detailed description of a series of activities aimed at

solving a certain problem. The proposal should contain a detailed explanation of the:

• Justification of the project

• Activities and implementation time line

• Methodology, and

• Human, material and financial resources required.

A project is a time-bound intervention consisting of a set of planned and interrelated activities

executed to bring about a beneficial change. It has a start and a finish, involves a
multidisciplinary team collaborating to implement activities within constraints of cost, time
and quality and has a scope of work that is unique and subject to uncertainty.

1.3 STEPS IN PROJECT FORMULATION

The formulation of a good project proposal is not an easy task. It requires a lot of exercise on
the part of proposal formulator both before and during the preparation of project proposal.
Before writing a project proposal, the project coordination or institution has to take care of
following pre- project formulation aspects.

1) Review of past project proposals: A group that is involved in the formulation of project
proposal needs to review similar types of project proposal formulated by its own institution or
other institutions. This will give an idea about the strengths and weaknesses to the project
coordinator while thinking about formulating any project.

2) Consulting experts, consultants, and previous project coordinators: A person or group

formulating proposal could consult an expert in the area in which the intended project is going
to be formulated and even can appoint a consultant who could be helpful in the preparation of
the proposal. It is always better to consult a person who has already completed similar type of
projects which are being attempted. The project coordinator formulating project proposal can
consult his/her fellow colleagues who have already formulated similar types of project
proposals.

3) Review past project evaluation reports: Before formulating a proposal, it is advisable to

go through the reports prepared by a similar type of research organizations/institutions. The
project evaluation report, besides, providing the components of project activities and strategies,
will give details about the methodology, evaluation, and impact assessment strategy.

4) Interact with the prospective beneficiaries: The project team can also interact with the
prospective beneficiaries to be benefited from the project interventions and assess their need.
It would be better if the coordinator could also interact with those who have already received
benefits from the similar types of projects.

5) Check statistical data/ report: The data regarding a previous similar type of projects from
various documents must be collected so that an appropriate project strategy is formulated.

6) Hold focus group discussion: It is always better that the person who prepares a proposal
undertakes a focus group discussion with the beneficiaries or the prospective clienteles or the
stakeholders. If it is a training project for grassroots level representatives e.g., urban local
bodies, then the training organizer could conduct a focus group discussion with the elected
representatives and functionaries of urban local bodies and assess their needs.
FORMAT FOR WRITING PROJECT PROPOSAL

After completing the ground work, the writing of a project proposal will begin. Here, we will
mention the important components of a project proposal.

1) Title page: The project proposal must start with a title page. The title page needs to clearly
spell out the title of the project proposal, the name of the sponsoring agency and the institution
submitting the project proposal, and the address of the institution from where the proposal
originates.

Title: Training of Urban Health Workers on National Urban

Health Mission

Submitted to

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Government of Delhi

Submitted by

ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Dirpai-Chapori, Gogamukh, Dist. Dhemaji

Assam-787035

2) Abstract: Many project proposal peer group evaluators may not have the sufficient time to
read the entire project proposal. Therefore, it is prudent to give an abstract. The abstract needs
to include the following aspects.

i) The problem statement

ii) The project objectives

iii) Implementing organisations

iv) Key project activities

 v) Expected outputs

vi) Total project budget

3) Introduction: Briefly introduce the topic of the project, and why an project in the areas is
deemed necessary. Introduction must be brief and to the point focusing on the topic on which
project is being proposed.

4) Problem statement: The project formulator must clearly give some background of the
problem which the project is trying to solve in order to make a case for the project. It also needs
to clearly mention the needs of the target group which the project is attempting to address.
Some of the essential points to be taken into consideration while narrating the problem
statement are mentioned below:

Problem Analysis

• Describe the key problem identified and its causes and effects.

• Delineate how these problems affect the target group.

• Explain how addressing the causes will lead to the eradication of the key problem.

• The description should be clear, concise and convincing.

5) Project goal & objectives: After delineating the statement of the problem, the second aspect
to be covered in the project proposal is to clearly state the goal and objectives. The goal is the
general aim of the project, while objectives are the core problems\ issues the project is trying
to address to achieve the goal. Remember that there is one goal and more than one objective.
The guidelines for preparing realistic objectives is given in the box below.

Guideline for Objectives Formulation

In nutshell objective must be ‘SMART’ -

S – Simple: It should be simple and covering one point at a time.

M– Measurable : It must be measurable so that a conclusion can be drawn

A – Attainable : It can be handled within the limit imposed by the time

R – Realistic : It must not be unrealistic which can not be achieved

T – Time-bound: It must be so framed that it is achieved with the set time.

6) Project Output: The project output should describe the services or products which the
coordination intend to deliver to the beneficiaries or the survey which the organizers/
coordinator intends to administer over the respondents. The results needed to be more detail
and can be presented in measurable terms. It should be remembered that the results should
address the main causes of the problem that the target group faces. The following are key points
to be taken into consideration while formulating outputs:

i) It should clearly relate to the objectives and should be stated in such a way that these can be
measured in quantity, time, and space.

ii) It should be achievable with in the available resources.

iii) It should not be confused with activities.

7) Target group: The project proposal needs to clearly define the target group and show how
they will benefit from the project/programme. The project should give clear details of the
designation, caste, and age; the gender breaks up of the target group which will be covered in
the project. If possible, a list of categories of participants may be given as an annexure in the
proposal.

8) Strategies: The project proposal must clearly delineate strategies to be Project

Formulation adopted during various steps of project implementation. The formulated
strategies must be logically linked with the formulated objectives.

9) Project Implementation Plan: The project implementation plan must describe activities
and resources allocation in as much detail as possible. The time and place of project
implementation must be clearly mentioned. It should also specify the experts and other
institutions who will be involved during the process of conducting the project activities. The
implementation plan may be divided into the following two key elements.

a) The activity plan: the activity plan must clearly include information about the activities to
be conducted by the project. The activities must be drawn from the specific objectives and
outputs formulated for the project. They should be stated in such a way that they precisely
describe the actions or tasks to be undertaken by the project coordinator. It will be better if
activities are further broken into tasks. Activities should indicate what will be done to transform
inputs into outputs. Some of the guidelines for the formulation of appropriate activities are:

i) It should examine each output listed in the implementation plan.

ii) Formulate the complete set of activities required for achieving the stated objectives.

iii) Always verify that the formulated set of activities is sufficient for achieving the stated
project output.

iv) Check the available set of inputs necessary for the implementation of formulated activities.

A good tool for establishing activities is the work breakdown structure, which identifies groups
of activities related to each project output and presents them in a hierarchical structure as given
in Flowchart 1.

A flow chart of goal, objectives, activities, and output is given below:

The activity map can be presented in a tabular form, popularly know as Gantt chart. An example
of training project activities for urban health workers of a training programme for four months
is presented in a Gantt Chart given below:

S. No. Activities Month-1 Month-2 Month-3 Month-4

1. Conducting a need assessment √
2. Preparation of training module √ √
3. Conducting the training programme √ √
4. Writing Training Report √
Resource Plan: The resource plan must clearly provide information regarding resources
required for the project. International project donors expect contributions from the project
applicant organization. In this case, the training organizer should clearly mention the
organization’s contribution in the project budget.

Broadly, the resources may include instructional materials, hardware, software, and personnel.
The various resources required for a training project of urban health are narrated below:

1) Instructional materials: training manual, handouts, models, transparencies, flow

charts, white boards, white sheets, reference guides, etc.

2) Hardware: computer, video cameras, multimedia setup, overhead projector, power

point presentation, etc.

3) Software

4) Personnel: Training consultants, resource persons, training assistants, and other

support staff required during the training programme.

10. Budget Plan

Customarily, the budget for a project proposal for training includes expenditures on following
broad headings.

1) Payment to training coordinators

2) Payment to training Associate/Assistant

3) Payment to consultant trainers

4) Payment to resource persons

5) Per diem / TA/DA of the participant

6) Cost of training materials/modules

7) Charges of training hall (if available with the organization)

8) Charges of board / lodging of the participants

9) Cost of stationary/software/hardware
10) Miscellaneous charges (postage, photocopying, etc.)