Proposal for a

Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage Project

The following is an example guideline that may be used to develop a project proposal. This can be
used to provide a beginning point to lay out a full project plan, to help members of the
implementing team understand the project or could be sent to potential donors for funding. Note
that some donors have their own guidelines for proposals and will frequently provide assistance in
preparing a proposal.

1. Title of the project

2. Executive summary – usually written after the main proposal has been prepared.
a. Project location
b. Intended beneficiaries / end users, description and numbers
c. Primary objectives of the project
d. Key measures of success – expected results, total impact
e. Duration of the project
f. Exit strategy
g. Budget and key spending areas, total cost and amount being sought from this donor
h. Project team members including in country partners, include experience level in
similar projects
i. Contact persons with phone number, email address
3. Introduction / Problem Statements
a. Background on the country, region and site of the project including demographics,
climate, economic situation, political situation and constraints to the project efforts
b. Describe the problem and its causes, morbidity, mortality and other short term and
long term effects in the community.
c. Describe the efforts and plans of others (communities, government, NGO’s and
other agencies)
d. Initial needs assessments, observations, demand from the people and other
justifications for the project
4. Objective of the Project
a. Vision or mission statement
b. Overall objectives
c. Specific goals
d. Overview of the project
e. Measurement of success – ultimate impact and indicators during implementation
f. What the project will NOT do
5. Project Description
a. Key Milestones
b. Expected impact
c. Describe the project activities, the timing, duration and expected outputs
d. Technologies used including supply, treatment and safe storage
e. Associated activities or projects – i.e. hygiene promotion, sanitation, health,
environment protection
f. Project team and roles of each
g. Resources available and what is needed (human, material, financial)
6. Operational Plan
a. Describe the strategies to be used
b. Technical requirements
c. Educational requirements
d. Social requirements

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 e. Financial requirements (attach budget)
f. Government participation – local, regional, state, country
g. Other partners or agencies – involvement and cooperation
h. Local community participation
i. How the project will strengthen the capacity of local organizations, communities
and individuals
7. Project Management
a. Workers – types, numbers, roles, organization structure
b. Communication plan – technical assistance, activities reports, donor reports,
logistics of communications with end users and partner organizations
c. Physical logistics – buildings, vehicles, equipment, project materials and tools
d. In kind contributions by local communities, organization, hosts, governments or
other agencies
e. Accounting processes and procedures
f. Procurement procedures
g. Transportation
8. Ongoing Project Monitoring and Final Evaluation
a. Objectives of monitoring
b. Objectives of final evaluation
c. Key measurements
d. Collecting data
e. Other sources of data
f. Baseline studies (if any)
g. Timing
h. Reporting system – how info is reported, by whom, to whom, timing, feedback to
community
i. Role of various partners – communities, clinics, government agencies, staff,
external consultants
j. How feedback will be incorporated into decision making and continuous
improvements
9. Cash Budget
a. Staffing costs
b. Equipment – initial purchase, maintenance
c. Consumable materials
d. Vehicle – initial, operation, maintenance, replacement
e. Office operations, administration
f. Preparation of training material
g. Training – staff, end users
h. Travel – from home, in-country
i. Accommodations, meals
j. Technical assistance
k. Evaluations
l. Indirect costs
10. In-kind budget
a. Equipment
b. Materials
c. Labour
d. Travel
e. Other
11. Funding – total requirement, other sources
12. Sustainability – succession planning, next steps, project completion, scale up, exit strategy
13. Timeline – detailed activities for each month of the project period

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14. Maps – country and project area