The "Project Profile/Planning Worksheet" is designed to help
you develop and keep track of good ideas for fundable projects, even before
you begin your funding research. In effect, you create an "inventory"
of fundable project ideas. This inventory serves three important purposes:
Think through each section, and complete the requested information
as concisely and clearly as possible. For example, you should be able
to describe your project (question 1) in one sentence of no more than
50 words. You may need to do a little homework for some of the sections.
Be sure to think through and list "Resources Required" as
well as your best-guess estimate of the funding that will be necessary.
Remember, this is preliminary information; complete details will be
filled in later, when you're developing a full proposal plan.
Potential Partners: This section is designed especially
to get you thinking very early on about how a partnership structure
could enhance your project. More and more funders are requiring that
proposals reflect an interagency collaboration; even if partnership
isn't an out-and-out requirement, it often wins your proposal extra
points in the evaluation.
Prepared By: Ideally, the "Project Profile/Planning
Worksheet" will be completed and submitted by the person in the
organization who came up with the project idea in the first place. Larger
organizations especially will often have one staff person assigned as
"development director" or "grants coordinator,"
and many, many program people who are constantly coming up with great
ideas for new projects or services for which funding is necessary. The
next time one of your colleagues comes to you with a great idea, hand
him or her a copy of the "Project Profile/Planning Worksheet"
and say: "Sounds terrific! Can you flesh that idea out a little
bit, so I can do some funding research for you?"
