Tips & Tricks - Writing A Powerful Concept Note

By
In recent times, many donor agencies prefer their grant-seeking applicants to submit a comprehensive concept note about their proposed project before submitting a full project proposal. In my 7 year career in development work, i have also observed this trend in many of the major aid organization.

In some cases, these concept notes can be highly structured requesting in-depth information about the project and in some other cases, it can just be an overview of the project idea. Nevertheless, the concept note is your initial step to tap the donor agency for funding. If the idea is interesting, you may be requested to submit a full proposal.

Many a times as a training and capacity building programmer in development work, I have been asked on numerous occasions these questions: What exactly is a concept note? How much time does it take in preparing it? What should go into it?

A concept note is a brief outline of the project you have in your mind. A simple version of it will include an introduction, a background, proposed objectives and results and a budget overview. Ideally, it should not be more than 6 pages unless the donor agency has specific requirements that may go as far as sharing with you a template or sharing the same on their website. If you wish to supply extra information, you can always annex documents such as your  Organization Profile, Annual Reports or Audit Reports -but do not make them part of the body of the concept.

A concept note can be produced in a matter of hours. In some other cases, it can also take a few days. But research is quite critical in both the cases and experienced planners develop extensive notes by; organizing meetings with project stakeholders (mainly the beneficiaries of the project) before starting to write a concept note.

The concept note is not only an important document for making your first contact with the donor; it is also the basic layout to your project plan. The layout will form the foundation to develop a full proposal document soon after you hear a positive feedback from your potential donor.


Good luck in your concept formulation!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Transforming a Neighborhood into a Brotherhood

By
My brothers and sisters, we are only beginning. We still have a long long way to go and I would like to share with you the burden on my heart about the problems that still confront us. If I would use a subject for what I am talking about, I would call it; Transforming a neighborhood into a brotherhood . I want to try and tell you the truth; i want to speak honestly and frankly about many problems that we face in our nation and this world. I believe that freedom is the bonus we receive for telling the truth and as Jesus said, “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set ye free”. Transforming a neighborhood into a brotherhood. Now there can be no gainsaying of the fact that Uganda has brought its people – downtrodden and rich alike - to an all inspiring threshold of the future. We have built gigantic buildings to kiss the skies, we have placed time in chains and we have curved highways midair. This is what our nation has done. What I want to say to you my friends is that when
Read More »

What is a Significant Success Story?

By
A success story shows an organization or individual making a difference in people’s lives. It describes a positive change and shows how that change benefits the people of a given area of intervention. A great success story applies the use of evidence to show the value of our interventions in terms measurable changes in knowledge, skills, motivation, behavior, decision making, practices, policies, social action, social, economic and environmental conditions that derive from a cause-and-effect relationship. You can write a success story about an entire project, program or part of a program (i.e. activity) that is particularly noteworthy and significant in terms of results and its impacts. It may be about an innovation, emergency response or outstanding effort. Whatever you choose to write about, your story should show your intervention making a difference in targeted areas. Why is it important  for an Organization, Group or Individual to write success stories?  • To show a
Read More »

A Motivated Team: Are you Maslow or Machiavelli?

By
Managers and organizations have diverse philosophies about how to motivate employees and manage teams. Some seek to create cooperation and loyalty. Others rely more on the competitive spirit to get things done. And the truth is different approaches can work, but it’s important to understand what kind of work environment you’re creating with your approach. So the question is: Are you more Maslow or Machiavelli. These two paradigms are familiar to many, but they represent extremely different ways of managing people. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that people have certain requirements that have to be met before they can be truly fulfilled. In the workplace, this theory demands attending to the needs of each employee. Making enough money to live, job security, belonging to a team, excelling at a job, and doing meaningful work are all motivating factors. The idea is that if employees are happy at work, they’ll be more creative and produce more. The Machiavellian style is very diffe
Read More »

What have we learnt from a 15,000 Euro Youth project support by the International Secretariat?

By
Since joining Busiki LRP, I have heard the Youth being christened all sorts of names. The one I hear most is, “the youth are the most disoriented and most tasking lot to work with”. Well, the Youth themselves vehemently disagree and usually give truck-loads of reasons for this, in their defense. There’s an adage that says, “ Never judge a book by its cover” . Young people who are jobless, sidelined, have no opportunities, are not integrated into community issues fully and have no foundational skills are a liability and a high risk to a Country. Any Country! Whilst still working on its baby steps in relation to Youth, Busiki LRP received 15,000 Euros to implement a Youth Project that focused on supported Youth to develop skills for economic self-reliance beyond formal employment. Not only empower and strategically anchor them for leadership, communication and most importantly, constitutionalism as well as outlets to identify and nurture their talents. Programmatic interventions
Read More »

Theater for Development: A fresh shift from the never ending awareness & sensitization “trainings”!

By
Image
It’s an excessively hot and dusty mid Monday morning in Namutumba District – Busiki LRP as we prepare to head off to Ivukula Sub County, one of two others within Namutumba District, in the Eastern side of Uganda. Not much comes to mind during the drive as we head to Rwatama Village not knowing that the adage “Never judge a book by its Cover” is a realization that would soon come to full sight. Community engagements are not tasks for the faint hearted. The results are not immediately realized and getting the communities to open up is an even higher huddle to overcome. As I would soon find out, this is set to change thanks to a shift from typical trainings in the village to congregational laughter, music, dance and subsequently learnings by the young and old alike! Theatre for Development (TFD) is a great vehicle of engagement in demystifying and addressing societal ills. The groups’ present plays that depict the exact house hold scenarios in most of Ugandan communities. The sce
Read More »